Post date: Jun 27, 2013 2:48:43 PM
For those still uninitiated, Tekken Revolution (TR), is based on the TTT2 game/engine but is overall simplified. There's a few major, system, differences between TTT2 and TR that are definitely noteworthy.
1) First and foremost the game is solo mode only, so it's 1 on 1 battles similar to older Tekken games
2) The playable character roster has been severely reduced, 8 immediately playable and 4 more can be unlocked
3) The bound (B!) system will only work outside combos and during combos the attacks will spike but not B!
4) Every character now has a "Special Art", an attack that crushes everything but is launch punishable on block
5) Picking the opponent up off the ground during oki is completely gone, as such it's much safer to get up now
Other smaller additions:
1) Certain moves now a "Critical Art" attribute dealing about 50% more bonus damage, but can only occur randomly
2) A select few moves, per character, have had their move properties modified to pre-TTT2 status
3) Critical and Special Art are signified by new sprites/animation, colored blue (generic) and red respectively
The Free-to-Play (F2P) Aspect:
Tekken Revolution is based on "coins", specifically Battle Coins and Arcade Coins. Battle Coins replenish every 30 minutes, with a maximum of five at one time, and Arcade Coins replenish every hour, with a maximum of two at one time. These coins are used to play specific parts of the game, Ranked/Player Matches and Arcade Mode, respectively. It's important to note that the coins cannot be mixed in matched so once you extinguish your Battle Coins, you will not be able to use your Arcade Coins to play a Ranked/Player Match, or vice versa. So once your coins run out, you're locked out of playing the game until you A) spend real money or B) wait and allow your coins to return. In the F2P world this is usually known as a "stamina" system because it effectively limits the amount you can play in a row and can play again once your stamina (in this case coins) recovers.
Periodically, once certain conditions are met, you'll also receive a Premium Ticket and this is where (IMO) game shines. Premium Tickets may act as a Battle/Arcade Coin but come with the added bonus of regenerating if you win while using it. At first the requirements for receiving them is fairly simple but eventually become fairly scarce to receive as it does directly compete with their business model. The major downside is once you use it and fail to win, it's gone. The major upside is that it acts like quarters at the arcade, as long as you're still winning, you're not losing/using any money. Which gives the game a true arcade feel, especially during Player Matches where people are queuing to play the winner.
The Business Model:
Right now Namco's business model is selling something called "Premium Coins", sometimes referred to as gold coins, and buying in bulk will help lower the cost. These coins act as Premium Tickets in the sense that you can use them anywhere and will be refunded them if you win your match. In the future Namco is planning on selling premium flair for Critical Art moves to add some uniqueness/customization to your character's attacks. Right now they're demoing the premium art for Kazuya and Lars with Kazuya's being blue or red (dependent on the move) and Lars' is a yellow/orange color. My guess is that you'll be able to redistribute stats in the future with real money so if you went, for instance, a full Vigor build and it's not quite working out you can change your stats for real money.
While unconfirmed, it's possible that Namco will add costumes and possibly the ability to unlock characters faster as the current model for unlocking characters is near exponential. I also would be willing to be that you'll be able to redistribute stats in the future with real money so if you went, for instance, a full Vigor build and it's not quite working out you can change your stats for real money. All which would be standard fare for F2P games.
A more personal write-up coming soon.