Tekken 7


Tekken 7 is a 2015 fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the Tekken series, and is the first in that series to be released for PC. Tekken 7 was released to arcades in March 2015. An updated arcade version, Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, was released in July 2016, and features expanded content including new stages, costumes, items and characters. The home versions released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in June 2017 were based on Fated Retribution.
Set shortly after the events of Tekken 6, the plot focuses on the events leading up to the final battle between martial artist Heihachi Mishima and his son, Kazuya. Tekken 7 introduces several new elements to the fighting system, such as Rage Arts and the Power Crush mechanic, making the game more beginner friendly than previous iterations in the series. Tekken 7 was a critical and commercial success, selling copies as of 2024. A sequel, Tekken 8, was released on January 26, 2024.

Plot

After the events of Tekken 6, though Azazel was defeated by Jin Kazama, the war between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation continues to ravage the world. The game's story is told from the perspective of a reporter whose wife and son are killed in the crossfire, leading him to begin writing an exposé on the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation. Nina Williams leads the Zaibatsu in Jin's absence, attempting to locate him, but Heihachi Mishima takes advantage of the vacuum of power and forces Nina to work for him, regaining control of the Zaibatsu. Heihachi makes a deal with Claudio Serafino, head of the powerful Sirius Marksmen organization, to help him expose his son, G Corporation head Kazuya Mishima, believing public opinion will shift in the Zaibatsu's favor if Kazuya's Devil Gene is revealed. Claudio senses a powerful force in the Far East that is unconnected to either Jin or Kazuya.
The reporter researches the Mishima family history, learning that Heihachi's coup against his father Jinpachi and the death of his wife Kazumi both occurred in the same year he threw his son Kazuya into a ravine. Meanwhile, the United Nations intelligence group has located Jin. Hwoarang fought and defeated Jin in his Devil form, but UN interference caused Hwoarang to lose sight of him. Jin evades capture long enough to be rescued by his half-uncle Lars Alexandersson. Lars takes Jin to recuperate at Violet Systems, where Jin's adoptive uncle Lee Chaolan has repaired Alisa Bosconovitch following her seemingly permanent shutdown in the previous game. The Zaibatsu attacks the compound, but the trio is able to secure Jin. The reporter, having rendezvoused with Lee and Lars, tries to kill Jin in his sleep, but is discouraged by Lars, who says Jin is the only person capable of stopping the conflict. According to Lee, the reason behind Heihachi fathering Lars was to confirm that he did not possess the Devil Gene, proving it originated from the Hachijo, Kazumi's family.
The force sensed by Claudio is eventually revealed to be Akuma, who made a promise to Kazumi that he would kill Heihachi and Kazuya if she fails to, as she predicted both of them would engulf the world in war and destruction. He defeats Heihachi after their temporary alliance on fending off an attack by an army of Jack-6's at the Mishima Dojo, and proceeds to G Corporation's Millennium Tower. Heihachi survives, but declares himself dead to the public to continue his plans in secret. He then captures and spreads images of a transformed Kazuya worldwide before using an orbital laser weapon to obliterate Millennium Tower. Kazuya survives the attack and destroys the satellite, with the wreckage destroying a town and again slandering the Zaibatsu. The reporter uses this opportunity to inform Zaibatsu about his exposé, but to his surprise, Heihachi offers to meet him in person. Heihachi recounts his love for Kazumi and the night he learned that she possessed the Devil Gene and was sent by her family to kill him, regretfully being forced to kill her in self-defense, which eventually marked the feud amongst the Mishima clansmen as of the present. Suspecting that Kazuya had inherited the Devil Gene, Heihachi threw him off a cliff, believing the boy's survival would confirm his fears. Heihachi has the reporter escorted back to Lars before traveling to a volcano for a final battle with Kazuya. Vengeful over his parents' betrayals, with Heihachi being the one who never told him about Kazumi's assassinations on them before her death in the first place, Kazuya finally defeats Heihachi and throws his body into the volcano. Moments later, Akuma appears and attacks Kazuya, claiming he will not rest until he kills him; the result of their battle is unknown. However, Kazuya is shown alive in Tekken 8 and Jin is stated to be the only one left who can stop Kazuya.
In the aftermath, Jin meets with Lee, Lars, and Alisa, promising to put an end to the war once and for all by defeating his father Kazuya. The reporter, reflecting on all he has learned, completes and publishes his exposé.

Gameplay

Tekken 7 focuses on 1v1 battles. New features to the gameplay include:
  • Rage Art: A critical move unique to each character and only accessible while in Rage mode, causing it to deactivate until the next round. If the initial attack hits the opponent, it will trigger a cinematic sequence and deal roughly 30% damage, depending on the character.
  • Power Crush: Performs an attack that can absorb an opponent's hits with the Mid or High property and continue attacking.
  • Screw hits: This largely replaces the Ground Bound mechanic, which added significant opportunity to perform long, high-damage combos, by knocking an opponent hit with a launcher back to the ground into a vulnerable state. Screw hits have similar applications as Ground Bounding moves, but the receiving opponent's animation is altered, putting them into an aerial tailspin as they fall to the ground. Unlike the Ground Bound, Screw hits cannot be used to do wall combos.
With a new display system, the game's multiplayer allows players to choose which side of the screen to play on. Movement has undergone some changes and is similar to the movement mechanics found in Tekken Revolution, most notably when characters walk backwards. The arcade version features the traditional stage-based playthrough, in which the player progresses by beating five different opponents one by one, ending with a fixed penultimate and final stage. Matches may be interrupted if another player joins the game. Online mode is available for both local and international play. Character customization is featured, allowing the player to modify characters' appearances. For the first time in the arcade series, the game features a practice mode, which allows players to train moves against an opponent for a limited amount of time, as well as an option to collect in-game rewards, mainly customization items, through "Treasure Box" by winning enough matches.
The Fated Retribution update for arcades adds further gameplay changes.
  • Rage Drive: Most characters have one or more Rage Drive moves, which are either brand new moves or powered-up variations of existing moves. Like the Rage Art, it requires sacrificing their Rage mode for the round, trading the severe damage of the Rage Art for a move with less risk and different utility.
  • Rage Art was also adjusted so that the amount of damage dealt to the enemy is inversely proportional to the player's current health bar. Some players like King have more than one rage art which changes with the costume of the character.
Among several new and returning characters, the update introduced Akuma, the first of several additional characters utilizing their own unique mechanics which follow the gameplay conventions of the 2D fighting games he originates from, including:
  • Cancelling successful or blocked attacks with special moves.
  • Different jump physics and air attacks which can be used more offensively than the Tekken series' standard jump attacks.
  • A Super Combo meter which builds up as the fight progresses, and is spent in order to use "EX" versions of special moves and Super Combo moves.
  • Lacking some of Tekken 7's own gameplay mechanics like the Rage Drive and 10-hit combo moves.
Two other characters added as downloadable content after the release of the home versions of the game would include very similar fighting mechanics, those characters being Eliza and Geese. Another guest character, Noctis, has more standard Tekken gameplay but can perform jump-in attacks like the "2D" characters.
Updates to the arcade and home versions also added moves applying new Wall hit state-based systems for all characters:
  • Wall Bound: Initially, the wall bound mechanic was utilized by Nancy-MI847J in Tekken 6, until it is later being re-introduced in this game, starting from Geese in Season 1, then properly being applied to every character in later Seasons. While it is commonly applied against opponents while they are on the ground, only the guest character Negan can utilize Wall Bound against airborne opponents through one of his Rage Drive moves.
  • Wall Stun: Introduced after EVO 2022, the fighter will be bound from the wall behind them while on the ground, whether they are guarded against the opponent's attack or not.
Tekken Bowl, a bowling minigame which debuted in Tekken Tag Tournament, was added in the first season of additional DLC content.

Characters

The game has 51 playable fighters as of Season 4, 20 of whom made up the arcade launch roster, while 36 made up the console launch roster. The game introduces 13 new playable characters to the series, as well as four guest characters from Capcom's Street Fighter, SNK's Fatal Fury, Square Enix's Final Fantasy, and Image Comics' The Walking Dead.
In addition, Story Mode contains several exclusive characters who cannot be selected normally, though they can be played with cheat engines.