Tekken 8's latest reveal revolved around Nina Williams, and while we all expected her to be on the roster, she may be hinting at a slight tweak to gameplay and customisation. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I've already discussed all of that though. What I want to talk about today is an itch in my brain that I didn't even know what was there until Nina scratched it. I've played every Tekken, and dip back into 7 occasionally to shatter the dreams of my ไesteemed colleagues at TheGamer, but have never mained Nina. In fact, I don't play her very much at all, except in one game that forces you to. A game I had forgotten until the Nina reveal lit up the right neurons: Death by Degrees.
Death by Degrees was a Tekken spin-off starring Nina Williams that has been almost totally forgotten, and not just by me. The game was a beat 'em up with Tekken's usual combat, and unfortunately it has never been revisited again. While other spin-offs like Tekken Tag have continued to be folded into the regular release cycle, Death by Degrees has turned 180 back out the door it came through, and promptly died.
It hasn't just been ignored by a lack of true sequels, either. Earlier Tekken games included smaller versions of Death by Degrees, with a beat 'em up game mode that allowed you to make your way through levels tangentially related to the canon storyline, and where a wider array of characters were available to choose from over Nina. However, Tekken 7 does not have this mode, instead letting you fight a never ending conveyor belt of characters customised with silly hats and outfits who get progressively tougher, and who reward you with silly hats and outfits of your own. It's fine, and would be hugely improved by a more curated, higher quality approach to customisation, but it's indistinct from all the other game modes.
I don't expect it to come back in Tekken 8, either. While I did suggest the customisation may be tweaked and that Nina hides a hint to that, I don't think it will be a total teardown. With the online scene a crucial part of Tekken's ecosystem, customisation isn't going away - not when it allows players to inject a sense of personality into their chosen fighter. In fact, in the back of my mind I'm worried there could be a battle pass or microtransaction situation, but I'm just going to cram those fears down until anything of substance confirms or allays them.
But still. Death by Degrees. Kinda feel like I want more now. I'm not sure a remake or port would do it - I have fond memories of it, but until a week ago those memories were caked in dust, so I don't entirely trust them. What I like far more is the idea. A Tekken beat 'em up is obviously an excellent idea, and it's strange that after doing one, not only did Tekken never follow up on it, but it deleted the game mode from the base game entirely. Beat 'em ups have been around for decades so we know they don't necessarily need the budgets or scope of an open world saga. Isn't it worth taking a chance on it again?
The Tekken lore has only gotten more interesting with more stories splaying off in different directions, and while you might not entrust a game like this to a B-tier character like Lili or𝐆 Marduk, it feels like Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Eddie, Alisa, Paul, or King would be perfect. The obvious pick would be Jin, but assuming the spin-off would be separate from the Kazama/Mishima story, there is still a host of marketable characters with plenty of interesting tales to delve into.
It's a little hard to make a case that there should be a sequel to a game that I had long forgotten, but it wasn't until I saw Nina that how much I enjoyed Death by Degrees and, more to the point, how much I loved that Tekken beat 'em up feeling in general, came flooding back. Spin offs are probably going to make a comeback as mainline games across the board take longer and longer to make, and between Tekkens 8 and 9, they could do a lot worse than Death by Degrees 2.