After Geese Howard, ‘Tekken 7’ Welcomes Noctis As New Playable Character

“Tekken 7” has a new playable character, and it is someone very familiar to “Final Fantasy XV” fans. Apparently, Noctis Lucis Caelum is joining the King of Iron Fist Tournament this coming spring.

According to Kotaku, Noctis was announced to be part of the “Tekken 7” roster at the Tekken World Tour Finals yesterday. It also looks like fans won’t only be seeing Noctis as part of Bandai Namco’s fighting game. The outlet has learned that some “familiar faces” will be making some cameo in Noctis’ special Hammerhead Garage stage.

Based on the announcement trailer, Noctis will come armed with his iconic Engine Blade to defend himself during matches. Though the addition of Noctis from Square Enix’s “Final Fantasy XV” is a big surprise to fans of the “Tekken” franchise, this isn’t actually the first time that a “Tekken” game is getting crossovers from other game series.

DualShockers pointed out that the inclusion of Noctis in “Tekken 7’s” roster comes after the addition of Geese Howard of “Fatal Fury” fame. And of course, how could anyone forget about “Street Fighter” character Akuma’s introduction to the Bandai Namco game?

Back in July, “Tekken 7” producer and director Katsuhiro Harada announced during the EVO 2017 livestream that Geese Howard from SNK’s “Fatal Fury” and “The King of Fighters” series is joining the game. In “Fatal Fury,” Geese Howard is the main protagonist, but he appears as a villain in the “Art of Fighting” series. Interestingly, while this character was killed off in the “Fatal Fury” series, Geese is still alive and kicking in “The King of Fighters.” He even appears in “The King of Fighters XIV.”

Late last week, GameSpot got the chance to try out using Geese Howard in “Tekken 7.” The publication shared that Geese’s stage and music were specifically made for the DLC. Game designer Michael Murray even told the outlet: “All of it is kind of like a tribute to the ‘Fatal Fury’ series, and so we really recreated the feeling of the character. But at the same time arranging him to make him have that ‘Tekken’ flair to him.”

Bandai Namco describes Geese in a statement, saying: “Geese Howard from ‘Fatal Fury’ enters the ‘Tekken 7’ ring! Facing off against the likes of Heihachi, Paul and Akuma, Geese Howard sports his signature red hakama training pants as he vows to destroy the Tekken fighters.”

As for Akuma, Harada announced his addition to “Tekken 7’s” update, titled “Fated Retribution,” back in December 2015. At the time, Harada explained that the “Street Fighter” character will not just be joining “Tekken 7” as a guest character, for he was said to be deeply involved in the storyline of the game.

Indeed, Akuma was integrally involved in the “Tekken 7” storyline. As per Forbes, he was tasked by Kazumi Mishima to kill Haihachi, who, by the way, has this complex love relationship with Kazumi, his wife.

“Tekken 7” is currently available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam. For fans who are excited to use Noctis in the game, they should wait a bit longer. The newest playable character is scheduled to join the tournament in the spring of 2018.

The announcement that Noctis is going to be part of “Tekken 7” comes the same day as the release of the brand new trailer for “Final Fantasy XV’s” upcoming multiplayer expansion, “Comrades.” The teaser clip features guest composer Nobuo Uematsu and vocalist Emiko Suzuki, who collaborated for the expansion’s theme song, titled “Choosing Hope.” “Comrades” is slated for a Nov. 15 release on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Square Enix plans to put out new content for “Final Fantasy XV” next year. In fact, a new story DLC, “Episode Ignis,” is already coming to the game on Dec. 13. “Final Fantasy XV” is available to play on PS4 and Xbox One at present. The game is releasing on PC via Steam in early 2018.