Joshua Muthi argues for the value of narrative in fighting games, using the Tekken series as an example.
Fighting games tend to have an unfortunate reputation for poor writing and weak storylines. One can look at the modern day phenomenon of reusing old villains instead of creating fresh new narratives such as the creative draught in the recent Street Fighter games and arguably the recent Tekken games. However, while this may be the case, it does not mean fighting games cannot have good writing. As a case study, I would pinpoint Tekken 1 to Tekken 5.
To give a bit of context of the series, Tekken 1 is a 1994 fighting game that sees the antagonist, Heihachi Mishima, hosting a martial arts tournament (The King of Iron Fist Tournament) while the ‘protagonist’, Kazuya Mishima seeks revenge for his father’s attempted murder. By the time of the sequel, the narrative is reversed with Kazuya as the antagonist and Heihachi as the protagonist after his defeat in the second tournament. The third game sees a timeskip with the protagonist being Jin Kazama, the son of Kazuya Mishima who died at the hands of Heihachi Mishima. Heihachi ultimately attempts to kill Jin at the end of the third game, yet Jin survives.
The overall narrative of Tekken is ultimately told through this family squabble and frames each game. The method in which the writers and developers reveal this story is rather interesting; the decision was to reveal what each character in the roster would do in the event that they won the tournament through ending cutscenes. This ultimately reveals a key component of what makes the early Tekken games great at storytelling: the tournament is not about materialism but rather desire to fulfil one’s ambitions in life. King in Tekken 1 aims to use the prize money to help his orphanage. Paul Phoenix does not care about the prize of the tournament in Tekken 5, but rather aims to prove himself that he is still the strongest in the universe.
The zenith of Tekken’s writing is seen in Tekken 4. The Mishimas’ duel at the end of the fourth tournament is left ambiguous on who won, revealing that the writers understood that the tournament was always just a tool for desire. This is reinforced by the fact that in Kazuya’s, Heihachi’s and Jin’s endings, nothing truly changes on who wins the tournament. Regardless of the tournament, the Mishimas find themselves in the Hon-Maru Temple where Jin is. Jin meeting both his father and grandfather in the same room is something Tekken never truly reaches up to. When Jin ultimately beats both Kazuya and Heihachi and is about to kill Heihachi for all he has done to him, Jin decides that revenge is not truly the answer. Both Kazuya and Heihachi crave power and yet Jin, who proves himself to be stronger than them, gives up on his primary motivation of revenge and accepts peace within. The writers of Tekken 4 understood that Tekken was never about winning a martial arts tournament, but rather about finding your place in this world.
The developers were also wise to tie in story elements into the gameplay directly. Jin in Tekken 3 fought like Kazuya as both were trained by Heihachi. However after Heihachi’s attempted murder Jin unlearns the fighting style and adopts a different style of karate showing that the story is uniquely told not through ending cutscenes but also directly through gameplay.
The negative reputation that the Tekken franchise receives in terms of its storytelling I would argue comes from its successive games starting with Tekken 6 that opt for an overarching story campaign rather than individual character endings. As a result, the writers opt to spark excitement through cheap thrills instead of aiming to unravel human desire as the previous games have done.