another thing about Tekken 4 that I don't see a lot of people pointing out is that it's the only game in the series that allowed fighters to move around, crouch, and even enter stances *before* the fight would even begin. very experimental and underrated feature of the game that added to the uniqueness of the fighting experience
@@paulpangilinan6671 i can't speak to other series. all i know is that tekken 4 was the only game in the tekken series to let fights move around before the beginning of the match
@samthenightowl5951 sorry I actually didn't read your comment properly. You actually said in the series instead of other games. But yeah I do kinda wish it was in other games in the series too.
@@paulpangilinan6671 no problem. i do too, but i suspect it isn't gonna happen because it was a part of a whole series of experimental ideas in tekken 4, a lot of which wasn't very popular with the fans. and there's probably more theoretical issues with allowing people to get into stances and their desired spacing before the match even begins.
"Armor King was murdered." If there was one line that set the tone, it was that one for me. I actually developed a personal grudge towards Marduk over it and King is my favorite character because of it.
OML... me and brother I always used to pick King and armor King and we will play together and Tekken Tag Tournament against other people I will pick armor King and he will pick King and vice versa so when armor King was murdered by Murdock we were pissed
The atmosphere, visual aesthetics, and sound design in this game were so unique. It’s not very story-based, but I think Tekken Tag 1’s atmosphere is worth talking about too. There’s something so spacey and ethereal about it. Sometimes comes off as melancholy and reflective with much of the visuals and music.
Tekken peaked in Tekken 4 and tag in my opinion. It was such a unique experience and I remember noticing Tekken 5 having uglier visuals and music. I was a kid then and knew something was just off with 5. Also the inclusion of generic rock music in later entries was an utter travesty in my opinion compared to earlier entries .
@@3eezy I actually love the music and atmosphere of T5. I much prefer the electronic rock and nu metal of T5 + Dark Resurrection over all the dubstep and drumstep on T7 tbh. T4 and TTT still better tho
I truly miss this era of tekken. You used to take these stories seriously. Tekken had a good story. Not by fighting game standards by video game standards. Now it’s jumped the shark so hard you couldn’t even come close to reaching this level of perfection.
Its strange how part 5 got it back on track while taking a few steps back. Tekken 4 is better in hindsight in mamy ways. They need to bring the realistic stage designs back too.
The epitome of that is Asuka. Big new character coming into Tekken 5, we have the chance to use Jun's moveset but updated a bit, she's linked to Jin and as shown in her ending she has powers to suppress the Devil gene. I can't wait to see how she'll impact the overall storyline! Oh ... they immediately introduce a new character that does nothing but hold her back into a "are they/aren't they" lesbian fanbait plot and then forever leaving Asuka with a Lili shaped ball and chain on her to hold her back. Great.
I don't know why fighting games don't do this more. It makes casual players more invested into the game. Spectators, too. When you're interested in the character itself, you get a different type of enjoyment that doesn't rely on "git gud"
Absolutely. I miss the darker tone the earlier games set. Tekken 2's console intro was almost dreamlike. I would give anything for another intro like that.
I miss this era of Tekken when every character got a definitive story showing where they've been and they were currently going through. Now it's a matter of some characters getting shafted. And people wonder why I roll my eyes when I see Mashima's. All the character progression has been thrown to the waist side for them. And mind you Jin is coming off the bench in T8 after being left with nothing to do in TF7
@@khanage1344 that's awesome man! I loved how you broke down the tone and music for Tekken 4. The video was perfect and I'm glad it popped up in my recommendations. I had to sub. Keep it up!
@@RandomBlackGamer Damn, that's so awesome! Thanks a lot! I have more videos coming out, including another Tekken video that I'm about to finish editing, so I have lots more content coming soon :)
Did you know they wanted a Big Cinema Story for Lilly and Howarang like vs Jin, Devil Jin? They have Cancelled it. The Story from Tekken 5 Howarang was, that they have Made but only in Grafik Demonstration and get Cancelled. I know this for last Week and think, that could be a Metal Gear Solid 4 like Atmosphere but don't have done it... This was a Big Deal! 😔
you have no idea how much I just miss these urban outfits... Hwoarang's gi in this game is dope Paul's alternate outfit Tracksuit Xiayou Julia's outfit King with hair! hidden Miharu and Eddy playable palettes all these outfits are just simply amazing...
Not to mention Heihachi's sumo diaper (I forget what it's actually called!). It was as if Heihachi's confidence in his abilities was so high, he decided to fight you as the final boss with basically no clothes on! 😮
It's always hard to describe T4, you did it beautifully. Truly an amazing piece, that I sadly don't think can be replicated. A perfect representation of the zeitgeist
Thank you very much for the comment! While T4 has its critics, I love how different the game feels when compared to fighting games from the PS2 era and even modern ones. Not every idea the Tekken team implemented into the game was fantastic, but it made the game unique and thought-provoking, so I love the game for that. I'm glad that you liked the video :)
TEKKEN 4 Was definitely one of the best in the series! I can't begin to tell you how many times I've played this game because of the background stories of the characters were so compelling. This was a great video brought back some wonderful memories all the things you mentioned were spot on! Truly a technical masterpiece! I only wished NAMCO would've put this much detail in Ridge Racer V
Tekken 4 is the best game in the entire franchise. It had the best story. Especially Kazuya's story was profound, him getting rid of Devil but absorbing all of his powers by discovering a mental technique and taking advantage of Devil being distracted. Also, the scientific view of the Devil gene vs. the mystic view of being possessed by a Devil, both views are explored at the same time. Did Kazuya and Devil have internal dialogues in other Tekken games besides in Tekken 4? I think not. It had the best essential characters (no filler characters), the most realistically proportioned looking characters (not unrealistically overdone) and backgrounds, a great force mode, great music. It was the absolute pinnacle of the series, an overall height never reached again by its successors.
Look man, I get that this one has the best presentation and, arguably, the best story lineup but we don't need to get so hyped up to say things like this when tekken 3, 5 and 7 exist. This is a fighting game first and foremost, gameplay and innovation also matter in the package. I do agree it has the best everything else besides the gameplay though and I'm really liking that series seems to be going back to the more dark and grounded tone with the new tekken 8 reveal.
"I wasn't even alive back then" Oooof. I remember being super stoked as a kid because Jin switched to karate. Coincidentally enough my parents bought me Tekken 4 because they were proud and wanted to motivate me to keep going to karate as a kid. I stuck with that till I was 16, when I switched to an MMA class and got my nose bust in my first lesson because that traditional guard didn't exactly help me stop a jab lmao. Just like that punch to the face Tekken 4 really did hit different, especially when I was so used to the more light-hearted tone of the games I played before it. Really felt like a next generation fighting game at the time.
@@khanage1344 There's a lot of fighters out there who never end up learning the importance of a good guard, unfortunately I'm not one of them. The guy boxed for the military and he had amazing reach, it was like boxing Freddy Krueger. As wild as Tekken is from reality the moves lists have always had solid research put into their animations. When I moved from just learning karate to going to that class I saw a lot of parallels in the Tekken games I'd played when I was younger to all the new stuff I was seeing. Exaggerated impacts sure but the character's movements felt pretty real at times. The whole switch position mechanic in 4 is very big and I can see why they felt the need to try it. Unfortunately it came out clunky but it's very realistic when you think of boxing, shoving someone around disrupts their rhythm, positions them and (mostly) protects you just like it does in the game.
You missed out not being alive! You could even take your dual shock 2 into the arcade and the tekken 4 cabinet had a ps2 controller port so you could use your pad! Just frame laser cannon ftw!
Thank you for this video. All these years I see a lot of people saying that Tekken 4 was the "worst" Tekken. For me Tekken 4 was the best. Not just because of the game itself, but for the transition from Tekken 3. The music, all the new features, and the atmosphere around everything, it was a huge jump from ps1 to ps2. It was a new era, a really modern one, everything was "new" and they did it really good.
This was my fave Tekken game, they got rid of the more sillier aspects and the supernatural stuff was toned down and injected some hard boiled realism for the new era of gaming. The stages felt like real places too lol
It's long-gone now but I had the t-shirt that came with the pre-order of Tekken 4, and I genuinely think it's the best game as well. Kazuya was at his coolest in this game.
I'm a hardcore fan of the black sheep 4s. Tekken 4, MGS 4 and GTA IV. The algorithm seems to realize this and I am very pleased to be getting recommendations every few weeks of young RU-vidrs going out of their way to challenge the ridiculous narrative that this isn't the best game in the Tekken series.
Great video. Tekken 4 blew my mind when it came out. I wish they would make a game dark and grounded like this again, especially with the tech we have now, it would be insane.
@@Hunt-Sync it really does! This is the last serious Tekken game for me and the last Tekken game in which Paul was an absolute beast before he got turned into a joke character. The atmosphere, the stages, the music, the characters, the character selection music! If you listen carefully to the character selection music you will hear The Return Of The Mishimas, The King Of Iron Fist Tournament 4! Jin got a new look, the return of Kazuya had me screaming at the TV! Story Battle was incredible, Tekken Force was dope and it will forever hold a place in my heart!
tekken 4 was great it doesn’t get the credit it deserves i loved the serious take on the series as a kid it was so realistic it used to scare me i appreciate the video keep it up
Tekken 4 had really good back stories, great musics, and a deep, serious and stressful ambiance, unfortunatly the next games didn't came with those amazing feartures, which is why i felt disapointed by them even if they were good games actually
Cool video man! Tekken 4 is my favorite fighting game of all time and I’ve watched like every analysis of it on RU-vid so ofc I’d make the time for yours. I believe everything from the character and sound design, to the art direction and story telling was at it’s peak in the series…except for the gameplay. While the uneven terrain does make for some fun casual matches, personally I’m not as much of a fan of the nerfed movement and more limited juggles… Still, the stages are some of my favorites because of the same point you made, they feel like real places people would actually square up in, and along with the ambient sounds it’s absolutely godlike. The rooftop stage with its skyline showing, and “authentic sky” playing in the background as the drums kick in after the end of a round… man the aesthetic is fantastic. Don’t get me started on Xiaoyu and Jin’s early 2000’s designs too! Or Paul’s character arc and the Mishima showdown! I could keep gushing about my love for this game, but I thought this was a neat video and the way you described Tekken 4’s strong points are exactly what makes it so special to me. I’m a sucker for videos on fighting games that take a dive into more than just the gameplay. I subscribed, keep it up dude.
Thanks a lot for the detailed comment and subscription! I can tell from your comment that you really love this game, and rightfully so, because Tekken 4 is awesome! It's not perfect, but what it does do, it does extremely well and as a result, it's one of the best games on the PS2 imo. I have more analysis videos like this coming out for various fighting games, so stick around :)
It’s literally my favorite game in the series. I remember people talked so bad about this one and it’s character design yet it has my favorite character designs of all time. My favorite osts and presentation of all time, favorite game mode features of all time lol.
I'll never forget going to Walmart and seeing a videogame magazine, I think it was a Playstation Magazine, and I saw a picture of Paul and the release of Tekken 4. I thought, "Wow Paul looks like a real dude!" My friend bought the game for his PS2, and I immediately loved the game. And funny thing about the music mentioned, I replaced stage music in 7 with T2, T4, and T5 music bc they had the best albums.
The game made some MASSIVE stylistic gambles and rigidly stuck to them. I can't fault it for that at all. Not to mention, its jazz-fusion soundtrack and bright pastel colour pallette defined that era of gaming 😎👌🏼 So many happy memories playing through this game, I'm so glad it's getting a retrospective day in the sun now ❤🎮 You've earned yourself a subscriber if there's more vids like this!
My first contact with this game was during a school trip to London in 2001. Big fan of Tekken 3 and 2 so seeing the opening cutscene with Kazuya coming back in an arcade, I was extatic to play it on my PS2.
“When you see a piece of art like this you know it isn’t going to screw around” followed by the robot samurai ghost on a horse and man who wants only speaks jaguar sounds
I hope they bring back ceilings and make stages that feel like they're actually fighting outside in the real world instead of having a square/rectangular arena
Tekken 4 will always be my favorite tekken of all time. The music, the uniqueness of all the stages, the character outfits and the overall feel is so nostalgic.
Back then when the characters were human with human limitations, afraid of dying by the hands of mafia, now they are anime character who can beat a whole army by themselves.
I think they could already do that by T3/TAG1 considering who they had to fight in those games. That and Tekken Force Mode in T4 pretty much allowed us to fight an army and even fight them alone unlike all the fighters working together in T8.
everyone back then would hate on this game so much. it's nice seeing it finally getting the love it deserves. I love seeing these videos praising the game as it should've been back then.
Great video! I never got to play Tekken 4 myself, but it's one of my favorite installments of the series. Here's hoping they go back to this aesthetic for the next game. I know it'd look even better with the power of modern technology. And honestly, from what we've seen of the game so far, it could be a masterpiece in the making.
I bought Tekken 4 on the day of its release in September 2002, when I was 16. Your analysis in this video is absolutely spot on and I can't tell you how much I loved this game and how much joy it brought me everytime I played it. I played it constantly for like 2 years! I liked Tekken 5 and 6 gameplay-wise but neither of them in my opinion came close in terms of story, music and atmosphere to the masterpiece that is Tekken 4. As you say the amount of effort that went into developing that game's characters, story and atmosphere was obvious. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Tekken 5 and 6. Apart from a few ok'ish endings in Tekken 5, the story was quite weak and Jinpachi was quite silly. Tekken 6 then moved away completely from the tournament as the central focus of the story! Instead focusing on some convoluted plot about Jin causing a world war to awaken a big blue demon in order to kill it so as to rid himself of the devil gene and to give the world a second chance. The scenario campaign mode had next to nothing to do with the King of Iron Fist Tournament! The few loose references to it are all that kept me interested and from getting completely lost. These references included "Kazuya will be at headquarters in a few days". This clearly refers to the final match of the tournament between Kazuya and Jin. The second reference is in the written dialogue at the beginning of the desert stage, between Jin and Alisa I think, "That pillar of light we saw earlier must have emanated from this place". This clearly indicates Azazel's seal breaking when Jin and Kazuya began to fight in the final match. This is also what was said would happen in Julia's prologue. Anyway my point is that Tekken 6's story is fractured into many pieces that you have to put together yourself like a puzzle, a radically different approach to story telling than Tekken 4! Tekken 7 had a great story mode, but it's not even clear how far along the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7 even went as Heihachi cancelled it after his fight (outside of the tournament) with Akuma. Anyway let's hope Tekken 8's story will be even better! And maybe even incorporate some of the elements that made Tekken 4 beautiful :)
Agreed. Tekken 4 was the best for those reasons stated. I was disappointed with each new title and yh I felt Jinpachi ruined the story as well as the world war crap with Jin and now Akuma... 😒
@@DirectorHMAN I 100% agree with you. I can't tell you how much I looked forward to Tekken 5 in the years following Tekken 4. I literally would get hyper just thinking about what it would be like! Anyway in the summer of 2005 when 5 came out I was really disappointed with the change in how the story was told. And when I saw Jinpachi in his devil form I was like WTF!?! If they kept him in his old man form and gave him a Tekken 7 style aura he might have worked. When Jinpachi explains that his "goal is to destroy all existence" I knew that fuck all effort had been put in to developing his character. Of course Tekken 5 at least stuck to the traditional formula of centering around a fighting tournament! Tekken 6 was like "Nah that's played out, let's do a world war story!".
Looking back at media including games, film and tv series over the years really makes me look back myself and who I was at that time. Some titles do it more than others. This game is one of them that hits home hard.
I was enthralled by the stories in Tekken 4, but even if they had made them lighter, funnier, or a bit goofier, I would still have put T4 as the pinnacle of the Tekken franchise, simply because the fighting was way more grounded than the other games. Gameplay mechanics could use a bit of updating, and some movesets have been improved, but by and large this game was realistic enough that it felt like playing a fighting game, compared to the current Tekken games, which feel more like playing a sort of button memorization game. That is, to be good at Tekken nowadays, you have to remember which combo is best for air juggling in which situation.
Just for this brilliant review of my favorite fighting game I’m going to subscribe and turn on the little bell I was born in the year this game was released and only got to play it a few years later as the first game I owned on ps2 and ended up falling in love with it. Your review has done it justice sir
The airport theme was always my favorite track. It always really did make me feel relaxed like I'm laying on the soft sand at a beach looking up at the sky and listening to the waves crash.
And then we get to tekken 7 were Leo gets harassed by a space squid, Eddy gets beaten up by a japanese idol for no fucking reason, Paul is mocked for losing to a panda and all the 6$ characters don't get any story whatsoever...
I'm genuinely impressed at how you gave Tekken 4 its flowers in a way that's better than most would've done 👍 I personally realized throughout the video that I've played Tekken 4 during it's release, but the memories of that were dormant until now. Too many awesome callbacks to some of my favourite franchises (Silent Hill, MGS4, etc) for me not to give a like for that alone 🤜🤛 You got yourself a subscriber❗looking forward to seeing more of your content
Thank you so much for not only watching the video, but also for liking it enough to leave this awesome comment! Playing Tekken 4 on release sounds amazing, and I wish I was alive back then to experience it. I'm only 18, so I'm very glad that you thought I did a good job and covering the game. I have more videos that cover fighting games like this planned, so stay tuned.
Just woke up and I'm about to watch the "Red Earth" video soon! I see you're a big Fighting Game fan: have you ever considered watching "High Score Girl" the anime about fighting games? It's genuinely a great watch for any fighting game enthusiast 🤜🤛
@@LetterBeginning Thanks for checking out my Red Earth video! I finished watching High Score Girl on Netflix a while ago and I loved it. You have good taste haha
People talk about the one on one gameplay like it was bad, it wasn't!...gameplay was solid to me and kinda intricate on ultra hard mode. U had to time your attacks and not just button smash. It worked well to me
@@DirectorHMAN , is Tekken 5 gameplay better than 4 though?... I honestly haven't played 5 yet and was thinking about getting a copy on ps2. I'm going to pass on the later versions for now. I'm a max Payne 2 and resident evil 4 kinda guy as well🤝
Tekken 4 and 5 are by far my favourite Tekken games of the Franchise. Especially Tekken 4 is sourly the most unique and underrated (mostly because of the choices that hindered the competitive scene) but it is my favorite Tekken to date, because of the very seriousness Vibes of the Story aspects perspective. The seriousness atmosphere of Tekken 4 it's on another level in my opinion. The soundtrack is what gets me the most next to the game's atmosphere. With soundtracks like: Fetus(Prologue), Authentic Sky, Unihabited(Mall Area) Didgerhythm(Jungle Area) Touch and Go(Airport Area) and Kitsch(Beach Area) and The Inner Shrine(Hon-Maru Temple) and others soundtracks, For me Tekken 4 remains even in these days the most Unique Tekken game of the series. ☯️ #NostalgicVibes
Tekken 4 was never the Badest Game of the Series. It is still much better than 1 and 2. It just not better than Tekken 3. Tekken 4 is now days a Very Good Look to the Younger Generation and it has also 1A Technik. Superfast Load Times, that almost a GameCube Game. XD And that's Insane!
@@Mac.Eunique the way walls were programmed allowed for combo infinites, uneven ground terrain broke combos, stage hazards were also disliked. Just a few of the issues.
Being excited over the release of this game having played the 2nd and 3rd religiously. I remember staring at the screen of the arcade game at the mall watching that intro play over and over. The return of Kazuya was just immaculate.
@@hurricane7727 Facts! The gameplay was on par with 3-4 if not better because of the tag team mechanics But... The story doesn't hold much weight because it wasn't canonical. Probably why I don't really think of it as much as the other OG tekkens.
I lived at the boarding school at a time. I couldn't wait until it was vacation time, so i can go home and play this game with my friends. great memory
I remember revising this game even after playing Tekken 5 and 6 and thinking it STILL looked incredible. I think it was the best looking game on the PS2 for its time.
I know a lot of people have complaints about the Tekken 4 balance, but honestly I couldn't care less about competitive gameplay, might have to revisit Tekken 4
Dude seeing this video brings back so many nostalgia memories playing this back in the day when I was a kid. The main Tekken game that got me into the series
I was a kid when Tekken 4 came out. I remember loving Tekken 2, 3 and Tag with its flashiness and then playing Tekken 4 for the first time and feeling scared. So many things that freaked me out as a kid, Kazuya and Heihachi's endings, Bryan's win pose of smashing his opponents face, even just the soundtrack of the opening cutscene. It was all so serious and it didn't feel like it was for me. Coming back now as an adult, I've learnt to appreciate this game on a deeper level beyond it presentation. The games themes and ultimate message makes me see this game more as a piece of art than a fighting game (because we know the gameplay was not its best).
Honestly, when this game came out, I didn‘t like it at first as I was used to Tekken Tag and its big roster. Yet even though Tekken 4 misses two of my favorite characters, nowadays I really have to admit it‘s the best entry in the series and I definitely don‘t like anything that came after it. Tekken 4 has a true soul.
