Checking in as a Tekken rookie to hopefully encourage the other ones out there...
I have finally had some time to really sit down and play for hours without interruption, and have to say that this is a really fun game and I'm glad I bought it.
Having not played Tekken since the PSX, I spent quite a bit of time in training to get more familiar with the basics before jumping into Story Mode. It was overwhelming with the amount of characters and moves to learn, but I just needed to get a feel for things. Eventually I jumped into Story Mode because that would at least give me some characters to focus on and give me some actual fights. Overall, I found the campaign to be fairly frustrating. As someone who was trying to learn the ins and outs of the game, running into encounters that diminish core mechanics or outright counter them was extremely annoying. I eventually had to lower the difficulty all the way down just so I wouldn't break a controller. Ultimately it did hammer home some of the basic movement and spacing needs, but it was a relief to get that out of the way,
The search for a first main has been hard, simply because there are so many characters with their own nuances. Based on the
Tekken 7 Character Overview video, I started with Lars and did some training and Treasure Battles before hopping online. It is really a bummer that the online is in its current state because I could really use consecutive matches. I eventually managed to get into a few tournaments and lose immediately, but it was fun to continue watching and see what people were doing to win. It helped me narrow down my playstyle and weaknesses, so I started looking for a new character to use and landed on Leo. After spending about 3 hours in Treasure Battle and getting some basic strings, pokes, and armor moves down I went back into a few Tournaments and got 2nd place twice in a row. Hoping a 1st place is in my near future.
It is extremely rewarding to
feel the progress of getting better at the game, and as someone who isn't great at doing the big combos, I find that I can be pretty successful with just being smarter. Specifically, using strings that change up attack height, being more aware of what I want to do when I hit the ground, and using some quick attacks that get people out of my face. I'm not getting rushed down as much, getting obliterated when on the ground, or getting juggled for the entirety of a match. The allure of the big combo is real, but it doesn't feel necessary, and that revelation was a good thing for me.
tl;dr
The game is super fun and thanks to everyone in the Tekken community for creating tutorials, posting tips, and encouraging new players like me to stick with it. Loving the game so far.
