Musing About Tekken 6 Console: Getting Real with Scenario Campaign

Is the Tekken Force strong with this one?

I’ve been reading a lot of talk concerning the new Scenario Campaign mode in the console versions of Tekken 6, so I’ve decided to talk about it at length.

One of the things of concern is the graphics, which are a bit of a downgrade from the main game. In fact, the weird thing is some morons take a look at Scenario and are judging the whole game by that. Really, it’s a Bonus Game Mode, an extra that the devs were nice enough to throw into the package. Yes, the enemies aren’t as detailed as the main fighters, but they don’t need to be. What’s more important I think is the variety- with Tekken 6’s tons of customizations, I hope they really go to town with making lots of enemy models. Or maybe even let us customize enemies?
Bottom line is, the graphics aren’t as good as the main game, but they’re not horrible, nor is that the point. The focus in Scenario Campaign is the bigger scale, so it’s better to see more enemies and fast action than a more detailed, close-in look which is reserved for the actual one-on-one fighting arena.

Next up is the gameplay. Will the hybrid gameplay work? Or will running around and then ‘locking’ into enemies going to be clunky? Looking at the gameplay clips so far, this will probably have hits and misses. I think we’ll probably have our share of having some trouble with little spots- we’ll probably get mobbed a lot, lock into an enemy when we don’t want to or such. But still, just having your character’s full move list to use in a context outside the arena is pretty cool. That alone makes the return of Tekken Force awesome.

Lastly, does Scenario Campaign replace Story Mode? Purists may squeal, but we have to look at the PROS as well. It’ll be similar to the Choose Your Own Path story mode in Soul Calibur III, which was pretty cool. The devs have put a lot into this minigame in effort and content supposedly, and that should count for something. At the very least there should be more story-content to find; at least more than the previous two cutscenes and one CG ending in Tekken 5. I will surely enjoy seeing the real-time cinematics, with my customized characters interacting.

I really hope Namco did their homework and really get into the stories- I fully expect every character to have several cutscenes, fully animated with voiced dialogue. They’ve had quite some time to really flesh out the many plotlines, but how deep will it go? Will every fighter have their own reasons for going all over the world beating up mobs of enemies, or will they all just follow one basic plot? From what I can tell though Scenario Campaign will start off initially with just Lars selectable, and you open up characters for use here as you encounter them in the game. For those who were antsy about there being no more unlocking of characters, Scenario mode may be a treat for you.

So in the end if Story Battle really is gone, no biggie for me. Arcade Mode, Ghost Battle and Time Attack will be there for those who just want a straight-up ladder of foes. Perhaps Scenario will be a better way to tell the story, perhaps not. But let’s give it a chance.

Scenario Campaign may either end up as being pretty cool and revered like the classic Tekken Force, or it may become a sore spot like Chronicles of the Sword from Soul Calibur III. But for me at the very least it’s a nice way of seeing your fighters duking it out in a much larger setting, showing that the Tekken world is more than just the small square arena. In this, at the very least it surpasses the previous Tekken Force and breaks new ground. So let’s give it a fair shot when Tekken 6 comes out in late October.