On the 2nd of July, (sorry it’s a bit late) I left early from work [with a cheeky excuse] and headed down to Namco Bandai’s Summer Showcase at the Rich Mix Cinema. The event was a showcase for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Ni No Kuni – a brand new Japanese role playing game from Studio Ghibli and Tales of Graces F – the latest entry from the ever popular ‘Tales of’ franchise.
Of course, as we all know, my main goal was to spend as much time playing Tekken Tag 2 as possible. But I managed to pull myself away long enough to play a little of both the Japanese RPG’s, have a chat with the ever amazing Hollie Bennett and Lauren Bradley about the games on the show, the audiences for fighting games, and what we can expect from Tekken in the future.
However, as I did spend almost all my time around Tag, here’s what went down. The new build for Tag 2 was on both Xbox 360 and PS3, along with the traditional arcade machine set-up as well. The main focus that night was on Tekken ‘Fight Lab’ mode, an in-game tutorial aiming to completely break down the game, from combo’s, movement and controls; basically starting from scratch. It’s a way to help remove the barrier between those who know how to play the game and play it well, and those that are completely new to its system. In its basic form, it’s a more in depth and precise training mode. Personally, I didn’t spend to much time with it, but I can see it will be a very good tool for those just starting out or with little experience, to grasp the game in its true form.
Lion-O, one of Namco Bandai’s Tekken ‘Experts’ [Don’t smile at ‘expert’ Lion-o] was also on hand to show off the new advanced techniques and combo’s that this game has to offer fan’s. Ex-Soldier, another Tekken expert and Lion-o had a good few matches which I took the liberty of recording, so make sure to check them out.
The will be more news on Tag as it gets closer to release, and watch out for both reviews on Ni No Kuni and Tales of F.
