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 Thanks to my good friend Square for the banner image! Tekken is a fighting game series developed by Bandai Namco, with its first entry released in 1994. Like many other franchises in its genre, much of Tekken’s plot was originally isolated into character endings for its arcade modes, but there would be a greater emphasis on a larger interconnecting story as the series went on, fleshing out character relationships and tying events together into more than just a series of fighting tournaments. By the time Tekken 4 was released, the console versions would see characters get more dedicated story modes to expand their depth and provide more context to the way they fit into the complete Tekken narrative. Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees is Bandai Namco’s first, and so far only, non-fighting spin-off game in the franchise. An action-adventure title developed for the PlayStation 2 in 2005, the game centers on Tekken’s Nina Williams, a famous assassin who has been hired to assist MI6 and the CIA in a sting operation to bring down the criminal organization Kometa. She is brought in as a sweeper, an undercover agent only meant to be called in for emergencies. Of course, things go wrong almost immediately, and so it’s up to Nina to save the day and discover the truth about Kometa’s plans. All in a day’s work. While not considered canon to the core Tekken story, the game does provide plenty of backstory on Nina and how she connects to various characters throughout the franchise, and attempts to flesh out what these characters do when not embroiled in a King of Iron Fist tournament. According to frequent series director Katsuhiro Harada, Nina was chosen as the lead character because she was, and continues to be, the most popular character in the Tekken series. Like its main franchise, Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees is focused on precision and technical combat. However, the introduction of contextual commands for the game’s exploration segments meant that the face buttons on the controller were already accounted for and could not be used for fighting. Instead, movement and dodging is handled via the left joystick, while combat is entirely handled via the right joystick. While this setup is functional and provides more player freedom than in might seem on first glance, it’s a difficult system to get accustomed to, and it often feels like trial and error to execute more complex commands. But when the combat starts to flow, it can feel satisfying to outmaneuver opponents and catch them off-guard, executing the perfect counter for the scenario. Outside of the combat, the exploration portion of the game can be fun once you start to understand the layout of the maps, with plenty of little references to the larger Tekken universe scattered throughout. Puzzles range from Resident Evil-style "take the conspicuous item to the more conspicuous location" to multiple alternate gameplay modes that test both your reflexes and your wit. A lot of effort was put into making this a fully-realized adventure and I think that shines through the rough parts of the game.  I’m special agent ChorpSaway, and I have my team of sweepers TheJayOfSpade, Taoc, and FutureFriend on backup duty. Our mission: to examine this oft-forgotten Tekken spin-off and talk about unhinged fighting game lore. FutureFriend is our resident Tekken enjoyer who’ll be helping fill in the gaps for the rest of us as we learn just what it takes to be a major competitor of the King of Iron Fist tournament. I will be completing the main campaign with a fresh save on Normal difficulty, as well as completing all of the major sub-objectives tracked by the game (fingerprints, gold coins, puzzle boxes). I will also be showing off as much bonus material as I can stand to collect. Also, please do not post story spoilers in the thread. If you wanna talk about Tekken lore that’s fine, but anything pertaining to Tekken’s Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees specifically should be saved until we see it in the LP.             
ChorpSaway fucked around with this message at 19:01 on May 12, 2024 |
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Apr 7, 2024 18:33
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 21:50 |
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Shei-kun posted:I'm trying to figure out what sort of niche they were going for by watching the gameplay and all I can tell so far is "we were having fun making things" This only becomes more prominent as the game continues. They clearly had a lot of ideas for what Tekken's Nina Williams might need to do on a mission and they implemented all of them, and it's incredibly cool. This is why we need a new Tekken spin-off around Kunimitsu or Doctor Bosconovitch or any other Tekken character where they can try out some new stuff. berryjon posted:On the other hand, generic sexy action heroine who goes from bikini to evening dress. And from the attract reel, generic purple spy-catsuit is painfully generic and you can tell a lot about how this game was being sold. Yeah, as stated from the Tekken wiki, "Nina has been a fan favorite from her debut, owing to her speed, lethal moves, and chain throws." And this game is chock full of these things, which is what the fans of the most popular Tekken character wanted. FutureFriend posted:they did the science. gamers everywhere ranked nina williams and her many acts in the IRA as the number one popular thing in 2005. unfortunately the death of pope john paul the 2nd left the world in mourning, and unwilling to give the game its proper success. Can't wait for the next big anniversary project when we'll get a new Tekken's Nina Williams game where Nina return to her roots and helps to liberate Northern Ireland from the UK.
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Apr 11, 2024 16:38
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 UPDATE TIME! The espionage mission is officially underway and Tekken's Nina Williams has already been given a difficult task: find their missing CIA operative John Doe! Fortunately, John has a GPS device on him that allows Nina to see exactly where he is on the boat right now. Unfortunately, the cruise ship is a veritable labyrinth, full of twists and turns and locked doors with elaborate puzzles and systems attached to opening them. But this is all in a day's work for the world-renowned assassin, so let's track down our missing person! RareAcumen posted:I don't know anything about Tekken aside from the names of maybe 8 characters so I can't tell what's a joke and what isn't. Is Nina the most popular character? I have no idea. The info may be a bit out of date, but I believe this was reported as the reason the game was made with Tekken's Nina Williams in the lead role, and that no character ever came close to dethroning her. She's still probably one of the most popular characters in Tekken but I haven't kept up enough to know if someone else is #1.
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Apr 14, 2024 18:01
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I appreciate the discussion on the validity of the world-famous Sauteed Rat recipe as seen in Tekken's Nina Williams in: Death by Degrees. We should all be more willing to step outside our boundaries and examine the possibilities of our beautiful diverse world.Leal posted:If Rat Boy was still part of the Otaku Trash Machine, how would he feel about the edible rats thing? I think he'd be proud to see the general respect for ratkind on display. TwoPair posted:I'm positive you can eat rats and not get cancer because you can eat rats in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Big Boss survived to a ripe old age without cancer. And Hideo Kojima would never stretch the truth and lie to me ever. This is very true, and I think FutureFriend should be ashamed of his words and deeds for questioning the local delicacies of the Amphitrite. FutureFriend posted:the number 1 most popular character in tekken is negan from the walking dead now op I believe this, but Tekken's Nina Williams is probably a close number two.
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Apr 19, 2024 03:30
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UPDATE TIME! Last time, Tekken's Nina Williams found out that the CIA operative on the mission had been killed, before Bryce Adams appeared to let her know that he'd taken his GPS tracker along with his life. Now the hunt is on as Nina tries to capture Bryce and retrieve this intel! But there are many deadly traps set up throughout the Amphitrite, and Nina's single-mindedness with the mission might lead her directly into Bryce's hands. Will she survive her next encounter with the dangerous gunman and meet back up with Alan Smithee, or is this the end of the line for the world-famous assassin? Admiral H. Curtiss posted:The thing that confuses me the most is that they specifically list it as edible rat meat in the recipe. As opposed to what?? There are no additional codec entries for this so the mystery may never be resolved. But my interpretation of the info was that there is a distinction between the edible rats (presumably bred for this purpose) and the non-edible rats (regular freeloaders on these vessels) on the ship, so they're just making sure people check the stock to make sure they're using the correct rats when preparing meals.
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Apr 21, 2024 18:30
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UPDATE TIME! With the "help" of Alan Smithee, Tekken's Nina Williams has now been directed to gain the final level of access needed to explore the Amphitrite and investigate the ongoing Kometa meeting. All she needs to do is infiltrate Lana Lei's room and pull a fingerprint from her belonging, how hard could that be? That's not all she's getting up to though; Nina needs a new suit if she wants to keep things tactical, and once she has full reign of the ship she's going to want to explore everything the Amphitrite has to offer is visitors. Hopefully that meeting Nina needs to crash is running late! C-Euro posted:No one commented on Jay saying that Piers Morgan once played James Bond? Why comment on it, he was correct and he should say it. Cooked Auto posted:I think the funniest thing is that Tekken's Nina Williams constantly has this incredibly annoyed expression on her face in all the cutscenes. Like the moment the elevator gets stuck she's already had enough of their bullshit. PurpleXVI posted:Nina's expression and the way she talks makes it feel like she should be a villain, not a protagonist. I also wish it displayed carried weapons on her model, it would be pretty funny to see her hauling around a half dozen katanas at once. In her many years as an assassin, Tekken's Nina Williams has learned that "do what you love and you never work a day in your life" is a brazen lie. It's same poo poo different day in the life of Ireland's greatest assassin. Waffleman_ posted:Also Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by the Director's Guild of America for when a director wished to disown a project, infamously brought to wider attention by the widely panned 1997 film An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn, a mockumentary about a director actually named Alan Smithee who wishes to disown a movie he worked on (the movie itself was ironically disowned by its director and legitimately credited under Alan Smithee). The movie bombed so hard that the DGA stopped using the pseudonym in 2000, five years before this game came out. No spoilers but this is the actual backstory to our MI6 operative friend.
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Apr 28, 2024 18:33
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UPDATE TIME! Will full access to the Amphitrite secured, it's finally time for Tekken's Nina Williams to crash the Kometa board meeting and see what's really going on aboard this ship. However, things quickly go south of the infiltration and it's all hands on deck while everyone tries to evacuate. Can Nina catch her marks before the escape, or will the chaos of their exit strategy cause her to fall right into their hands? TwoPair posted:"Well, time to go to the locker room and get dressed for my shift, I'll just put my sword in here until it's time to clock out..." Look he was saving that one for lunch and Nina just has no respect for personal property.
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May 5, 2024 18:30
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Alright, let's do a quick plot synopsis then to make sure everyone is caught up for the next episode: Somewhere around the Bermuda Triangle, a military ship suddenly sank due to some strange phenomenon. As part of an investigation into a criminal organization, Kometa, Tekken's Nina Williams joins a join mission between the CIA and MI6. Kometa sells weapons to various terrorist groups around the world, and is believed to be involved in the Bermuda Triangle incident. The organization's executives are meeting on board the Amphitrite, a cruise ship, and Nina is meant to be backup in case something goes south with the two main operatives, John Doe (CIA) and Alan Smithee (MI6). She goes undercover in the on-ship fighting tournament, but is immediately caught for being Tekken's Nina Williams, the famed assassin. Here she meets three of the big players in the criminal organization: Byrce Adams, Lana Lei, and Engrique Ortega. The fourth, Edgar Grant is currently unaccounted for. At the same time, John and Alan get caught by security. Nina is able to save Alan during a sniper sequence, but John has gone missing. Nina is able to track John down to the ship freezer, but finds he's been killed by Edgar Grant. She also gets into a fight with Bryce Adams, who has taken John's GPS device which tracks the Kometa execs. After chasing Bryce down and killing him in the ship's gladiatorial sword arena, Tekken's Nina Williams gets the GPS device back and finds where the meeting is taking place. After gaining complete access to the Amphitrite by infiltrating Lana Lei's room, Nina is able to pilot a drone into the Kometa meeting room, only to find most of the execs murdered with Lana and Enrique now at odds with each other. Lana escapes from Enrique's grasp by setting off a smoke grenade, which also makes the fire alarm go off on the ship. Nina catches up to the execs during their emergency exit procedure, where Lana has Enrique held up at his helicopter. Tekken's Nina Williams is hit with a poison needle and has a psychic mind battle with Lana, because she killed Lana's boyfriend Bryce earlier. She defeats Lana and leaves her prone, giving her enough time to jump onto Enrique's helicopter before she passes out. It's just that simple.
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May 7, 2024 16:29
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Cooked Auto posted:I think it was a cargo ship and not a military vessel that got sunk in the triangle, and that the ship was owned by a company that Lana is the owner of, going by the argument in the meeting room. Ah, you got me, got my details mixed up. It was a cargo ship owned by Kometa that sunk, and the Kometa exec meeting was about that. RareAcumen posted:Okay but where do the edible rats factor into the plot? The edible rats are the last survivors from the destroyed ship. The reason Nina won't eat them is because they remind her of her childhood trauma of being a survivor in the Arctic.
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May 7, 2024 19:06
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UPDATE TIME! After an improptu run-in with Enrique and Lana, Tekken's Nina Williams finds herself locked up in a run-down prison facility. Nothing the most famous international assassin can't handle though, especially when she finds out there's plenty of intel to get in her new temporary residence. Sometimes it's nice to see a plan come together, even if it involves being poisoned and taken away to a dilapidated prison without any sort of proper accommodations. Plus, there are new fingerprints to steal!
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May 12, 2024 19:00
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