Pokken Tournament Details Surface

This week on Japanese TV, we saw live gameplay for the first time on Pokkén Tournament. This game, which is helmed by the directors of both Tekken and Soul Calibur finally shows off how the game plays with its unique roster.

Pikachu, Suicune and Gardevoir have been added to the main roster along with Machamp and Lucario (and possibly Blaziken from the teaser). These newcomers detract the notion that this was simply Tekken with Pokémon since Suicune is four-legged and Pikachu’s tiny. Characters also use shields that work like Super Smash Bros., where they shrink when you overuse them. Also, the artstyle is going for a more realistic look, which is starting to create an uncanny valley for the creatures.

On top of that, we’ve learned that you act as a trainer like in a normal Pokémon battle and can also add support Pokémon to assist you in fights. So far we got Lapras, Snivy, Fennekin and Emolga as confirmed assists. Each assist has different attacks you can choose to use before the fight.

The game also sports a unique controller with a D-Pad, ABXY buttons and four shoulder buttons. The controller was designed to allow non-fighter fans to get into the action, since this crossover could be defined as a genre-expander into a more hardcore type of experience. The controls look to be very similar to what a Wii U controller has, so the adaptability to console would be 1:1, unlike other fighters which support sticks and/or unique button layouts.
Sadly that’s only speculation since there’s no Wii U announcement yet, and is primed to take on Japanese arcades later this year.