New Characters
Many had wondered whether or not non-Fighting type characters would be included in Pokken Tournament, and the answer is a resounding yes! Suicine, Gardevoir and Pikachu were all announced as playable characters. This brings the current roster to five, including Machamp and Lucario. If you include Blaziken, who was shown in the very first video evidence of the game, there are six characters in the game as of now.
Character renders, like this Gardevoir, are incredibly detailed.
While not strictly playable characters, Support Set Pokemon were also shown off. Similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 3's Assist system, Emolga, Fennekin, Snivy, and Lapras were available to call into battle, each using a single move before disappearing again. It doesn't seem that assist characters recharge quickly (or at all, possibly) so players may only be able to use them once per round. These assists come in sets of two Pokemon each, and it appears you pick one of the two assists in between each round. Emolga and Fennekin appeared to have short burst attacks, perhaps useful for interrupts, while Snivy and Lapras both had multi-hit attacks that stayed out longer, locking down opponents.
While many assumed this game would be Tekken with Pokemon characters, it appears to have a fighting system made specifically for Pokken Tournament. At the beginning of a match, combatants are in a 'free range' mode of sorts, able to move freely in the 3D plane while throwing long range attacks at each other. It's most easily likened to Dragonball Z: Budokai, but there is significantly less space for characters to run around, so the fight stays within relatively close quarters at all times.
However, when a character makes a direct hit at medium range, the fighting mode shifts into a 2.5D system more similar to Street Fighter or Tekken. At this point, characters string together combos and use high-low mixups to do damage. The game stays in this mode until someone lands a 'finishing blow' to knock their opponent away, doing major damage and sending the match back into 'free range' mode.
So far, Pokken Tournament has only been announced as a Japanese arcade game, but today's presentation left some hints that suggest a possible console release! The machines themselves have a great aesthetic, but what was most notable was the control scheme.
Unlike traditional arcade fighters that use a joystick and buttons on the arcade cabinet, Pokken Tournament features a console-style gamepad with a d-pad and a four-button layout, mimicking the basic design of the Wii U Game Pad. Fingers crossed this means a Wii U release in the future! For those who live in Japan, there will be some location tests going at the end of this month, so take a look at the official site to find one near you!
Credit and thanks to Serebii.net for the pictures used in this article.
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That's all the info for now - what do you think about Pokken Tournament? Are you excited, or is it not what you expected? Make your voice heard in the comments below!
The Derrit wants to play whoever the Grass-type representative is. Shiftry perhaps? Chat with him on Twitter at @TheDerrit.
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