Today, the Pokemon Company hosted a live stream to announce their newest project, a Pokemon fighting game named Pokken Tournament. The announcement has sent the internet a flurry of hype and questions. Well, I’m here to answer some of your questions, give you new things to think about, and possible things to worry (?) about the king of the pocket monster fist tournament. Lets start with the basics first though.
What is Pokken Tournament?
Revealed a NicoNico live stream today, Pokken Tournament is a Pokemon fighting/competive action game made by Bandai Namco coming in 2015. Its name is a combination of Pokemon and Tekken (which literally translates to King of the Iron Fist). While the game was just revealed today, a rumored Pokemon fighting game has been floating around for awhile. The name of the game appeared on a E3 “leaked” list earlier this year. Last year at a Japanese Pokemon festival, a very brief video clip was shown in a montage. Well, at least a clip that looks very similar to the game, but nerveless, seeded the rumor of a possible Pokemon fighting game. Probably most intriguing about the game is the fighting game of the people behind it. The game is directed by Masaaki Hoshino, the current head director of Soul Calibur/Soul series. Overseeing him though, is Katsuhiro Harada, director of the Tekken series. Harada is a name that you should be somewhat familiar with and known for pushing Tekken everywhere. Harda has also done non-Tekken related projects recently such as the Western release of Project X-Zone. Dubbed a fighting action game, Pokken Tournament promises a new way to look at Pokemon but with open system for Pokemon players of all ages. The most curious thing about the game so far may be less of the fact its a fighting game and more about where it is releasing first, arcades.
Why Would They Do Arcades First?
There are few reasons why Pokken Tournament would be heading to arcades first. The simplest is the fact that arcades are still an important place for gaming in Japan. Most Japanese fighting games have arcade counter parts that are frequently updated. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Blazblue Chronophantsma, King of Fighters XIII Climax, Guilty Gear Xrd and Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade are all examples of this. The second is arcades can serve a prefect place for balancing before a home release. Usually most arcades release field tests and beta test before the actual arcade game release. On top of that, since Harada is at helm, its roots are grounded in arcade theology. There have been very few Tekken games that haven’t been released at arcades and/or released first on consoles. Pokken Tournament seems to follow this pattern. Rest assured though, a Wii U and most notably a Western release is probably in the works. After all, why else would they create an English trailer? Though there might be something else behind that as well…more on that later…
How Will The Game Play?
It pretty obvious that Pokken Tournament will be a 3D fighting game but the main question is what kind of 3D fighter? Or even will it be a fighter? More on that second question in a bit, but for now lets focus on the first one. Given the fact that producers for both Tekken and Soul Calibur are both working on this game, its a good assumption that the game will likely admiral most of the conventions in those games. Meaning Pokken Tournament will probably be a chain combo game, meaning quick sequences of normal attacks into each other. However, as trailer pointed out, there seems to be some large differences between both Soul Calibur and Tekken present. Most notably, the presence jumping, jumping attacks, special attacks, and projectile attacks. While some of these elements are present in Soul Calibur and Tekken, things like jumping and projectile attacks are not or used sparingly. There are few things that are also present that indicate a much deeper fighting game engine. Such as Lucario dodging into the foreground indicating a dodge mechanic and the fact that the game uses 3D more than just visual flair. There also seems be some sort of move charging mechanic present as well. Through out the trailer both Lucario and Machamp both are seen charging up their moves before unleashing them. Then, at the end of the trailer, we see Mega Lucario with his aura around him. Does that mean you can eventually turn into Mega characters or are they separate slots? Right now, we don’t know. In fact, there are a lot of Pokemon elements we don’t know right now. Are fights one on one or can their be team battles? Since Pokken Tournament, fuses Pokemon and Tekken, some elements of the could be shared, like tag battles. Although one element from Tekken is confirmed not to be shared: characters. No Tekken guest characters will be in Pokken Tournament, Harada confirmed today. Probably the biggest thing that wasn’t confirmed in today’s video, and key to the Pokemon game play experience, was the presence of status aliments.
Status elements are key parts of Pokemon games. In the right combination, the can help even the most uneven battles in Pokemon an even playing field. While not announced today, Pokken Tournament will probably have things that effect status in the game such as poisoned, stunned, defense/offense buffs and nerfs, etc… Its completely possible to do status stuff in fighters and has been done in many games such as Persona 4 Arena and the fan made Pokemon game, Pokemon Type Wild. Actually Type Wild is an excellent reference on how Pokken Tournament will look like raises a possible important element that maybe implemented, an SP meter. Most special moves in Pokken Tournament will probably be tied down to an SP gauge like in Pokemon so they can’t be abused constantly. Even more interesting is that the door is open to for many Pokemon to appear in the game. Taking to twitter after the game was announced, Harada stated that his team have made the engine accommodating enough for the broad array of Pokemon that exist. So yes if you ever wanted to see an Arbok fight a Slowking in fighting game, this maybe your game…if it is a fighting game.
What Do You Mean “If Its A Fighting Game?” Its Pokemon Tekken!
Yes, everything about Pokken Tournament suggest its a fighting game except is producers. Many are billing the game as an “fighting action” or just “action game.” In a press release about the game, Harada specifically states that, “The competitive fighting game genre has acuminated (sic) into what many people might see as a hardcore way of playing, but originally, it was a genre that was enjoyed in a wider range. This time, with Pokkén Tournament, rather than it being a competitive fighter, it is a competitive action game, as we’re bringing it back to the roots of action and competitive games, by developing it into something that can be ‘enjoyed in a wider range’. It’s something you can play with ease by thinking ‘it’s Pokémon, so maybe I’ll give it a try’. It’s something that will provide a very fresh experience.”
It makes a lot of sense though to not bill Pokken Tournament as a straight fighter. Many fighting games have steep learning curves that make it harder for new players to join. Ironically that is rumored to be one of the major hurdles that contributed to Tekken Tag Tournament 2 not reaching its projected sales goal and why newer Tekken entries (Tekken Revolution and Tekken 7) have been trying to lessen their intense game play. Also on Twitter today, Harada confirmed that there wouldn’t be a high and low game play elements that define games like Tekken. This means that if an attack comes high or low in Pokken, you just block to avoid it instead of using high/low block. Its quite similar to how blocking works in Super Smash Bros, which by the way, is also being co-developed with Bandai Namco including some of the staff from Project Soul (AKA team behind most of the recent Soul Calibur games). Pokken Tournament really wants to make the game as low entry as possible but still offer intense and deep game play. Its a very tough route to go on and one that is eerily familiar to another Bandai Namco fighting game released this year.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is the game I am referring too. Developed by Cyber Connect2 a frequent developer of many games for Namco Bandai most notably the Nartuo Ultimate Ninja series, it was never originally intended to be a hardcore fighting game or a fighting game at all. Despite the game originally not being framed as a fighting game, I can tell you from playing it, game is one. It has all of the normal trappings of one. It also features a very easy to get into game system. Literally just pressing the light attack button in rapid succession can net you a fairly decent standard combo into the super with facile effort. Yet you can do very complex combos and set ups like most modern fighting games. Though with the looseness of this system, there are quite a few bugs that still can make the game a bit…broken to say the least. The point I am trying to make is that it is completely feasible to make a game that can be made to appeal to both casual and hardcore fans. The flip-side to that is if you make the game too lose, the exploits could allow people to take advantage of that and make the divide between players a Grand Canyon-sized problem. Smash Bros is another example of this. Its one of the simplest fighters to get into but has a killer competitive side. So killer that Nintendo nerfed much of it from Melee to Brawl and now appears to be semi-reverting it back to its Melee-ish form. But right now ever still fresh. The fact that some of the music in the trailer was lifted from Tekken 5is a pretty clear indication that things are still being worked on right now. Its it important though to mark Pokken Tournament’s competitive struggle which is one that ironically most fighting games share, even it is not technically billed as one.
Anything Else to be Concerned About Pokken Tournament?
Yes and it can be summed up in one word: Amibo. If you forgot Nintendo’s quickly announced answer to Skylanders, its OK. We’re nearly a few weeks away from the first game that uses that feature, Smash Bros For 3DS, and they haven’t said a peep about how it will factor into the game. But you can bet your Jynx that Pokken Tournament will probably use it as well. It wouldn’t be the first time that Namco and Nintendo worked on an arcade game with a physical gimmick. Back in the early part of the 2000’s, Namco created the Tri-Force arcade board. The Tri-Force had less to do with Zelda and more to do with the collaboration of Sega, Nintendo, and Namco coming together to create an arcade hardware that was on similar to a Nintendo Game Cube. In fact that was its main selling point: data between an arcade game and certain Nintendo Game Cube games could be shared via a memory card. However, only one game was published the arcade board and used this feature, F-Zero GX and its arcade counter part AX. So, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched (no pun intended) if Pokken Tournament used a similar system to transfer arcade data to other Pokemon games and/or a home console port. None of that would really matter in the West due to the unlikelihood of Pokken Tournament’s arcade version heading here, but it would be possible testing ground to see how Amibo, or those Pokemon Rumble figures, would work. If a port does come over.
What Do You Mean “IF” A Port Comes Over?
It sound ridiculous that Pokken Tournament wouldn’t come to the Wii U at some point, but honestly, don’t throw out that likelihood. There are a few reasons that Pokken Tournament could take longer to port to homes or possibly even never make it to home consoles. For starters, it might be too graphically intense. Don’t get me wrong, the Wii U is a powerful system and create some spectacular graphics that rival its advance competition. Still Pokken Tournament already looks to be stunning game hoping to run at a smooth 60 FPS. With that said, a transition from arcade to console maybe be tricky to keep its 60 FPS without taking some of that visual flare. Both Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s home ports are slightly downgraded versions in comparison to their arcade counterparts, especially in their graphics. Though the Wii U can support Tekken Tag 2 as just as well as the PS3 and 360 versions, Pokken Tournament is another thing all together. Its engine is being built from the ground up. If the game can’t fit the Wii U’s constraints, then there might not be a chance to port over. Then there’s the curious case of Mario Kart Arcade GP. Developed by Namco, specifically Namco’s Ridge Racer team (or what’s left of them), the Mario Kart Arcade GP series has been Nintendo’s and Namco’s long standing arcade series that’s strangely stayed there. It even got a recent update as of last year and yet neither company has any plans to port the game to the Wii U. Its not like the game is a Japanese exclusive either, as there are English versions of all of the games even the new one. Nor is the tech used the game exclusive to arcades. Modders have found the way to port the first two games to the original Wii thanks to the Homebrew Channel. Even a game that uses similar technology, Namco’s Tank! Tank! Tank!, was a Wii U launch title. Yet still no home port of the game has been announced. Could Pokken Tournament fall the same fate? Doubtful but still its important to keep in mind. When it comes to Nintendo and arcade games, its always never certain what they plan to do which odd considering that’s where Nintendo’s video gaming roots come from.
In the day that Pokken Tournament was announced the internet is a buzz at where the game will go. Hopefully this little breakdown has given you more information to think on and new questions to start asking. In the end though, Pokken Tournament is providing a fresh way to approach Pokemon. After all, we are just a little less than a year and a half away from Pokemon’s 20th anniversary. Pokken Tournament could be a great way to bridge a gap between new and old Pokemon fans while keeping Pokemon’s depth and RPG elements in tact. It could end up being as well if those elements make the game hard for new players to get into or never reaches its intended audience locked up at arcades. We don’t know much right now. However we all can agree on one thing: Pikachu will be there and will be top tier. Might as well get ready for it, the electric mouse invasion has already begun.
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