Thanks to my good friend Square for the banner image!
Tekken is a fighting game series developed by Bandai Namco, with its first entry released in 1994. Like many other franchises in its genre, much of Tekken’s plot was originally isolated into character endings for its arcade modes, but there would be a greater emphasis on a larger interconnecting story as the series went on, fleshing out character relationships and tying events together into more than just a series of fighting tournaments. By the time Tekken 4 was released, the console versions would see characters get more dedicated story modes to expand their depth and provide more context to the way they fit into the complete Tekken narrative.
Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees is Bandai Namco’s first, and so far only, non-fighting spin-off game in the franchise. An action-adventure title developed for the PlayStation 2 in 2005, the game centers on Tekken’s Nina Williams, a famous assassin who has been hired to assist MI6 and the CIA in a sting operation to bring down the criminal organization Kometa. She is brought in as a sweeper, an undercover agent only meant to be called in for emergencies. Of course, things go wrong almost immediately, and so it’s up to Nina to save the day and discover the truth about Kometa’s plans. All in a day’s work. While not considered canon to the core Tekken story, the game does provide plenty of backstory on Nina and how she connects to various characters throughout the franchise, and attempts to flesh out what these characters do when not embroiled in a King of Iron Fist tournament. According to frequent series director Katsuhiro Harada, Nina was chosen as the lead character because she was, and continues to be, the most popular character in the Tekken series.
Like its main franchise, Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees is focused on precision and technical combat. However, the introduction of contextual commands for the game’s exploration segments meant that the face buttons on the controller were already accounted for and could not be used for fighting. Instead, movement and dodging is handled via the left joystick, while combat is entirely handled via the right joystick. While this setup is functional and provides more player freedom than in might seem on first glance, it’s a difficult system to get accustomed to, and it often feels like trial and error to execute more complex commands. But when the combat starts to flow, it can feel satisfying to outmaneuver opponents and catch them off-guard, executing the perfect counter for the scenario. Outside of the combat, the exploration portion of the game can be fun once you start to understand the layout of the maps, with plenty of little references to the larger Tekken universe scattered throughout. Puzzles range from Resident Evil-style “take the conspicuous item to the more conspicuous location” to multiple alternate gameplay modes that test both your reflexes and your wit. A lot of effort was put into making this a fully-realized adventure and I think that shines through the rough parts of the game.
I’m special agent ChorpSaway, and I have my team of sweepers TheJayOfSpade, Taoc, and FutureFriend on backup duty. Our mission: to examine this oft-forgotten Tekken spin-off and talk about unhinged fighting game lore. FutureFriend is our resident Tekken enjoyer who’ll be helping fill in the gaps for the rest of us as we learn just what it takes to be a major competitor of the King of Iron Fist tournament.
I will be completing the main campaign with a fresh save on Normal difficulty, as well as completing all of the major sub-objectives tracked by the game (fingerprints, gold coins, puzzle boxes). I will also be showing off as much bonus material as I can stand to collect.
Also, please do not post story spoilers in the thread. If you wanna talk about Tekken lore that’s fine, but anything pertaining to Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees specifically should be saved until we see it in the LP.
