« Review: Tekken Revolution »

It's rather interesting that fighting game developers are adopting a free-to-play model commonly found in many other competitive game genres. While games like League of Legends have found a huge audience, it still remains to be seen if free-to-play fighting games can tap into that market. One such effort is Namco Bandai's special version of Tekken utilizing this model, Tekken Revolution. Tekken Revolution doesn't necessarily live up to its name verbatim, but the game does provide a fascinating experience even if the game itself conflicts with the free-to-play system.

From the start, Tekken Revolution decreases the massive roster of 59 characters found in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 to a starting cast of 8, consisting of fan favorites such as Kazuya, Asuka, Marshall Law, Paul and Lars. Four more characters-Alisa, Bryan Fury, Leo and Steve-can be unlocked by playing matches instead of going for a pay-to-play approach. While many fan favorites have undoubtedly been left out, Revolution gives new players a chance to avoid being intimidated by the massive character count and allows them to focus on specific matchups.

Since Revolution is an online-focused product, ranked and player matches are the main show. Much like Tag 2, the online works pretty well with lag being very minimal. Arcade Mode is also included, with extra characters currently unavailable to play; it will be interesting to see if the game is updated to include them. Customization features are also removed, and while it make sense to remove them due to possible data limits, mirror matches sometimes look dull.

Paul and Marshall Law enable both their Special Arts.This Tekken entry stays true to the series' general game design with aspects like sidestepping, high/mid/low moves and launchers. The crush system-moves with hitboxes designed to evade and punish other moves-, block punishing, parrying and other specific mechanics are still prevalent. The large amount of moves from every character since Tag 2 mostly stayed intact. However, the bound system, where characters can use certain moves mid-juggle to lengthen their combos, have been removed. Revolution removes this feature in an effort to simplify combos for newer players, even if bounds are somewhat possible in stage transitions and moves that naturally bound on counter hit. For better or worse, the bound removal gives Revolution a feel closer to that of the older Tekken games, especially Tekken 5.

Namco's efforts to facilitate the simplified game design also expand with Special Arts and Critical Arts. Special Arts are buffed versions of a character's existing move, performed like its original form, that makes the move invincible with decent damage but easily punishable on block. These special moves can seem cheap in some cases but being aware of them will put things highly in your favor. Critical Arts perform similar to Special Arts but allow for critical hit damage powered by Vigor-one of the special energy leveling meters.

The other two energy categories focus on damage output (Power) and overall health (Endurance). The idea of buffing a character's general stats, similar to an RPG, in a fighting game seems unusual and unfair especially when facing an opponent who might have lesser or even no stat increases. In some cases, the stat differences alone can determine the outcome of a match due to its interesting metagame effects while in other matches it might become irrelevant if player skill difference is large enough.

Outside the mechanics, Tekken Revolution is primarily propelled by having a free-to-play design. All modes are accessed utilizing coins that are consumed and later regained as time passes. Arcade Mode and both online modes have their own coins players can spend. Players are also equipped with premium tickets which can be used for any mode and can be refunded when winning matches. This approach seems reminiscent of an arcade where winner can keep on playing without spending.

Kazuya's Wind God Fist and Electric Wind God Fist are Critical Arts, extremely useful moves when equipped with high Vigor.In free-to-play games, players can use money to spend on content and in Tekken Revolution's case it's premium coins. It works exactly like premium tickets and can gain the player extra tickets whenever they win using them. The coins can be considered as a last resort for those who want to keep on playing but are impatient on waiting for regular battle coins and/or lacking premium tickets. While there are always some currency—real or imagined—to spend in case a player can't wait for a refresh of regular coins or doesn't have premium tickets, Namco encourages players to win rather than spend money. This notion seems all right on paper but feels flawed in execution once the wide range of player skill levels is applied.

This mindset is the biggest problem for Tekken Revolution. While Special and Critical Arts try to bridge the gap in terms of player skill, there are still many people playing the game at a basic level, with lack of knowledge in mechanics. Ignoring the special properties of the two new mechanics, Tekken Revolution is still essentially a Tekken game with years of depth built into it. While some new folks will learn through playing enough matches, there are still those who will be unable to digest the nuances they game conveys. This title would have been the best place to feature Tekken Tag Tournament 2's Fight Lab mode, in order to provide the learning player an understanding of combos, punishing, throw breaking and other basics. While there are plans to release a training mode in the future, it looked like a missed opportunity to not immediately offer one in a game that seems like it's meant to tap into both newer players as well as seasoned veterans. At the moment, newer players might be able to abuse the special moves or go crazy with unsafe maneuvers and win some matches, but in the long run the new players might quit after losing to experienced players who might return to playing Tag 2. This situation ultimately renders the overall currency system ineffective as a means of improving at Tekken.

The new in-game mechanics of Tekken Revolution along with the interesting leveling system work pretty well with each other and provide a good, even if suboptimal, framework for future Tekken games. The game's lack of training materials for newer players, however, negatively impacts its free-to-play system, turning the overall product into a brief time sink before the next Tekken game instead of a "revolution" for the franchise.