Tekken 7 builds something fresh by retreading old content

It’s often disappointing to see a game reuse assets from one of its predecessors, but the newest fighting game from publisher Bandai Namco shows that it’s possible to use that content to flesh out a game into something bigger.

Tekken 7, which is out now on Steam (where I played it) and the consoles for $50, brings fans a campaign that promises to wrap up the franchise’s ongoing 23-year-old story of family, betrayal, and punching. Once again, horn-haired Heihachi Mishima is holding one of his King of the Iron Fists tournaments with the purpose of exposing the devil or something … it’s pretty nuts. As with all Tekkens, the feud between Heihachi and his son, Kazuya, is still the central pillar of this narrative, but Tekken 7 doesn’t just put those characters and the surrounding cast through the motions. Instead, Bandai Namco recognizes their history and brings it into the game in the form of the original cutscenes from previous entries in the series.