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Worst doesn't necessarily mean bad. In my eyes, it does stand out a lot for good and bad reasons. The smaller roster disappoints me, but I love the character designs, the stage themes, and the serious storylines. Even has my favorite narrator tbh. Like the flipside of SF3 3rd Strike's hip hop influenced annnouncer. T4 takes some getting used to, but it's worth it and deserves plenty of love.
Actually Tekken 4 is my favorite; maybe a childhood bias, but the points you made resume pretty much why I like it (even the story makes more sense than the sequels, aka random demon spawns to bring sh**t, and focuses on the Mishima Family like in the 7 chapter)
@@Samaelx.No its not its better than 1 and 2 gameplay wise and did better sales then tekken tag its not the worse yall over hate because it came after Tekken 3 arguably the best Tekken to date release wise.
There’s just something about the atmosphere of Tekken 4 that hasn’t been matched since then. It’s also the last game I think could be taken semi-seriously before things went over the top in Tekken 5. This was also the first game where I really paid attention to the lore and so looking back, I can imagine how huge it was that Kazuya was alive all along since Tekken 2.
Atmosphere wise it was amazing. And I loved the more serious semi realistic tone before it turned into over the top anime style sht in the next games. But gameplay wise it was rough. I hated that up and down was side step instead of crouch/jump and grap moves would just push someone away. Also lack of characters and only 2 costumes per character even though tekken tag that came before already had 4 costumes per character.
Tekken fans don't realize that a big part of Tekken's identity is being over the top and silly. That is why I like about Tekken. It embraces silliness.
@@NorbertoRivera-mm2qn Actually. Tekken 4 hate train is just by people who can't appreciate it. Took the series in a new direction with some gorgeous (and fun) stages and while its balancing was horrendous, IMO its the best Tekken
I’ll defend Tekken 4 till the day I die. Yeah some stages being uneven which in turn affected certain moves wasn’t the best idea, but the atmosphere, soundtrack and overall tone of this game still stands out to me 22 years later after playing on ps2. And that intro still rules.
the uneven stages seem more "realistic". In the real world, not everywhere you go is perfectly flat with the same amount of walls and shit. if FGC people wanted balanced stages they should have just played in the most balanced stage only for competitions.
Love seeing the T4 appreciation throughout the comments. It’s my favorite Tekken. The gameplay may not be up the standard for the hardcore fans, but the presentation and overall vibe of the game is a sight to behold. Also that soundtrack is amazing.
Might be the black sheep, but the game got a cool kinda dark atmosphere and I loved the Arcade Story mode. This was the first time I really felt invested in the fighters stories and wanted to play them all. Plus yoshimitsu tekken 4 design was the goat!
One thing I love about Tekken 4 is how the stages feel like they could be real places. Sure, the uneven terrain and obstacles you can hide behind make for terrible gameplay, but they really make the world come alive. While the stages in the new games have great graphics, you can tell that they still look like video game fighting arenas.
This. As If two fighters randomly met in real places, starting to brawl it out. There was just something special about it. Almost gave the game some WWE or even Def Jam FFN type of feeling, mainly in a good way. Made the atmosphere grittier and fights felt more diverse, since these stages would influence the outcome in many different ways. I kinda miss that, since the current stage designs feel a bit too samey imo and only differentiate each other through their skyboxes.
The last Tekken game with a great story, dark atmosphere, innovative graphics, character development etc. This game felt like a good time skip happened and the characters matured. - Paul was a badass biker that got his revelation arc and not a joke character. - Jin defeated the mishima family for good and learned to accept his mishima bloodline. - Law opened his successful business dojo after trying to maintain his restaurant business which went down. - King avenged his masters death and learned revenge is not the solution seeing Marducks family picture. - Nina and Steve learning about their past and coming to terms with them. They both save each other and left room for potential growth. This does get destroyed in later Tekken games sadly. - Hworang and Jin made a promise to each other and got mutual respect.
The menu, the dark presentation, and the announcer all gripped me as a kid and made this feel like a life and death ordeal. Was so serious and everything had such a high stakes feel to it in a way. Was my intro to the series and I believe probably my 1st fighting game. The intro alone made me want to check out Tekken 3 to see what happened to Kazuya (I I didn't know that was T2 events at the time). The cool cover with Jin, plus how he was presented, with the tattoos and being part Devil or Demon or whatever intrigued me so much, and plus he had a J name and just looked cool as hell. He's still my main, despite me still not being very good all these years later, lmaooooooo. Love this game. Best in the series for me. Maybe 8 will pass it, I'm hoping, but I don't think it'll have the darker tone, presentation, and atmosphere that I prefer, and the absolutely immaculate VIBES.
@@e1m137 That's why I figured 8 wouldn't pass it. It's got a nice "big" feel to it and good presentation for something grandiose. I like action and big set pieces, but I just prefer darker, more intimate, grittier things. Smaller isolated events.
Hope I'm wrong but I don't think Namco will ever make another main Tekken game that dark and gritty again. The bad sales of T4 probably led them to believe that it wasn't what the fans wanted, hence the complete vibe change since T5. I will always love T4 because of how audacious and different it was, even tho I can't deny that, gameplay-wise, it was unbalanced and not ideal for competitive fights. Also, I think this type of atmosphere were more trendy during the beginning of 00s than now
It's the last "serious" game in the series imo. The atmosphere and ambient music choices are unmatched since. Much more grounded as a game while still having a bit of it's anime silliness you'd expect from the series.
As much as I love Paul "bring it on ya aliens" Phoenix, I do have to admit that I was hoping for a more serious direction for him following that T4 ending.
FYI, the best balance is a mix between seriousness and some catharsis. One of my favorite franchises, Yakuza, does both. So I'm not against the goofyness of stuff like the Bears or the sheep stage in Tekken 6. It's just that some characters who started out as very serious didn't really "transition" well into later Tekkens without losing some depth and personality. Paul after Tekken 4 is unfortunately not much beyond a funny punching-bag, Eddy's arc is just "stuck" since he can't kill the main character, and Jin's characterisation has sadly been a mess from T5 and onwards (which bums me out more because his ending in T4 is arguably the best one in the series).
I like to imagine a world where this game had tekken 5's gameplay and popularity. Allowing this games amazing atmosphere and tone to carry on throughout the rest of the series.
The thing that hurt this game is the fact that it came off of the heels of Tekken Tag 1. Which many considered a major downgrade. The roster was noticably smaller and the moves feel stiffer. It took some getting use to but I have fund memories of this game.
As a fan of atmospheric music in fighting games, Tekken 4 soundtrack is the King! 🎵 (Tekken 2 OST comes very close) I love all the tracks in T4 It really gives you a cyberpunk electric vibe.
The destructible environments and unique stages really makes tekken 4 stand out alot in my eyes. The game itself was just plain fun as well...oh and pauls design 👌
Tekken 4 represents the lore at its absolute peak. It’s dark presentation helped tell it’s theme of redemption. Kazuya making his grand return to the main series after being resurrected. Jin recovering from nearly being killed by Heihachi, disowning the Mishima lineage, and learning a new fighting style. Paul fighting to restore honor and legitimacy to his name after his win was null and void. Marshall Law returning and getting back into fighting shape after dealing with depression. Marduk returning to the ring after his release from prison. Bryan becoming his own person after being abandoned by Dr. Abel. Hwoarang’s fighting spirit reignited after being drafted into the South Korean Army left him feeling empty and having a quarter life crisis. Yoshimitsu fighting to save his clan from extinction and restoring honor. Nina coming to grips with her past. Lei dealing with his career setbacks, his girlfriend leaving him and setting out to solve a major case that will restore his reputation and help his career. The characters have stories and established goals that give them a lot of depth and you can root for all of these characters since people love a good redemption story.
The game that got me into tekken so im biased when i say tekken 4 is good. Jin looked mad cool and i loved the arcade endings with him kazuya and heihachi
As much as I love the atmosphere of Tekken 4...I think I find the reason why it is the black sheep of the franchise. Because it tried to be something that Tekken never was. Many fans forget that Tekken has never been a very serious and dark franchise. It always has silly and goofy stuff in its DNA. In a way, Tekken 4 feels like a game in the early 2000s When games wanted to be darker, serious, gritty, edgy, etc. That is not Tekken.
@@meganinten0078 The silly and goofy stuff are reserved for few side characters, not the chunk of the entire roster. Don't confuse the devil lore being "silly" just because the newer Tekken games presented it as such
@@meganinten0078 Tekken 1 and 2 were not goofy, Tekken 3 was a bit more light-hearted, but that's it. I don't know why people keep repeating this. The animals are a comic relief always present in the series, but outside them, all characters have purposes.
Ofc they had to change jin's playstyle. He was just a lesser copy of Kazuya. Once they corrected the mistake of trying to replace Kazuya, they had to try and give Jin his own style. Related, bringing back Kazuya (in that awesome intro no less) will always make T4 one of the best in the series.
I also appreciated the realistic way they implemented that change into the story, self hatred which is pretty depressing and made worse when it's possible Jin was going to commit suicide after killing both Heihachi and Kazuya. Tekken 4 was really on the ball with its writing, and characters.
This game man.... First saw it at a Blockbuster and was unavailable for hire. The majority of the time I wanted to play the game it was unavailable, but when I finally got to play it. My god, it was such a rush, it was the first game that videogames with the correct music and stage creates a atmosphere. I will always have a soft spot for this game, cause it was the one to play very rarely.
07:58 >"But, like the game was so dominated by poking... by like just jabs and stuff like that" YES, and that's what made the fights so tense and visceral. You really had to work for your juggles (which btw, are extremely irrealistic) so whenever you managed to pull a 4 hit air combo, it really felt like a huge achievement. Also, the fact all characters felt heavier added to the visceral feeling of hitting and launching them; like your character was really exerting him/herself to the max. The fact you couldn't just really on "press X to launch enemy to the air with a simple slap" added a layer of tangibility to the combat that just made you feel much more immersed and invested in the game
@briandrumgold642 it's not guilty for me, lol. T5 is a better fighting game, but I don't remember a thing about it along with T6. T4, for me, will always be the most memorable game in the series.
One weird, minor thing that I REALLY loved in Tekken 4 was the interaction between Jin and Hwoarang. In a somewhat realistic manner, they speak to each other in (slightly broken) English, which is sometimes a more likely shared language between the two. They drop this idea later on and just have Heihachi and Nina talking to each other in their own languages (Heihachi in Japanese and Nina in English) and just let us pretend that's how the conversation would go, but it could've been a much nicer touch to have Nina speak simple Japanese so she could communicate realistically or something. Having the characters mostly speak their native language is such a cool touch in Tekken for combat, but in the conversations in story scenes, it's so cool to see more realistic communication between characters.
The problem with their interactions in this game is that Hwoarang is voiced by someone with a distinctly American-sounding accent (and a lack of acting talent.) He doesn't sound like a Korean guy speaking in slightly broken English. Because of this, he ends up sounding completely out of place, and it's one of the things that breaks the otherwise uniformly cool presentation of Tekken 4. I much prefer the decision to have everyone speak in their native language (voiced by competent actors) and assume that you gotta be somewhat multilingual to make your way through a King of the Iron Fist tournament.
@@DominicSnyder I agree that Hwoarang's English is unnaturally American, but you're essentially contradicting yourself with that last statement. If someone like Nina, who probably SHOULD be multi-lingual, is talking to Heihachi, why in the world would she speak in English?
Authentic Sky playing with you fighting on a skyscraper at night is such a vibe. T4 has such a different mood in comparison to T3 and Tag 1 that it feels almost like an alternate universe version of Tekken.
I feel the same way in TTT1 when you're fighting on Ogre's stage with that remixed PS2 track. You can see it snowing in the distance through the door. Love that stage
@@meganinten0078 it's kinda gotten bad to the point where you wonder if everyone has brain damage from all the fighting. Paul probably gets the worst.
@@HellecticMojomain storyline has gotten darker though 😂. Growing up I never thought Heihachi would actually get killed. Or that Jin would decide to start an entire world war.
@@meganinten0078I don't understand this logic. Just because other games have been silly I'm supposed to be ok with that and can't wish for a more serious and gritty tone?
Interesting to hear this about Tekken 4. I was very involved in the Tekken scene locally at the time and we were all over the moon for it. Very fond memories of just standing in the arcade for hours discussing new things we discovered, strats, matches, etc. T5 blows it away, no doubt, but a real soft spot in my heart for T4.
The black sheep of the Tekken lineage. While it's not fondly remembered, it did make some ballsy innovations that I do respect, like uneven terrains, smaller walled arenas, and destructible environments.
Namco done the everyone speaks their own language across games like Soul Edge but understand each other, then everyone speaks english in the next game. They're very inconsistent with this.
Tekken 4 is the first Tekken game I've ever played i still think it's the best. I love the stages it makes it feel like actual street fights are happening
I always use T4 as the "breath of fresh air" addition to the series. EVERYTHING was different and as a casual player back then I loved it. Everyone has a new look, the stages are interesting with slopes and pillars and stuff. The story for each character was the most in depth of the entire series. In my book T4 was top
Tekken 4 was pretty good from a casual perspective They attempted to steer the story into somewhat something grounded that makes sense, the stages were interesting like that fight pit where instead of walls outsiders would shove you back into the fight, the mall with wierd elevation and hand rails obstructing the center of the stage but absolutely werent competitively viable the octagon arena for example where lee could just infinite you and mist step shove you into every inch of the arena until you died and of course it had tekken force
I always loved Tekken 4. And this is with minding the fact that Tag 1 was my first Tekken. I enjoyed walls on stages, I enjoyed characters, as a Jin main I enjoyed his rework, I was bad at english to understand the lore, but I liked the atmosphere
Shinjuku (Bit Crusher is goated). The aura. Soundtrack. The story. I do feel I was in the minority of those who enjoyed this thouroughly. But storywise this being the beginning of the blitz of stories after the 2 year timeskip and Kazuya'a ascent... its still one of my favorites in my book. I do greatly appreciate Max's points in this though.
I actually liked this game. This was the game the got me into Tekken. I casually played Tag but this game got me interested in the lore and actually learning to get good.
I got this with my PS2 at the time and fell in love with the visuals. This was the first Tekken game I played a lot of so it has a special place in my heart.
Tekken 4's atmosphere, style, and presentation were truly different and not a lot of fighting games can match that. It's a shame the rest of the series doesn't have the same tone and can't quite recreate it
They really should go back to that urban street brawler atmosphere, instead of that flashy and over the top neon Anime vibe. Tekken 4 had the perfect balance in tone.
seeing Tekken 4's intro in the arcade as a kid was my first introduction to the franchise, and boy was I confused why these Japanese business men were so angry at each other
Loved Tekken 4, the style and atmosphere, music. Fond memories of Jins JF Laserscraper, Kazs double IWS gutpunches into ewgf, Lee's infinite wall carry arena combos. Honmaru stage and music was amazing. Paul starting to look like Garou Terry Bogard with his hair down lol
I would LOVE for Max to narrate Tekken story lol. Anyway, I loved Tekken 4 back in the day. Jin's new look and fighting style was sick. And the stages awesome.
In a way, Tekken 4 represents how gaming was in the early 2000s The dystopian cyberpunk vibes and aesthetic, plus how companies at that time wanted games to be darker, edgy, serious, etc. I love the atmosphere of Tekken 4 but I admit that it doesn't fit Tekken. T4 tried to be something that the Tekken franchise never was. Let's face it, Tekken is not a serious drama like some people think. Much of the essence of Tekken has always been embracing silliness. Edit: Tekken 4 would have been better received if it had been a spin off or a new franchise
Jin’s Ending in Tekken 4 was incredible at the time this game came out. Fighting Kazuya and Heihachi in Hon Maru with that amazing OST still gives me goosebumps to this day!
T4 maybe weird, but it was the Tekken that cemented my love for my 2 mains. Kazuya being the false hero and Lee having an infinite in that arena stage.
9:45 It's not "whatever reason" - the tank-battling dude is a bricklayer who worked three days without a salary, so he got hungry and stole a bread from the stall, while security forces tried to arrest him for such display of thievery.
Tekken 4's uneven levels, varied arena's, interactive objects, more realistic level design, more methodical movement, soundtrack and roster honestly makes it my second favorite favorite outside of 8 now this it's out. And this is coming from someone that's played it from the first game in arcades.
Tekken 4 was my first Tekken and i will love it dearly forever and i’m glad more love was given over time because the atmosphere of this game is still to this day UNMATCHED
Worst nothing. As a hardcore Tekken fan who doubles as a filthy casual, this is imo the second best Tekken game. The character stories are *chef’s kiss* by Tekken standards, the soundtrack is top notch, presentation is beautiful, good overall amount of content, good roster with Kazuya and Lee’s glorious returns to the main series and I don’t care how broken the gameplay apparently is, I still love it.
the impact of doa2 on console gaming I think impacted this Tekken specifically. Introduction of walls and unequal stage leveling, emphasis on visuals and realism were all very DOA-esque changes
I was a game reviewer during the PS2 era, and have been playing fighting games since SF II in the arcades. Tekken 4 and Tag were two of the first games I ever got for the system. But I only played Tekken 4 for the sake of doing a review, and never touched it again. It was fine for what it was, but Tag was just so much better. And when 5 came out, I forgot about 4 entirely. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I last played some of these games.
Tekken 4 is not the worst but certainly not the best. This game changed Tekken forever. It changed the combo system with interactive backgrounds, introduced Christie and Steve and saved Jin’s gameplay by giving a new playstyle, and brought the seriousness and mishimas back to Tekken. I will say though it went too far too fast with what it was trying to innovate.
I'm absolutely in love with this just talking and chatting about the games instead of just playing through them. You can get so much more from hearing about a game and it's past and release than replaying it at times
I remember being a kid and just exploring the mall, airport and the beach to see the limits and how character would interact, or like "Are they going to drown ?" or "Can they get inside the store", like the stages were so good that they made me more exited for playing tekken 4 rather than tekken 5 and I played a lot of tekken 5
According to the HP, that throw looked like it did as much damage as a throw usually would do. Maybe it's the way the HP bars animate? It jittered away in small increments before the big landing, so it looked like it didn't do as much? I mean, Law was safe from losing until he was thrown. Max just needed to guard from Law until he was open.
Respectfully appreciate this mini series, but this is by far the least engaging one with just as much respect, since it doesn't really give T4 anything but the impression it's "bad", or something that shouldn't happen? and some examples of it's weird directions like endings not matching the silly characters within it, like Kuma and Lee, or even Heihachi's ending or mentioning it's Tekken Force mode anywhere or other tiny details, that's why to me when it comes to certain series, some channels don't nail that deep dive, although time constraints are understandable reasons as is, anyway, much love for future ones.
I love the stages in Tekken 4. The whole vibe of the game is amazing too. Ig the "rooted in reality" thing actually is pretty charming when it comes to certain visual choices
Was my first Tekken game I owned, got it for Christmas for PS2 and I did love it but haven't played it in a long time, before that I played Tekken Tag Tournament on convenient store arcade cabinet with my brother. I loved Tekken from those two games and I haven't really played any other Tekkens much besides those two.
No Tekken I played more with friends. Everything felt inspired, right from the opening. It gave us Steve and Christie! I wanted the Jin hoodie IRL. They made a Paul redesign that was actually good. Single player was good. The stages and music all created this "lived in" atmosphere. Would love to be reunited with it.
Tekken 4 reminds me so much of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Absolute banger in aesthetic, atmosphere, and effort to modernize. Huge whiffs in gameplay and game feel. I was a kid and had little sense of game feel, so Tekken 4 was a total hit for me just like Brawl was. Only now do I imagine how cool it could've been with both vibes and gameplay nailed down
as someone who started with tekken 2 (37yo now) i loved t4 because of the realism and grittiness of the story yes the gameplay was slower and there was less damage done but it felt more interesting and intense compared to t3 which you needed 3 hits to down someone
I feel like tekken 4 also came out at a time when people expected the darker turn? maybe its just me but many ps2 games had that slightly darker element to them. Ether way i still enjoy coming back to this game now and then! :D
The attract for Tekken 4 pulled me in on the arcade as a kid. Mood fit that post matrix vibe enough that I have Jin's windbreaker. It just hyped me up for the 5th one which is the best Tekken ever.
Tekken 4 was the first Tekken game I played. I remember playing the demo for it with my brother growing up endlessly until we got it and we played the hell out of it and it will always have a place in my heart
To be honest... Tekken 4 deserved its own DR. Imagine if Tekken 4 was the foundation of every Tekken going forward instead of over the top T5? We would have better stages making you feel like your in a real life location, better story/lore, and better new origin characters. Because their stories wouldve been taken seriously. God I love and miss Tekken 4.
I never knew this game was hated when i was a kid and I'm glad I didn't. I remember playing this one more than Tekken 5 mainly because of the atmosphere and the music. also authentic sky will always be one of the best songs of the entire franchise
