Profile
General: Namco has finally given us "Tekken-fanatics" what we've been craving for years, online Tekken battles with other players across the country (and sometimes the world)! Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online sports 1080p graphics for those of you with the latest HDTV sets, but also looks great on regular HDTVs that are not 1080p... And if you don't yet own an HDTV, Namco says you're out of style.
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Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection released for the PS3 ealier this year as a download via the Playstation Online store. It didn't feel like a "home" release as much as the PSP version did (Tekken: Dark Resurrection); mainly because the PS3 version lacked Story Mode, Survival Mode, Team Battle, and Practice Mode. Tekken 5: DR Online remedies a few of the missing 1-player modes by adding in Survival Mode, and the always appreciated Practice Mode! Unfortunately there is still no story mode or character endings; you'll have to go back to Tekken: Dark Resurrection for all those goodies.
So, how is
the first official online Tekken? Well, that actually depends on your connection...
and if you don't have a good one, you can forget about playing Tekken Online.
So for this review, feel free to insert the phrase "when there is NO
lag" after every positive thing I say about this game. Tekken 5: DR
Online includes all the online features you'd expect... Online rankings,
battle lobbies, headset support, and in-match spectating. Basically, you
can either create a room (up to 8 people) or enter a room, where you wait
in line to play the winner. It's just like "putting your quarter up" at
an arcade machine, winner stays, loser pays... Old school. The difference
from the arcade is, when you enter a room and rack up a win streak; the
host of the room may decide to kick you out because you're just too good... 
Mhmm... Happens all the time. That's why I don't enter rooms anymore. I
always make my own and wait for someone to join or invite friends.
The gameplay online
runs
smooth sometimes, and quite laggy and slow other times. Lag is definitely
an issue in Tekken 5: DR Online and of course depends on who you
play against & their connection as well as your own. The only dependable
gameplay flaw seems to be the split second after the fight begins...
"your first move" basically. Just like the two-player mode in the
psp version, the very first move that you perform sometimes doesn't come
out right, for instance you jump and you didn't intend to. You almost have
to delay your first move a second AFTER the fight begins...
It's not exactly game breaking; the better player will eventually win,
but this little glitch can become annoying.
Online match
options include Pick-up Match, Opti Match, Quick Match, Custom Match and
Friend Match; a good variety of ways to find challengers. It's easy to
tell when your friends are online via your PS3, and you can receive invitations
to play as long as your profile is "online." Even if your playing another
game on your PS3, as long as you're signed in to PSN, you can still receive
invitations to play Tekken... Pretty cool. The head-set support in this
game is also an enjoyable feature, allowing for some funny (and sometimes
not so funny) live commentary and/or trash talking. However, choosing to
create a room with headset support will increase your chances of lag, so
I usually play without it. I'm the silent type anyway... 
When sudden lag appears during random fights (and it will), expect to mistakenly drop your opponent after a launcher, and mess up your air combos that you usually hit 100% of the time. Missing a combo of course can change the pace of the fight, and needless to say you can very well lose the match because of lag. It comes down to who can play well with a little bit of lag; and who can't. With that said, the "Online Rankings" shouldn't really be taken too seriously, but there is some truth to the ranks. If you go up against one of the higher ranks, no doubt you're going to play against a skilled opponent. Play against a shihan or 5th dan, and more than likely they will be an easy win (if you're good at Tekken of course). At the end of the day, the best players (who can play well with lag) move up in rank. But course the whole online ranking system is just for fun... And come on people, it's 3 ROUNDS!!!
Players are rewarded with and judged solely by "Battle Points," which are earned for defeating opponents close to their rank or above. Players are given little to no points for beating a much lower rank. It's a simple yet fair ranking system, but there are some "little" annoyances & glitches. First of all, if you disconnect during a match for any reason, for instance your power or internet connection goes out, you will be penalized and lose battle points. You only get one warning, and after any future disconnect, you can say goodbye to "1000" of your hard earned battle points (equivalent to winning 7-10 matches). This strict "penalty" for disconnecting is obviously in place to remedy those "sore losers" who might disconnect during a battle on purpose to save themselves from a loss. It's a novel idea and all, but why do us fair players have to endure this brutal punishment if the disconnection isn't entirely our fault? There has to be a better way Namco.
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Overall, Tekken Online is about the fun of being able to play a live opponent at pretty much any time. Unlike some, I don't whine about lag issues so much, and appreciate the heart of the game and what it provides. Tekken Online also gives "Tekken noobs" the ability to experience what a real Tekken battle is all about, and exposes different "playing styles" with the different characters, all without having to step foot inside an arcade. With the ability to watch a live match between two skilled Tekken players, with different playing styles at that, novices and mediocre players are sure to see a lot of moves, combos, and strategies that they have never seen or perhaps never even thought of, thus, pick up a few tips from the pros! And remember, you're never too good to learn new combos. As a matter of fact, I've picked up quite a few new ones myself! This "learning experience" will surely hold true for other next-gen online fighting games coming out in the future... WELCOME TO THE NEXT GEN, TFG!
In closing,
Tekken 5: DR Online is pure fun, when there's no lag... It's definitely
Tekken... Looks like Tekken... Feels like Tekken... And that's a
good thing! The intense
matches, open-ended combos & strategies, and great gameplay us fans
know and love is all present (even with mild lag). I've noticed that when
game breaking lag occurs, nicer (smarter) players tend to back off and
give their opponent some space to let things clear up. Then it's back to
the fight once they feel they've gained control once again. However, if
the lag doesn't let up, players may be forced to go for the throws, one-hits,
or simpler combos... Once again, this is only present in a bad connection;
and it's not hard to remember the "names" of the players that lag. While
playing some of my buddies on a good connection, even a few friends across
the country, I can nearly hit ALL of my usual combos,
with a higher
mistake rate than usual for some reason, but hey, it's close enough.
Thanks to Namco Bandai for making it happen!
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Manufacturer: Namco
Platforms: PS3
Release: August
2007 (Japan), Mid August (USA)
Characters:
Asuka
Kazama, Feng Wei, Raven,
Kuma,
Panda,
Bruce,
Anna,
Jin
Kazama, Lee Chaolan, Ling
Xiaoyu, Bryan Fury, Nina
Williams, Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu,
Steve
Fox, Craig Marduk, Christie
Monteiro, Eddy,
Hwoarang,
Kazuya
Mishima, King,
Marshall
Law, Julia Chang, Jack,
Lei
Wulong, Armor King, Roger
Jr., Wang, Baek,
Ganryu,
Devil
Jin, Mokujin, Heihachi,
Jinpachi,
Dragunov,
Lili
Related Games:
Tekken,
Tekken
2,
Tekken 3, Tekken
Advance, Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken
4, Tekken 5, Tekken
5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken: Dark Resurrection,
Tekken
6, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion
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Closing Comment: A lot of people are way too hard on T5: DRO because of the lag, and many of them don't realize it's simply their connection. Once again, you need a very stable, if not super fast connection to play T5: DRO smoothly; and if yours isn't that great, you should expect the lag and shouldn't complain (or just don't play the game). For your information, I have Verizon Fios, and unless I play against someone with a completely crap connection (or from another country); Tekken Online is very playable and actually quite smooth for me most of the time... But I understand not everyone has the blazing fast connection that I do, and unfortunately Namco hasn't catered to those "less equipped" this time around.
Lag issues
aside, I appreciate the fact that one of my all time favorite fighting
game franchises has finally gone online and practically mainstream! Why
is Tekken still one of my favorite games? Maybe because now there's
35 or so different ways to play it. Yeah, the characters are still so much
fun to play, and now with Online, players can study and learn from
each others playing styles as well as how they play their characters. It's
great to be able to play against other Tekken players that otherwise you
may never have been able to play against. Once you find some players that
you get a good connection with, it's great fun! When you mess up your air
combos and have to change your playing style too much because of lag, it
will surely frustrate even the most passive of gamers! Myself included... 
To elaborate on my giving T5: DR Online a 7.5 overall score; first off, I was hoping for a few more extras from this "add-on" to the home version of Tekken 5: DR. I do appreciate the new buyable artworks thrown in randomly with the old ones. The practice mode isn't bad, but where are the cool practice stages from the PSP version? (and the cool practice stage BGM?) I was also hoping for Namco to graphically fix a few of the stages, which are strangely at a lower resolution than others... Nope! I even had my hopes up for the updated intro, as seen in the PSP version; but unfortunately it's still the (shorter) arcade version, with the new "Online" logo flying across the screen near the end. New customization items or alternate outfits wouldn't have been a bad effort either... but that's just asking too much I guess.
Thankfully, and as expected, Namco didn't make any "fatal" mistakes with Tekken Online. I do appreciate the many fundamental things that they actually did right with Tekken Online. For example: NO Jinpachi in Online Mode, character change at continue (just the way I like it), the ability to kick laggy players out of your room, and the relaxing (not fast paced) music while waiting in a battle room. Namco answered my prayers with their downloadable update on (4-17-08) by adding a sound (and vibration if you're using a Dual Shock 3) when someone enters your battle room! The Dual Shock 3 rumble feature is a nice touch as well. Probably the biggest flaw of Tekken Online are those nasty disconnect glitches that threaten your ranking, and of course those online rankings cheaters that "beat themselves up" for points because they have 2 PS3s. (two of which in the top 10 are ABDULRAZZAQ" and Asuka_Kazama AKA Prez_Manny). Damn cheaters.
At the end of the day, I do love my Tekken 5: DR Online. At the very least it can be viewed as a "practice run" for future online fighting game titles on Sony's PS3. When Playstation 3's Home launches, players be able to meet up within the virtual world of Home, then go straight into a Tekken 5: DR battle... Pretty sweet. This will also hold true for the upcoming Tekken 6, Soul Calibur 4, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix. The PS3 has already made a name for itself among fighting game fans with these great titles that will be playable online. See you in the battle lobby, and GG's!
Below is the first time I tagged "TOP 10" and achieved Tekken Lord rank... (circa Nov. 1st, 2007).
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Per request, F. Yagami's player profile... The highest rank I've achieved
online is #7. 
(circa
June 21st, 2008)
And below are the current "TOP 20" of the (North America) Online Rankings (circa June 21st, 2008). Yes, there are only 4 slots for Dark Lords and 6 slots for Tekken Lords... No more allowed. As you can see from the old rankings above, the Battle Points minimum for "Tekken Lord" are forever going up higher, thanks to the Tekken die-hards (and the cheaters)... Yes, there are indeed 2 confirmed cheaters in the top 10 rankings... "ABDULRAZZAQ" and "Asuka_Kazama" (AKA Prez_Manny) both used 2 PS3's to beat up on themselves and earn points... The proof is at the very bottom of the US rankings, where you'll find their "old names" with 600+ loses. Unlike those losers, I earned all my points fair and square.
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Once again, the
rankings are just for fun. I don't consider myself to be a "Tekken God"
of some sort... I just play a lot, and I try not to lose. 
I do plan on staying at least "TOP 20" for
a looong while... At least until
Tekken 6 hits
home on PS3. So bring it on you noobs and quit talking trash...
HA HA...
GGs!
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG