Fans of the “Tekken” franchise will be happy to know that the game’s director Katsuhiro Harada has announced two characters making their way to the latest installment of the popular fighting game.
During the recently held Evolution Fighting Championships 2016 held in Las Vegas, Harada revealed the fighters as Bob from “Tekken 6” and a new character called Master Raven.
The announcement came with trailers for each character which featured their fighting styles.
Bob, a.k.a. Robert Richards is back and this time, he has let go of his suspenders. Instead of his shirt and pants, he’s opted for a ripped Hawaiian shirt and jeans.
The character still practices freestyle Karate and judging by the trailer, he’s gotten better at it.
He also continues to be a well-rounded fighter that utilizes strength, speed, and a wide range of attacks. Bandai Namco has stated that Bob is one of the most well-rounded players the “Tekken” franchise have.
Bob is a returning character. He initially appeared in the “Tekken 6” game, as well as in the “Bloodline Retribution,” “Tekken Tag Tournament 2,” “Street Fighter X Tekken,” and “Tekken 3D Prime” games.
Master Raven, on the other hand, seems to take inspiration from the “Tekken 5” character Raven. The similarities are also apparent as Master Raven is also a ninja. Her fighting style in the trailer looks similar to the original Raven.
Harada confirmed that Master Raven is actually Raven’s superior, so the character is expected to feature a number of similar moves. As per PC Gamer, Bandai Namco said that the original Raven, who debuted in “Tekken 5,” has origins that remain unclear at present.
The introduction of his female superior, Master Raven, in “Tekken 7” will most likely shed more light about Raven’s past although it’s also still unknown if Raven will be part of “Tekken 7.”
Other characters for the upcoming game that were announced include Heihachi, Kazuma, King, Paul Phoenix, Nina Williams, Asuka Kazama, and much more.
During this year’s E3, fans were given a treat as they saw Heihachi face off against Street Fighter’s Akuma, who plays a vital role in the story mode of “Tekken 7.”
Continuing the trend from “Tekken Tag Tournament 2,” several characters now speak in their native languages aside from Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean.
The upcoming game will have 31 playable characters, with 20 available upon launch. The rest will be added in the following months. There will be several returning characters, as well as new ones.
“Tekken 7” is the ninth installment in the Japanese game series and is the first to make use of the Unreal engine. The game had a limited arcade release in Japan last year, followed by an updated version titled “Tekken 7: Fated Retribution,” released this month.
The updated version features an expanded content including new stages, costumes, items, and characters.
The same version is also scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows early next year just in time for the franchise’s 23rd anniversary.
Harada says that the game’s story will be much darker than ever before and says that it will likely be closer to the storyline of “Tekken 4” and will serve as the conclusion of the Mishima clan saga.
The game will provide answers regarding the feud between Heihachi Mishima, his son, Kazuya Mishima, and his grandson, Jun Kazama and the origins of Devil Gene among other Tekken mysteries.
Harada has stated in early 2014 his plans to continue the series for PS4 consoles and to satisfy the clamor for a follow-up to 2011’s “Tekken Tag Tournament 2.”
The game’s trailer was released later the same year and introduced the backstory regarding Heihachi’s wife, Kazumi Mishima, who was killed by him years prior to the events of the earlier games.