Bandai Namco revealed that the full title for the next installment of the popular fighting game franchise Tekken is Tekken 7: Fated Retribution. However, the announcement of the next character joining Tekken's roster of fighters is drawing more attention.
The new character that will be joining Tekken 7: Fated Retribution is no other than the man-turned demon Akuma, the main antagonist of the similarly popular fighting game series Street Fighter.
Tekken 7: Fated Retribution was announced at the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2015 finals, which is also when Akuma was revealed to be crossing over from Street Fighter to Tekken. This is not the first time that Akuma will be fighting against Tekken characters though, as he was playable in the crossover fighting game Tekken X Street Fighter.
The video for the Tekken 7: Fated Retribution reveal for Akuma begins with Kazumi, the wife of Heihachi, speaking to a stranger about how Heihachi needs to be stopped. The video later shows brief gameplay footage of Heihachi squaring off against Akuma.
The appearance of Akuma in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution is a welcome treat to the fans of the character. There is no indication that Akuma will be among the playable characters in the upcoming Street Fighter V, and he is also left out of the list of characters that can be brought to the game through downloadable content. Gamers looking to battle as Akuma in the upcoming game will still be able to do so, albeit with a different fighting game franchise.
The inclusion of Akuma in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution could mean that Capcom and Bandai Namco are still very much open to doing more crossover titles in the future. Tekken X Street Fighter, which was a great idea at first, was met with criticism as the title contained a long list of popular characters that can only be acquired through paying real money for downloadable content.
Tekken 7: Fated Retribution will first arrive at arcade machines, bringing new characters such as Akuma and new outfits and items as well. The title will be bringing back a host of franchise favorites to the fighting roster too, including Devil Jin, Kazuya, King, Lars, Law, Leo, Lily, Paul, Steve, Xiaoyu and Yoshimitsu.
Among the new characters are Josie Rizal, Katarina Alvarez, Lucky Chloe and Shaheen.
