There's little lasting appeal here and no real incentive to get better, ironic given that the game is based on the property made famous by wanting the very best, like no one ever was. Pokken Tournament tries its best to cater to a more casual fighting crowd, but in its efforts to do so rapidly becomes mundane after repeated playthroughs. However, rounds are often over so quickly that many times, the helper Pokemon won't even see any action.
This introduces an intriguing sense of strategy, requiring players to study more than the individual matchups. These Pokemon can assist by either helping recover health, increasing the competing Pokemon's Synergy gauge, or even by intervening directly with a counter attack or anti-air maneuver. This allows players to select pairs of lesser helper Pokemon and pick one to bring into each particular round. The one element of Pokken Tournament that does show a lot of potential is the Support Pokemon system. This means playing through four-fight sessions several times, which can feel like a drag. This will be helpful through the lengthy single-player mode, which requires players to climb the rankings before competing in the Ferrum League tournaments. Not only are there tutorials for the game's controls and various phases of battle, but there are also tutorials aimed at teaching combos and advanced techniques. Many games will come down to repetitive melee attacks or spamming projectiles and that just doesn't feel fun.īut while it feels like Pokken Tournament doesn't have a lot of depth to it, the game does its best to offer learning tools to the player. Worse yet, they don't seem to encourage a lot of strategy, since Burst meters can be filled purely through aggressive and thoughtless play. Granted, they certainly have a theatrical element to them, but the thrill of Synergy Bursts wanes quickly. Meanwhile, the special Synergy Bursts that turn many of the competitors into their Mega Evolution (or grant auras to those that don't have one) almost feel like a moot point, as fights often feel like they're already over by the time anyone gets to utilize one. The combo system doesn't feel particularly intuitive, the Phase Shifts that take battles between 3D and 2D feel inconsistent in their implementation, and battles often feel like they're over far too quickly. The idea of simplicity isn't a bad thing in itself, but Pokken Tournament's lack of depth clearly becomes evident through repeated playthroughs. Many of the battles seem to be missing that intangible thrill sensation one would expect to find in established fighting franchises, including ironically enough, Pokken Tournament producer Katsuhiro Harada's own Tekken series.
Unfortunately, the battles quickly start to feel repetitive. The 3D plane creates the potential for interesting encounters, with the control pad and the various attack buttons performing different moves, in addition to unique special moves for each fighter. The controls are far simpler than the average fighting game, with a strong and weak attack button, a special attack button, and a jump button that may throw off anyone more accustomed to using "Up" to perform a leap. There are 16 of the popular Pocket Monsters out there to choose from, all fighting across both 3D and 2D planes in best of three round sessions. Pokken Tournament was supposed to represent that kind of Pokemon battle evolution, but the collaboration between Bandai Namco and The Pokemon Company sadly doesn't live up to its grand potential. There's been an itch to watch them take it to each other with physical special moves, mixed in with hand-to-hand combat. As much fun as it's been to battle Pokemon in turn-based battles, there's always been a desire to watch them duke it out like in the anime.