Post date: Oct 28, 2013 9:56:43 PM
I, admittedly, have slowed down on playing Tekken Revolution. Don't get me wrong, I still love the game, but there's become a diminishing return of life span expectancy. Well, at least for me. I'm currently sitting comfortably at level 49 underneath the current cap of level 60. Of the last 10+ Ranked Matches I've played, I've only lost one and looking back there's a chance I wouldn't have lost if I was approximately level 55 and above. For me, the game has slowed down to a crawl and the leveling process is just too boring. It pains me to say that I probably won't be playing TR in the future simply because I'm going to fall behind and to be honest I really don't want to catch up.
Why? The problem is that Tekken Revolution, without the persistent leveling system, is actually really fun. I haven't remained quiet about this fact, e.g. read pretty much any of my last TR posts, because it's true. The game plays like a completely different beast at an equal playing ground. This is compounded by the problem that by playing with enhancements off, I'm neutering my chances of actually reaching the cap because I'm constantly playing players much lower level than I am.
So on one hand I can stomp the competition in Ranked or be penalized for making the game fair with Player matches. This is also an interesting trend I've noticed during Ranked Matches is that for every 20 or so enhanced matches, I play one player without any stat enhancements. So should Player Matches give near equal experience if played exclusively with enhancements off? No. Ranked Matches should garner high reward for their higher risk. What I would like to see in the future might be an enhancement off Ranked Match. Equal footing where a 200 power, enraged King* won't one-shot you with a giant swing.
So what's this "critical mass" I speak of?
Simply the game is progressing, via Namco mind you, into the territory of TTT2 complexity. With two new characters, Lee and Christie, being added in just a few days that will make a current total cast of 24 characters which overall play completely different from each other. The two closest characters in TR are Kazuya and Devil Jin, both of which are arguably top-tier. This will be the third wave of characters added in just two months, whereas earlier in TR's life a new wave of characters was only every other month.
For those who are still unaware of the upcoming TR characters:
Dr. B
Marduk
Jaycee
Bruce
Bob
Zafina
Raven
Jun
Anna
The critical mass is there's still nine characters pretty much guaranteed to be added to TR, ten if you include Ganryu who is still yet to be confirmed. At the current rate of two character waves, that's five waves. Assuming they do at least one more four character wave, that's three to four more waves of characters until TR is effectively exhausted. By that time there will be 34 characters in the game, 37 if Namco finally does unlock boss characters, 38 if Namco unlocks Mokujin (which I highly doubt they will in Ranked).
So of the 60 characters available in console, 41 playable in arcade, Tekken Revolution as of now will have 38 different characters.
When does Revolution stop being revolutionary and just become TTT2?
Somewhere along the line Namco forgot that TR and TTT2 are two very different games. Hardcore TTT2 fans complain that Namco has basically given up on TTT2 and instead are supporting TR, which in their opinion isn't deserving. I plead the opposite, the reason they're giving TR so much attention is that they're turning it into TTT2.
Revolution, at its core, is meant to be broken. The invincible system completely destroys certain mix-ups and characters, damage scaling on certain attacks out trumps others, critical damage not truly being random but affected by a stackable stat, throw damage scaling with not only Power but rage as well, certain characters receiving more B! type attacks than others, favorable balance changes for seemingly no reason, etc. Let's be honest, Revolution is an experiment and a testing ground, I don't believe anyone who's played Tekken before will approach the game and think it's "balanced". It shouldn't be, tiers should swing wildly, why such a conservative stance on the game all of a sudden?
Tekken Revolution != Tekken Tag Tournament 2, don't try to please the TTT2 crowd because their minds are already set.
Let TR live its life as a separate entity.
Where are the new characters?
The main draw, for me at least, is that completely new characters are to be added to TR. Now I'm not happy that they're predominantly "fan-service" but I love the idea of new mechanics and brand-new characters to learn. Every time a patch rolls around and I see no news about the voted characters, my Tekken fandom dies a little inside. I don't necessarily want screenshots, sneak peaks, or videos. I really just want to hear that Namco seemingly hasn't forgotten about them.
I know you guys are probably busy with TxSF but throw us a bone every now and then.
*Which is hyperbole, not because of the scaling damage of throws in TR, but because there are no Byakko King players /Kappa