What I find most interesting about Tekken 4 is its general vibes: it feels like a transition period between the PS1 games' early 3D design and the extravagant confidence of Tekken 5 and onwards. The graphics are obviously much more detailed than Tekken 3's, but it doesn't have the extra flair and pizzaz that Tekken 5 exudes, making it feel like almost surreal at times, in a way that only uncanny 3D CGI can conjure. Other than the character faces, its evident in the stage environments: the Airport stage (which is my favorite one here) has a overly clean and shiny look, and the distant early morning sunlight in the skybox gives it a dreamy quality to the entire frame. You can just feel it without being distracted from the actual fight. The game definitely tries to look pleasing to the eyes, not with overloading your senses, but rather through painting a strong vibe with loose brushstrokes.
You can also see it seep in the character designs. Compared to today's Tekken, T4 seems much simpler in comparison, and I appreciate it a lot. The characters don't have as many visual elements tied to themselves, but you can quickly tell the personalities that they embody. For instance, Lei's wildly loose open jacket is all you need to see to understand him. It's not to say that I don't like how extra Tekken goes with its design nowadays, I think most of the reveals of Tekken 8 has been quite pleasing, but it's nice to be reminded of this old era of less wacky Tekken.
It's also interesting to see how T4 experiments with the Tekken formula, although I don't think that it quite lands. I'm pretty sure I accidentally cheesed out my AI opponents a couple of times by just repeatedly smashing them to the wall, it's definitely nowhere as airtight as it should be, haha. Some of the stages also have slopes and different elevations, which is kinda novel but also a bit annoying in gameplay. I'm not quite sure about this but I think I missed a couple of my high attacks because I'm at a higher point than my opponents, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Also, I don't usually notice or complain about hitboxes but I've had a couple of funky missed attack moments that confused me. Other than that, the fighting is still fun and mindtaxing.
Highlights from the character roster and story mode:
- Wei is probably my favorite of the character here, his drunken master style is cool as heck and I like his lighthearted klutz vibes. Hwoarang is a close second, but his story ending is definitely my favorite one, it's cheesy and kinda wholesome.
- This iteration of Nina might be my favorite design of hers, her professional killer vibes feels like the strongest here, and I like her subtle eyeshadow. Also liked her story ending cutscene a lot. Still don't quite like how she plays though, haha.
- The new characters are just... meh, for me. I don't quite like Christie as much as Eddy. Don't really care for Combot and Marduk. Steve is cool though.
- This is most evident in Hwoarang and Julia's ending for me: the English VO here reminds me a ton of The House of the Dead 2's infamous VO. Take that as you will.
Tekken 4 might be not good enough to take too seriously, but it's still fun as heck, and its art direction scratches a specific itch that the other Tekken games just doesn't do to the same extent.
You can also see it seep in the character designs. Compared to today's Tekken, T4 seems much simpler in comparison, and I appreciate it a lot. The characters don't have as many visual elements tied to themselves, but you can quickly tell the personalities that they embody. For instance, Lei's wildly loose open jacket is all you need to see to understand him. It's not to say that I don't like how extra Tekken goes with its design nowadays, I think most of the reveals of Tekken 8 has been quite pleasing, but it's nice to be reminded of this old era of less wacky Tekken.
It's also interesting to see how T4 experiments with the Tekken formula, although I don't think that it quite lands. I'm pretty sure I accidentally cheesed out my AI opponents a couple of times by just repeatedly smashing them to the wall, it's definitely nowhere as airtight as it should be, haha. Some of the stages also have slopes and different elevations, which is kinda novel but also a bit annoying in gameplay. I'm not quite sure about this but I think I missed a couple of my high attacks because I'm at a higher point than my opponents, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Also, I don't usually notice or complain about hitboxes but I've had a couple of funky missed attack moments that confused me. Other than that, the fighting is still fun and mindtaxing.
Highlights from the character roster and story mode:
- Wei is probably my favorite of the character here, his drunken master style is cool as heck and I like his lighthearted klutz vibes. Hwoarang is a close second, but his story ending is definitely my favorite one, it's cheesy and kinda wholesome.
- This iteration of Nina might be my favorite design of hers, her professional killer vibes feels like the strongest here, and I like her subtle eyeshadow. Also liked her story ending cutscene a lot. Still don't quite like how she plays though, haha.
- The new characters are just... meh, for me. I don't quite like Christie as much as Eddy. Don't really care for Combot and Marduk. Steve is cool though.
- This is most evident in Hwoarang and Julia's ending for me: the English VO here reminds me a ton of The House of the Dead 2's infamous VO. Take that as you will.
Tekken 4 might be not good enough to take too seriously, but it's still fun as heck, and its art direction scratches a specific itch that the other Tekken games just doesn't do to the same extent.