Video Game / Tekken 5

A decade of dominance.

"Heihachi Mishima… is dead."

—Raven in the intro movie ^*Spoilers: Heihachi turns out to be alive and well; it’d take another 2 games for him to actually bite the bullet

Tekken 5 is a 3D fighting game and the fifth main installment of the Tekken series. Developed and published by Namco, it was released in 2004 for the arcades and 2005 for the PlayStation 2. The arcade version uses the Namco System 256 arcade board, an upgraded version of Namco System 246, based on the PS2.

Almost immediately after the previous tournament ended in a less than stellar family reunion, Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima awaken at the Mishima Zaibatsu's Hon-maru compound to an ambush of JACK-4 robots, sent by G Corporation to kill them. With their backs to the wall, the father and son choose to team up against the onslaught to ensure their survival - at least until Kazuya chooses to escape the scene in his Devil form, leaving his old man to die in the explosion that follows.

Around a month later, Jin Kazama, who defeated both his father and grandfather in the battle that preceded the explosive incident, has been plagued by nightmares causing his Devil Gene to not only awaken, but increase its destructive capabilities. With the Zaibatsu's infamous owner gone, a mysterious figure has claimed ownership and announced the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5. Jin chooses to enter the tournament in search of answers, while Kazuya seeks an opportunity to claim revenge against G Corporation.

The game is mainly noted for bringing the series "back to its roots" after Tekken 4, whose radical gameplay changes garnered mixed reception among the fanbase. New to the series is Crush, a feature in which different moves have different vulnerabilities (such as a jumping attack being unable to be countered by a low kick). Uneven stages have been discarded, with the game being strictly set on a flat plane, and infinite stages also make a comeback. Though wall juggling returns, it has been modified so it can be abused less, so characters will not be able to juggle their opponent again and again. In general, the game feels much faster compared to its predecessor.

Revisiting the roots also extends to non-gameplay areas as well. While the art style is carried over from the previous game, the characters' costuming, stage designs, and story are more in line with the pre-4 games. 4 is noted for attempting to ground the series to reality, something that 5 brushes off in favor of the fantastical elements of older games. Some of the most radical changes in characters' costumes (such as Hwoarang's military uniform and Heihachi's mawashi^note Often mistaken to be diaper) have also been removed.

The arcade version introduces a card system that allows players to track their statistics and unlocks. It also features controller ports for PlayStation controllers, allowing players to use their own controllers rather than the ones provided by the cabinet.

The console version features the debut of the character customization feature, including the ability to edit the costume's color. Every character's Story Battle includes cutscenes in the sub-boss stages, either 4, 7, or 8.^note In 4, only the plot-relevant characters have one and only then near the end. Instead of advancing through a set of 9 stages, Arcade Battle pits the player in an endless string of ranked matches against ghost CPUs, with the player earning ranking promotions or demotions by beating or losing against certain opponents. In place of Tekken Force, the game has "Devil Within", an action minigame with Jin as the sole playable character as he fights his way through a secret Mishima Zaibatsu facility.

Updates

The arcade version received two updates. Rebalancing aside, the first, Tekken 5.1 adds no new content, other than recoloring the health bar from yellow to green. The second, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, is a bigger deal. It adds 3 new characters, a slew of new items, and thematic variations of all stages and BGM in the original game. The interface is completely changed and every character's clothing has different color palette (for example, Xiaoyu's qipao is recolored orange from pink).

Dark Resurrection was ported to the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 via online download (in the former as Tekken: Dark Resurrection), marking the first time that a Tekken game was released for a seventh-generation console as well as the first with online play. The PSP version adds Tekken Dojo, where you advance through six dojo by winning battles, and Gold Rush, whose objective is to earn gold by dealing enough damage to the enemy while surviving their attacks. It also sees the return of Tekken Bowl and Command Attack from Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 4, respectively. The PS3 version was created as an arcade-perfect port and does not feature Story Mode. Online matches were also not available until half a year after release.

Playable characters in the game include:

• From Tekken: Anna Williams, Ganryu, Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Marshall Law, Jack-5, Lee Chaolan, Nina Williams, Paul Phoenix, Wang Jinrei, Yoshimitsu
• From Tekken 2: Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Lei Wulong
• From Tekken 3: Bryan Fury, Eddy Gordo, Hwoarang, Jin Kazama, Julia Chang, King II, Kuma II, Mokujin, Panda, Ling Xiaoyu
• From Tekken 4: Christie Montiero, Craig Marduk, Steve Fox
• Newcomers: Asuka Kazama, Devil Jin, Feng Wei, Raven, Roger Jr.
• Newcomers from Dark Resurrection: Armor King II, Sergei Dragunov, Emilie "Lili" De Rochefort

Jinpachi Mishima, the Final Boss of this game, is unplayable in the arcades, PS2, and the PSP. He is added as a playable character in PS3.

Tropes provided by the game include:

• A.I. Breaker: Heihachi's d+1, 2 string in Dark Resurrection would beat any AI opponent at any difficulty. The AI just couldn't seem to block the palm thrust (and the AI is otherwise a Perfect Play A.I. at Ultra Hard difficulty so this is a glaring oversight). Interestingly, despite being the same move for all intents and purposes, the AI was not nearly as susceptible to the same command from Paul.
  • Asuka's full rotation unblockable F3 heel drop in the original release was a godsend for those trying to gain ranks or speedrun through Time Attack, as the AI would simply try to backdash away, but not enough to get out of range.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Ganryu to Julia, who is uninterested in anything except for the recovery of her forest rejuvenation data. Also Kuma to Panda, as shown in the latter's Stage 4 cutscene.
• And I Must Scream: Decades before the game started, Heihachi subjected his father, Jinpachi, to death by burying him below Honmaru.
• Art Shift: Xiaoyu's ending is rendered anime-style, much like her Tekken 3 ending.
• Asleep for Days: After he was attacked by Ogre, Baek fell into a coma that lasted for a year.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Monstrous Ogre, the final boss of Devil Within.
• Bait the Dog: Kazuya seemingly shares a moment of heartwearming tenderness with his grandfather after defeating him...followed by him flashing a vile smirk before punching Jinpachi to dust and laughing maniacally.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: Burning Temple and Inferno.
• Battle in the Rain: Acid Rain and Festival.
• Big Bad: After Honmaru was blown up to high sky, Jinpachi was resurrected and took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu, starting the fifth King of Iron Fist tournament. In this game, it's all but stated that he was resurrected by the Devil Gene, but later installments have since retconned this into an unnamed evil spirit possessing him.
• Bilingual Dialogue: Starting with this game, some characters speak in their native language instead of English or Japanese. Baek and Hwoarang speak Korean, while Feng and Wang speak Mandarin Chinese. However, other foreign characters still speak English until Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
• The Bus Came Back: Baek, Bruce, Ganryu, and Wang all make their big comeback despite having been attacked and presumably killed by Ogre in Tekken 3 (Baek's backstory did mention him being attacked by Ogre, but he survived, albeit gravely injured). Anna and Mokujin also return, having been absent in 4.
• Call-Back:
  • The CGI opening of Dark Resurrection ends with a shot of Heihachi emerging from his supposed grave during a stormy night, much like how the CGI opening of Tekken 2 shows him climbing the cliff where Kazuya threw him into during a stormy night.
  • Bruce's ending is similar to his ending from 2, exhibiting his Friend to All Children nature.
• Character Catchphrase: "Get Ready for the Next Battle" is now said verbally by the announcer in the VS screen, instead of simply being written. This is retained in future games.
• Character Customization: A new addition to the game. Compared to later games, the customization is rather barebones, with only a handful choices per body part and a limited color palette, but it's a novel idea at the time. Dark Resurrection adds more customization items, though still a far cry from the extensive options offered by Tekken 6 onward.
• Creepy Cathedral: Cathedral and Winter Palace.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: Devil Jin is shown to be able to use telekinesis to strangle his opponent in one of his winposes starting from Dark Resurrection, as well as in Hwoarang's ending, where he telekinetically breaks his motorcycle. In fights, he has no such move.
• Damsel out of Distress: As shown in the Dark Resurrection opening, Lili manages to escape her abduction on her own, kicking her kidnapper's ass along the way.
• Denser and Wackier: Downplayed in that while the overall plot is as serious as Tekken can be, it re-introduces a lot of the weirder characters such as Mokujin and Roger, and nothing suggests Mokujin is anything other than a magically animated wooden dummy.
• Developer's Foresight: Jinpachi is unplayable in PS2 and PSP. Despite this, if you somehow hack into the game and win as him in Versus Mode, the announcer will still say "Jinpachi Mishima wins!".
• Divergent Character Evolution: This has matured as of this game. All characters who are previously palette swaps of each other now play very differently, even if their moves look similar.
• Embedded Precursor: The PS2 port contains the arcade versions of the first three Tekken games, thus they lack some of their extra features from their PSX versions. Starblade was also included, first as the game's startup minigame while it loaded, and the full game was unlockable via Devil Within mode.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cruelly subverted in Kazuya's ending where it seems even he has too fond memories of his beloved grandpa Jinpachi to do anything horrible to him...before smirking evilly and killing the old man with a single punch under the Devil's influence.
• Evil Laugh: One of Devil Jin's winposes. Jinpachi's only intro also has him do this. Finally, Kazuya does this in his ending. This is also one of Bryan's intros and one of his win poses too.
• Explosive Leash: Lee has Heihachi fitted with one in his ending, and given Heihachi's had to go through one explosion already he's really, really not keen on setting a second one off.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: Ganryu's attempt to propose to Julia after handing her the forest rejuvenation data. When the scene cuts away, we see that Julia is long gone, having left immediately after she got the data. Ganryu's reaction is priceless.
• Fan Disservice: Lee's ending gives us the glorious sight of the old, very much pushing 80 Heihachi Mishima in a speedo.
• Gangplank Galleon: Pirate's Cove is set inside a cavern where a pirate ship has been anchored, with treasure abounding. Its Dark Resurrection variant, Galleon, is set within the ship itself.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: As shown in the CGI opening, when Nina reunited with Anna after two years, it triggered the former's memory of their rivalry, resulting in an all-out battle that lasted for three days, ending in a stalemate to be concluded in the tournament.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Both Kuma and Panda get their just desserts for tricking people down a trapdoor; Kuma is thrown into a trapdoor himself by Heihachi (whom he tricked earlier), Panda unwittingly by Xiaoyu.
• Humanoid Abomination:
  • If you lose to Jinpachi and do not choose continue, he is shown transforming into an even fearsome creature, though we don't see much of it.
  • Devil Jin transforms into a feral, hairy creature upon absorbing Jinpachi's power in his ending.
• Immediate Sequel: While the game proper is roughly two months after the events of 4, the game's intro takes place barely a minute after Jin's Tekken 4 ending. Mere seconds after a beaten Kazuya and Heihachi have shook the Jin-inflicted cobwebs out, G Corp Jack machines storm Hon-Maru and gang up on the two.
• Industrial Ghetto: Industrial Complex.
• Irony: In Stage 8 of Story Battle^note Except for Asuka, Devil Jin, Heihachi, Raven, Hwoarang, Jin, Kazuya, and Wang, all of whom face different opponents, you fight against Devil Jin in the Cathedral stage.
• Journey to Find Oneself: Jin goes through this after the events at Honmaru, in order to better control the Devil Gene. "Devil Within" loosely takes place during this timeframe.
• Kyu and Dan Ranks: The first fifteen ranks of Arcade Mode are this.^note Beginner, 9th-1st Kyu, 1st-5th Dan The rest are specific ranks (Shihan, Virtuoso, Sage, etc.)
• Legacy Character: Jack-5 (a new JACK model manufactured by G Corporation), Roger Jr. (Roger's wife and son), and Armor King II (revealed to the brother of the first Armor King later in Tekken 6).
• Look Both Ways: In Lei's ending, he fights a criminal above a bus and manages to win. While he is radioing to HQ, he gets hit by a signboard behind him and falls down the bus.
• The Lost Woods: Wolves' Den is set in a forest at full moon, with wolves seen frolicking in the background.
• Moveset Clone:
  • Kuma/Panda and Christie/Eddy. They even share the same slot, though the latter is separated into different slots in Dark Resurrection. In addition, Panda is never fought as a sub-boss in any of the characters story modes.
  • The new character Asuka Kazama is functionally a clone of Jun Kazama, inheriting virtually her entire movelist.
  • Devil Jin is Tekken 3-era Jin—who in turn is a mix of Kazuya and Jun—with added supernatural moves like flying and firing lasers taken from Kazuya's own Devil alter-ego.
• Multiple Endings: Anna and Nina both have similar endings but with different outcomes. They are invited to shoot a film that ends with a Single-Stroke Battle.
  • In Anna's ending, she is the loser, but the crew chastise Nina for being too hard on Anna as others help the latter. Then Nina's circlet undoes, followed by the rest of her costume.
  • In Nina's ending, she is the loser. The crew promptly congratulate Anna while completely ignoring Nina, who walks away from the set on her own. From a distance, Nina activates a bomb that obliterates the set and presumably kills everyone, before smiling.
  • Similarly, Yoshimitsu and Bryan's endings depict them in a battle to the death, which ends with them killing the other. Ironically enough, they are each killed in an area that their opponent specializes in (Yoshimitsu in a forest, Bryan in a wartorn city).
• Mythology Gag: In Roger Jr.'s ending, Roger is watching Xiaoyu's ending from Tekken 3.
• Noodle Incident: King and Julia apparently knew each other from before the tournament, something that's not even hinted at in previous games. They do hail from the same general area (she is from Arizona, while he is from Mexico), but this is stretching it.
• Non-Indicative Name: The player actually controls Roger's unnamed wife, rather than their son, the actual Roger Jr., who stays in his mother's pouch at all times.
• Non-Standard Game Over: If you lose to Jinpachi in Story Mode and choose not to continue, a short CGI cutscene will follow, which shows Jinpachi transforming further into a Humanoid Abomination that destroys the world. This is considered "Jinpachi's ending", since he is unplayable in the game.
• Ominous Fog: Ominous Mist.
• One-Winged Angel: Subverted with Jinpachi. He's been shown in normal human form, the purplish demonic form, and (in Dark Resurrection) a fiery lava form. Either through playing the PS3 port or hacking the game, however, you'll find out that all three have the same moves and properties. Even in his belly-mouthless human form, Jinpachi is still capable of using the fire projectile.
• Palette Swap:
  • Kuma/Panda. Christie/Eddy is somewhat downplayed, since they have different throws, but the rest of their movelist is the same. In the PS2 port, you have to buy Christie's "extra costume" for 500,000 g to access Eddy. In the Dark Resurrection update, he is available from the start with his own slot.
  • Most, if not all, characters in Dark Resurrection start with different default colors than the original. Notably, Kuma's fur is white, making him resemble a polar bear rather than a brown bear. Xiaoyu is the only one whose altered outfit stuck through the subsequent games, while most other character have their Dark Resurrection outfits available in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken 7.
  • The new stages in Dark Resurrection are mostly thematic variations of the stages in the original. For example, Aurora Australis is set in the same Antarctic area of Polar Paradise, but at night. The only exceptions are Wolves' Den, Playroom, Ominous Mist, and Industrial Complex, which are all-new stages. Most stage themes are also simpler remixes of their original versions, with Amnesia being completely different from Tekken 5's Moonlit Wilderness. Ground Zero is the only stage from Tekken 5 to make it into Dark Resurrection completely unchanged, along with its music track.
• Pool Scene: Poolside and Pool Party. Lee and Tiger appear as background characters, although Lee obviously won't be there if someone is playing as him.
• Pushed at the Monster: In the intro cinematic, Heihachi and Kazuya are attacked by an army of JACK-4 robots and temporarily put their feud aside to deal with them. During the battle, however, Kazuya suddenly grabs Heihachi and tosses him into a crowd of robots, where they quickly surround and pin him. Kazuya uses this time to escape while the robots set off their self-destruct in an attempt to kill Heihachi, who curses Kazuya's name all the while.
• Revenge:
  • Asuka towards Feng, for destroying her father's dojo.
  • Kazuya towards the G Corporation, for ordering Jack-4s to kill him at Honmaru.
  • Yoshimitsu wants to take revenge against Bryan for being a dick to Dr. B, destroying his lab and injuring him, as well as murdering the Manji ninja stationed to guard the lab.
• Secret Character: The console port is the last to have this; in later games, all characters are either unlocked from the beginning or purchased through DLC. Roger Jr., Anna, Baek, Bruce, Wang, Kuma/Panda, Ganryu, Mokujin, and Heihachi are unlocked by clearing through Story Mode multiple times (they are unlocked in that order). Devil Jin is unlocked either by finishing Devil Within or fighting 200 matches. In Dark Resurrection PS3 (but not in PSP port), Jinpachi is unlocked by beating Arcade Mode once, while all other characters are automatically unlocked.
• Silver Fox: Baek has grown gray-haired since the last time we saw him and still looks dashing, especially with his 2P costume.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Polar Paradise and Aurora Australis.
• SNK Boss: Jinpachi is an infamous example, setting the stage for more ridiculously overpowered final bosses in the series. Highlights include: a projectile attack that eats 70% of your health and can be spammed if you try to avoid it; a stun attack that has an infinite range and leaves you vulnerable for 5 freaking seconds; and a Life Drain move.
• Space Station: Final Frontier and Space Colony.
• Strapped to a Rocket: In Heihachi's ending, he straps Jin, Kazuya, and Jinpachi to the sides of a rocket launching to outer space, while he watches them suffer from the distance.
• Thanks for the Mammary: In Asuka's ending, Jin falls head-first into her breasts upon waking up. There is a momentary Beat afterwards, broken by a falling rock. Followed by Pervert Revenge Mode.
• Tiger Versus Dragon: An interesting example. In Tekken 5, there is a stage called Dragon's Nest, set in a temple featuring a single dragon statue. The weather is cloudy, with darker clouds visible in the distance. Dark Resurrection adds Western Gate, which is much the same, except the dragon has been replaced with tiger statues and the sky looks much darker and just about to rain.
• A Twinkle in the Sky: In his ending, Roger Jr. punches his father to the sky so hard he becomes this.
• Ungrateful Bastard: After Dr. B helps him recover by retrofitting him with modifications that strengthen his body, Bryan repays the favor by destroying his lab and injuring him, as well as killing Yoshimitsu's Manji comrades. No wonder Yoshimitsu enters the tournament hell bent on revenge.
• Unnecessarily Large Interior: Playroom. Apparently, it's Lili's bedroom, yet it is the size of a very large ballroom, complete with multiple balconies. One wonders how large her mansion is.
• Updated Re-release: Dark Resurrection, which is also the only one to get a separate port than the original. It set the trend of updated rereleases for the series being released a few years after the original came out.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Nina experiences this in Anna's ending.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Xiaoyu's story. She enters the tournament to earn the prize money so she can fund a time machine, wanting to use it to prevent Heihachi from throwing Kazuya down the cliff which started the whole mess. In her ending, she comes very close to use the machine, but it ends up malfunctioning at the last second, causing it to go back in time without her. The machine hits Heihachi as he is holding little Kazuya, sending Kazuya down (and nearly Heihachi). The scientist who developed the machine even lampshades this.

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