I have an ever-evolving relationship with the Tekken franchise. I logged a ridiculous number of hours on the first three PlayStation entries, despite not really digging the juggle-based attack strings and lack of flashy, super-powered moves. Tekken was new then, however, so its freshness and ludicrous Mishima father-son drama piqued my curiosity and allowed me to endure the game's significant flaws. I returned to the franchise 15 years later with Tekken Tag Tournament 2, a game I legitimately liked beyond the highly enjoyable patricidal elements. Six years after that entertaining installment comes Tekken 7, the first game in the series to appear on PC. It's really, really good. In fact, it's one of my favorite PC games of 2017.
Sins of the Father(s)
Tekken 7, like the main-line Tekken games that came before it, is a tale of fathers and sons attempting to murder each other to purge the Mishima clan from the Devil Gene, a magical DNA bit that transforms certain people into hell spawn. Touted as the conclusion of the Mishima drama, Tekken 7's single-player story mode reveals secrets and leaves cliffhangers, thus simultaneously answering long-standing questions and prompting the fan base to ask new ones. The best part of is that Street Fighter's Akuma is officially part of Tekken's lore, playing a surprising role in the Mishima family beef.
The story mode isn't as long-winded as the Cinematic Story Mode of Street Fighter V ($14.99 at Amazon) , nor is it exactly the Citizen Kane of video game storytelling (though, to be fair, what is?). The story unfolds from the perspective of a journalist who's investigating the Mishima chaos and the related wars it sparks. The investigative angle is a nice plot hook, but the story isn't particularly enthralling.
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Familiar Fighting
Fortunately, Tekken 7's excellent combat more than makes up for the tale's narrative shortcomings. Like its predecessors, Tekken 7 is a fighting game that features simple, limb-mapped controls, massive character move sets, and lot of juggles that let you keep a combo flowing, should you input the correct move at the right moment.
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Tekken 7 is an incredibly tense game of jabs, feints, and sidesteps, because any hit may lead to a long combo sting. Factor in characters with move sets that emulate real martial arts, interactive stages that let you knock people through floors and walls, and terrific slowdown effects that happen when both fighters' health bars are in the red and they perform close-quarter melee attacks, and you have a fighting game that's essentially an interactive martial arts flick. And the game runs just as smoothly online as it does offline. In my many hours playing Tekken 7, I experienced zero online lag.
Fresh Combat
New to the series are the Rage Art and Rage Drive mechanics. You can activate one of the two moves when your character's health bar is nearly depleted, but they operate in different fashions. Rage Art is a flashy, highly cinematic super attack that deals big damage instead of the normal Rage Mode power increase you receive when in a critical state. A Rage Art can armor through an incoming attack, but should your opponent block it, you're left open for a huge counterattack.
Rage Drive also consumes Rage Mode power, but it gives you an enhanced, armor-less version of one of your existing moves. Think of it as Tekken 7's version of Street Fighter V's EX moves. A big advantage is that Rage Drives are safe on block, so you won't eat a fist should an opponent block the move. These moves add a surprising amount of strategy to the matches' closing moments.
Power Crush attacks are new to Tekken 7, too, but unlike Rage Art and Rage Drive moves, they aren't dependent on Rage Mode. These attacks, which you can activate at any time, power through incoming blows. That said, they don't have Rage Art and Rage Drive's invincibility frames, so your character takes damage if an opponent attack lands in an exchange. Still, Power Crush moves are very handy when you desperately need to open up an opponent for a combo to turn the tide.
Practice, Customization, and Specs
Tekken 7 includes, for the first time, a practice mode. There you can explore the characters' moves, which can number close to 100. I've been playing the game for months, but I still dip into the practice mode to discover new Lucky Chloe moves to add to my arsenal. Unfortunately, Tekken 7 doesn't do much to teach you how to play the game, which is a disappointment. Fighting games have notorious learning curves, so it would've been a feather in Tekken 7's cap if it included a tutorial as robust as Skullgirls 2nd Encore's ($4.49 at Humble Bundle) in-depth play guide.
You can customize any of the 30-plus fighters with the gear that you earn in Tekken 7's Treasure Box mode. As you conquer the many challenges that it tosses your way, you win tops, bottoms, and accessories that let your favorite fighter or player badge look as serious, cool, or silly as you'd like—provided that you've amassed enough Fight Money to purchase them. You can also use that cash to unlock important stills and clips of important moments from throughout Tekken's history. Fortunately, Tekken 7 throws lots of cash your way, so you should have a sizeable chunk of cash at hand after a few play sessions.
Tekken 7 represents the series' first Steam foray and, thankfully, it doesn't have heavy spec requirements. The game requires at least a 3.6GHz Intel Core i3-4160 CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 GPU with 2GB of memory, 6GB of RAM, 60GB of storage, and Windows 7.
My gaming desktop, powered by Windows 10 and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 GPU, ran Tekken 7 at a silky, and steady, 60 frames per second in testing. The in-game models look good and move well, but a bit of polygonal-collision jank is exposed when the slow-motion mode kicks in at the end of tight matches. As a Steam game, Tekken 7 supports Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud Saves, and Steam Trading Cards.
The King of the Iron Fist
Simply put, Tekken 7 is my favorite fighting game of 2017, and one of my overall favorite games of the year, too. It's a plump package stuffed with combat goodness and a variety of characters that will appeal to many play styles. I wish the game had a tutorial designed to ease newcomers into the fold, but it's hard to find significant fault in such a stellar product. Tekken 7 is an exquisite fighter that has enough meat to please veterans and fresh faces alike.
Featuring excellent combat and deep customization, Tekken 7 is one of the best fighting games to come along in some time.
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