The Wii U version of Pokken Tournament was primarily tested for the purpose of this review.
Bandai Namco and The Pokémon Company have pooled their combined resources and talents to bring Nintendo fans a taste of something different. A Tekken influenced Pokémon combat game. As the player, you pit your Pokémon against another in the best of a three round match up to determine the best combatant on the day. As you gain experience you level your Pokémon up and increase your reputation to become the best trainer of the Ferrum region.
The first time I found myself actively thinking about this games presentation was at the beginning of my first match and the game was introducing the level that was about to become my battleground. It was a volcanic themed stage and the vibrant colours that formed the pools of lava and embers were remarkable to watch. All the stages have the feel of them being a living and breathing arena and I think was something that has captured the Pokémon spirit without flaw of recreating epic battles through the use of the environment.
In all seriousness though, the Pokémon have stayed very true their source material in terms of appearance. When you activate your Pokémon’s synergy attack though each and every one is a sight to be seen, outer planet attacks, thrashing combos with intense bolts of lighting and streams of fire bursting at the seams. Once activated each match is a visual treat to be a part of.
The games HUD during battle is very well structured considering the amount of things that are being fit into the screen. Health, Synergy, assists, avatar plus details and match time all fit in there and are easily to be quickly seen on the fly and didn’t clutter your game space.
Initially I couldn’t have been more wrong, my first half hour or so into the game I was regretting every single second of it. The painfully read script of your guide, Nia and her agonizingly slow tutorials and the long mundane explanations of everything, absolutely everything. For a game that has such a simple formula, pick a Pokémon and fight with it, why did it need to take so long to dance around everything else?
Concluding each battle you are ranked on your Offensive, Defensive, Skill and Bonus out of 5 and are paid handsomely with in game money and experience for your Pokémon for how you went. The in game money is used to purchase the cosmetic items previously mentioned. As you gain experience your Pokémon levels up and becomes stronger just like in any traditional Pokémon game. This idea though does introduce a lot of replay ability to the game and provides enough motivation to switch around Pokémon until you find what character you want to main with.
Although labelled as a fighter, I feel it is more of a glorified brawler with a very mild need to be able to recite combos, even flirting with button mashing territory. This makes it more than accessible for new comers to the genre or someone looking to experience Pokémon in a different way.
Throughout your battle you will charge what is called Assist Pokémon, currently there are around a dozen pairs of assist Pokémon that offer different types of benefits as you battle. Some can disorientate, heal you or deal area damage. While they do assist you ever so slightly, I just saw the feature as a way to include more Pokémon to the experience.
My only other real grief with this game is the lack of selection to the fighters. There are around 720 or so Pokémon and Pokkén has 16 fighters two of which have doubles, Pikachu, Pikachu Libre, Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo. I think that these could easily have been simple costume swaps to cover this opening the gates for two more Pokémon at launch but likely we will have to wait for DLC characters to fill that void. Here is to hoping for Blastoise!