E3 2021 brought with it a new Nintendo Direct that included the announcement of one of the last DLC characters being released for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before the event, there were only two new characters left as part of Super Smash Bros Ultimate's second Fighter Pass. There were many requests from fans as far as what characters they would like to see fill those slots the most. From the Doom Slayer to Crash Bandicoot, the list of requested characters is long and varied. Many of the characters on it have been requested by fans for years, but Nintendo has also delivered its fair share of surprise characters, such as Terry from The King of Fighters.
Each new character reveal is also subject to a litany of rumors and leaks about who the next fighter is. Even a week before this reveal, there was a leak claiming that Super Smash Bros Ultimate's new fighter would be the Doom Slayer. Of course, that turned out to not be true, as the newest fighter has been revealed to be Kazuya from the Tekken series. Tekken is a powerhouse fighting series that has been around for decades. However, there are still some players who are wondering who exactly Kazuya even is.
What is Tekken?
The first Tekken released in 1994 in arcades and on the original PlayStation the next year. Tekken has a large fanbase within the fighting game community thanks to its technical complexity. The Tekken series is well known for giving characters deep move sets that allow players to combo them together and create intricate chains of attacks. For defense, players also have multiple blocks and counters available. The varied movements and the intricate defense system allow the game to have very cinematic and technical fights that made watching fights in Tekken almost as fun as playing them.
Most recently, Tekken 7 was released in 2015. The game has maintained a sizable player base since it released, and Tekken 7 even passed 7 million units sold just earlier this year. The game brought many new special moves and attacks to the series, as well as bringing guest characters to the series and continuing the game's story. The Tekken series has maintained one comprehensive narrative across its mainline releases with players returning to the universe with each entry and see new and recurring characters as they continue to develop the story of Tekken.
Who Is Tekken's Kazuya?
Kazuya Mishima is the face of the Tekken series and the main character throughout the story of its earliest titles. The series begins with Kazuya being thrown off a cliff by his own father as a baby, starting him on a path of revenge. It is Kazuya's thirst for revenge that drives the main storyline of the Tekken series, as Kazuya dominates the fighting tournaments put on by his father to try and find a successor to take control of his business empire.
Throughout the campaigns, Kazuya faces many crazy fighters, including some of the most powerful figures in the Tekken universe, and still manages to topple nearly all of them. He also has something known as a Devil Gene that allows him to transform into a devil mode that changes his appearance and while also being part of some of Kazuya's biggest moves.
Kazuya also acts as the "default" character in many Tekken games. Of course, this is not to say that he is weak by any means, but that he is an all-around competent fighter that incorporates most of the game's mechanics without strongly favoring or excelling at any one of them. Kazuya is one of the most basic characters in a very complicated and advanced series, making him a great starting off point for players trying to learn the game.
He has some of Tekken's most iconic attacks, but they are easily predicted by opponents. Kazuya is usually best played as a defensive character that blocks enemy attacks and punishes them for it, which also helps make him a good character to learn the ropes of the game's defense system.
Kazuya in Super Smash Bros Ultimate
While some gameplay of Kazuya in Super Smash Bros Ultimate was shown during Nintendo's presentation, many fans are curious how the character will fit into the game and how exactly he will play. While the specifics of how exactly Kazuya will play in Super Smash Bros Ultimate will only be made clear when Nintendo fully shows off the character, there are some aspects of the character that can be deduced from Kazuya's role in the Tekken series as well as the bits of gameplay that have been shown.
One big aspect of Kazuya that will almost definitely be carried over into Super Smash Bros Ultimate is his variety of different strikes and combos. Both Ken and Ryu already feature a diverse set of moves in Super Smash Bros Ultimate and it is likely that Kazuya will get the same treatment.
This will likely see Kazuya being played around performing combos against enemies and controlling space during fights using positioning and quickly getting around the map. This also means that Kazuya will likely favor one on one fights rather than more chaotic matches with multiple players. Having too many enemies around will make it harder to follow through combos and will force Kazuya to be even more mobile and will see players be more conservative about when they engage opponents.
Of course, Kazuya also has their Devil form in the gameplay trailer. It is not clear exactly how Devil Kazuya will work in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, but it will surely be a very powerful part of Kazuya's move set, and could see Kazuya being one of Super Smash Bros Ultimate's strongest DLC characters.
It will be very interesting to see exactly how well Kazuya ends up performing when he is fully released for Super Smash Bros Ultimate later this year. The character has a lot of potential for his inclusion in the game, and it is great how much Nintendo has continued to support Super Smash Bros Ultimate since its release.
While many fans will likely be disappointed that their preferred fighter was not added to the game, there is still another DLC character as well as a rumored secret DLC character for Super Smash Bros Ultimate that very well could be the fighter they were hoping to see. Hopefully, there will even be a third fighter pass so that fans can continue to get more great fighters to try out in the game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.