Pokkén Tournament is molded from familiar elements borrowed from a slew of old favorites. It endeavors to please fans of its namesakes - Pokémon and Tekken - while also appealing to fighting genre enthusiasts by incorporating bits of Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, and even Bandai Namco’s Naruto and Dragonball games. Its broad range of influences creates a wholly unique experience.
The most notable innovation in this genre hybrid is the shifting field of battle. Pokémon battles transition back and forth between Field Phase - a three-dimensional scramble heavy on projectiles and positioning - and the more traditional fighting game-style Duel Phase, depending on your actions. A stiff blow in Field Phase activates Duel Phase, allowing access to bursts of damage. Completing a lethal combo in Duel Phase might shift the action back to Field Phase, where Pokémon can side-step and dodge arrays of laser beams and torrents of fire. This shifting helps layer strategy onto the frantic action, giving you pause to consider your next attacks and the way they will manipulate the flow of the battle.Each of these turn-based RPG fighters is translated into a real-time combatant with mechanics that feel appropriate.
Iconic Pokémon from both early and current generations are present and available to be pitted against each other, and as a long-time fan, I felt immediately welcome. The roster contains a nice mixture of old mainstays and new faces, and while it would be impossible to include everyone’s favorites, the 16-character group is made up of characters spanning Pokémon’s 20 years of history. These are characters that have existed for decades, and Pokkén Tournament does not disappoint in portraying them faithfully. Each of these turn-based RPG fighters is translated into a real-time combatant with mechanics that feel appropriate for their well-known designs. Machamp, for instance, stomps towards his foes, seeking to get close and dole out staggering blows or grab defensive opponents for even more damage. Gengar manufactures mix-ups with use of misdirection, forcing opponents to guess whether he will attack from above, from behind, or from below.“
In Too Deep
The art style feels right at home in the Pokémon universe, while also lending an edge to the visuals to make the action a good fit for a brawler. The sounds and music fit just as well as the graphics, with new takes on Pokémon soundtrack classics alongside original high-energy compositions. Pokémon games have always had quality music, and developer Bandai Namco has made sure that Pokkén Tournament does not tarnish that legacy.The sheer breadth of complexity in gameplay places heavy expectations on your shoulders.
Having sung those praises, I have to pivot and argue that Pokkén Tournament’s many strengths also serve as its biggest flaw. The sheer breadth of complexity in gameplay places heavy expectations on your shoulders: absorb a lot, and to do it quickly. Loading Pokkén Tournament’s Tutorial modes immediately illustrates this tsunami of ideas, as several non-interactive demos instruct you on a multitude of topics ranging from actions specific to Pokkén Tournament to advanced fighting game concepts. A narrated guide instructs new arrivals on Phase Shifts, Synergy Gauge, Support Gauge, Wall Combos, Wall Burst, Cancels, and Guard Breaks – by the end of it I felt like I'd just sat through a school lecture. Even for those of us experienced with fighting games, it can take some time to get comfortable with Pokkén Tournament’s plethora of mechanics.“
The Trainer Becomes The Trainee
To its credit, Pokkén Tournament’s single-player content seems to anticipate how overwhelming it might be fore new players and heads that off at the pass by featuring modes that help ease them into the action. Leagues of CPU-controlled Pokémon trainers can be challenged, feeding into promotion matches that grant access to leagues populated by more skilled trainers. This is a smart approach, as it gradually introduces Pokkén Tournament’s slew of advanced techniques via a series of opponents who become progressively more adept as you do, featuring AI that starts out feeble but quickly becomes formidable. And the final boss, who shall remain anonymous, is a great new take on an old idea.It's successful: after spending a few hours playing single-player modes, I found myself becoming comfortable with its more advanced techniques. However, even for a fighting game, Pokkén Tournament can be surprisingly complicated. Even armed with knowledge and practice from hundreds of battles in single-player Leagues and training modes, I found myself sometimes overwhelmed managing the multitude of ways to optimize my Pokémon.Once you’ve mastered the basics and learned more of the unique traits of your character, you can quickly jump into netplay against other trainers. Pre-release online multiplayer had little in the way of latency, and even with a low population of players at the time of this review, matches were made quickly. Netplay features two modes, Friendly and Ranked Matches, and they are similar to the Casual and Ranked modes players have become familiar with in games like Street Fighter V. Being able to jump into my next battle with minimal waiting was a refreshing change of pace from recent fighting games.
