Square Enix never seems to shy away from cross over promotions – although, most of them involve another creator’s work appearing in games like Final Fantasy Brave Exvius or their MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. This is however not the case with Final Fantasy XV protagonist Nocts Lucis Caelum’s appearance in Namco Bandai’s Tekken 7.
Over GDC week Noctis was released as part of a $20CDN add-on pack for all versions of Tekken 7. With the majority of GDC related work I finally got the chance to check him out. For this brief 10 minute gameplay video I did a single run of arcade mode with Noctis completely blind. So, yes, this means for the most part I’m button mashing until I got the hang of some of his moves – like the signature Warp Strike. Namco did a commendable job adapting Noctis’ flowing combat style to the world of Tekken without completely breaking the combo-heavy grounded combat despite the fact they’ve introduced an RPG protagonist known for his love of heights.
Also included in the Noctis DLC pack was a stage based upon Hammerhead Junction from Final Fantasy XV but it’s not included in the embedded video.
Tekken 7 patch version 1.12 is now available on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as on Windows PC. General improvements to be found in this latest patch include better stability for online matches, across all platforms and automatic capture of Shadowplay highlights for Windows PC using Geforce graphics cards when certain conditions are met.
FFXV Noctis Lucis Caelum Pack includes the playable Noctis fighter, a fighting arena based upon the Hammerhead Station from Chapter 1, 5 unique costumes for Noctis to wear and the “Apocalypsis Noctis Remix” BGM track.
Check out a video of all of Noctis’ moves and combos which I’ve embedded below.
Bandai Namco has announced a brand new addition to the roster in the form of a returning character that will be added to the console release of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution – Lee has been revealed. He got it his start in the original Tekken all the way on the PlayStation 1 and now he’s making an exclusive appearance in the Console / PC ports of Tekken 7.
I got the chance to try out Tekken 7 briefly at E3 2016 on Xbox One – check out my impressions here. Alongside Lee’s reveal trailer Bandi Namco also released several screenshots of the character in action.
Tekken 7: Fated Retribution is expected to be released on Xbox One, PC and P4 in the first quarter of 2017.
Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 PC Release will be available in Early 2017 via Steam. Confirmation of this comes as the official Steam Page for the game has gone live – you can view it right here.
During Microsoft’s E3 press conference the game was confirmed for both Windows PC & Xbox One with a trailer showcasing a battle between long time series antagonist Heihachi and new guest character, Street Fighter’s Akuma.
Tekken 7 is also expected to be released on PlayStation 4, although the publisher only had the Xbox One version of the game on display at E3, which we got the chance to play.
Here is the official description of Tekken 7 from the Steam Page:
Love, Revenge, Pride. Everyone has a reason to fight. Values are what define us and make us human, regardless of our strengths or weaknesses. There are no wrong motives, just the paths we choose to take.
Experience the epic conclusion of the Mishima clan and unravel the reasons behind each step of their ceaseless fight. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, TEKKEN 7 features stunning story-driven cinematic battles and intense duels that can be enjoyed with friends and rivals alike through innovative fight mechanics.
As a fan of Bandai Namco’s Tekken series since the launch of the 3rd game back on the original PlayStation, I’ve followed the series through four numbered installments, several spin-offs, numerous guest characters and three console transitions. Somehow, against all odds, Namco has been able to maintain the series’ identity of wacky interconnected storylines, multiple unlockable endings, deep strategic fighting and of course the Mishima Zaibotsu.
Bandai Namco announced that Tekken 7 would be coming to home consoles on Microsoft’s Xbox One console along with another hidden surprise – the inclusion of Street Fighter‘s often secret combatant, Akuma! Behind closed doors at Namco’s small private booth at E3 the home console version of Tekken 7 was playable on the Xbox One and I got the chance to watch several matches.
Akuma as well as one of the PC/Console exclusive stages – Abandoned Temple – were on display in the build that the developers were showing off at E3. If you’ve played Akuma in other Street Fighter titles then some of his familiar strategies also apply to Tekken 7. Akuma’s tatsumaki forward whirlwind kick is featured as one of his standard moves in T7. He also has access to a focus meter, which works similar to the one found in Street Fighter IV, and builds over time allowing him to land a slowed down but devastating blow to his opponent. In the version of Tekken 7 on display the Focus Attack meter replaced the traditional Rage Meter when Akuma was selected. Another popular strategy that Akuma players relied on at E3 was one particular move combination that had him perform an upwards low kick before transitioning into a downward punch at the ark of a jump.
The Xbox One version of Tekken 7 is expected to include all of the additional content that is going to be found in the Tekken 7: Fated Retribution update which is due out in Japanese arcades next month. This arcade upgrade includes 28 characters (including bosses) – returning favorites like Jin, King and Steve Fox join newcomers like the Saudi Arabian born Shaheen and the Otaku-like cat girl Lucky Chloe. In terms of stages Fated Retribution (and presumably the console port) will include 10 stages at launch including Artic Snowfall, Devil’s Pit, Forgotten Realm, Mishima Dojo as well as the PC/Console exclusive Abandoned Temple and Mashima Building.
Tekken 7 is expected to be released for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs sometime in the first quarter of 2017.
Did you know that Tekken 7 is getting its own World Championship tournament? The European qualifying rounds will be happening during Paris Games Week on October 29th!
The top 16 players from the qualifying rounds will battle it out for the 3 spots – who will move on to the finals in Japan this December. Whomever takes the top spot will also win a paid flight to the Japanese finals and 1500 Euros. This whole thing sounds pretty sweet – winning money for playing a game that hasn’t even seen a commercial release yet? Sign me up!
Bandai Namco had this to say about the European qualifiers:
“With the EU qualifiers for the TEKKEN 7 World Arcade Championship, we wanted to offer a chance for our very own TEKKEN players to take part in the biggest TEKKEN tournament to date! With a total of 10,000,000 JPY in the prize-pool, the chance to fight against the best players out there and a shot at the World Champion crown: we are sure that our fans will love the idea and give their all!”
If you can’t be in Paris at the end of the month don’t worry the whole even will be live-streamed on Bandai Namco’s Twitch Channel.