Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arrives: Should Barefoot Fans Care?

At least we can still rely on the Kazamas in Hakamas for TTT2.

 It's been quite a wait, but early this week, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has finally arrived for consoles (PS3 and Xbox360). Now, I've been monitoring this game ever since it was first teased by the producer in late 2010. I watched it online, in arcades and all that time I've been studying its prospects for our enjoyment. I've had great hopes for it, given that the previous game in the Tekken franchise, Tekken 6, is one of the best games with barefoot babes to enjoy (thanks to the cool and sexy Character Customization). But sadly, all signs pointed to TTT2 falling short of equalling T6's soleful content.

Based on the arcade version, we knew that the Character Customization System had been altered, made a bit simpler. Sadly, separate Hand and Foot customization was omitted, with tops and bottoms coming with included hand and footwear. Along the way, someone at the dev team forgot to include barefoot options or costumes. No, scratch that... someone forgot to include barefoot options or costumes FOR THE FEMALES. Yes, to add insult to injury many of the male characters can be barefoot, but not the ladies. That didn't change in the months that followed- there was no way to change the existing system. All we could hope for was that additional costumes with bare feet built in were to be added to the console version. Well, how did that pan out? If you love barefoot babes, would you be satisfied with what TTT2 has to offer?




Sadly, Lili's bare soles are lost to us... for now. Perhaps future DLC will give her barefoot outfits again...?

For starters, Christie Monteiro still has her default classic P1 Outfits (The Capoeira Costume) with her barefoot. Aside from that single costume though, she has no other outfit or even a bottom that has her baring her soles- everything else comes with included footwear. Then there's Asuka Kazama- her classic Aikido/Martial Arts outfit from Tekken 5 and 6 (with the headband) is GONE. You can, however, buy a Hakama and Footguards set in the in-game store. But again, aside from the Hakama/Footguard combo (Asuka has 2 different Hakama), Asuka has no other barefoot costume or option; same goes for Jun Kazama.


Unfortunately there's no uniform or basic Barefoot Customization in TTT2. We have to rely on individual outfit pieces... of which there are painfully few out of the box.

Everyone else, all the girls who were from Tekken 6, also have no Barefoot Customization or costume. As of right now, Lili, whose soles we bared and enjoyed in Tekken 6, cannot remove her boots now. Neither can Nina, Xiaoyu and Alisa. But wait- there's the Extra DLC Characters and the Big Bikini Bundle, which comes with content not seen in the arcade versions. So, what is the footie content after DL-ing the new stuff?

 

Awaiting at the end of Arcade Mode is Unknown- Final Boss and one of the few barefoot babes in the game (Don't worry, she'll be playable eventually as DLC).




Well, we get ONE fully-barefoot babe in the returning Angel, and well, all I can say is that her bare feet look... heavenly. Unfortunately, Angel has no other barefoot costume aside from her default P1 Costume. She actually has Hakama and Footguards, but who needs them when she's already fully barefoot (well, there are those here who actually prefer the footguards, I know)? Then there's Kunimitsu, the sexy ninja renegade who also has Hakama and Footguards in her purchasable costume pieces. I'll post vids of these babes as soon as I can.

And finally, the BIKINI BUNDLE DLC. Unfortunately, while there are certainly lots of skin being shown off,  the feet remain in footwear, as pretty much all of the bikinis come paired with shoes or sandals- which cannot be toggled. To be fair, some of the sandals show off a lot of the girls' feet in any case, but if you're like me, to whom full-barefoot, with contact to the ground with the soles is paramount, it's very disappointing.

BUT WAIT! I had almost lost all hope... and there then was a pretty awesome surprise waiting for me as I checked each characters' swimwear... I found that ONE babe actually got a fully-barefoot costume in the Swimsuit DLC. That girl- whom I now declare as Tekken Tag 2's Barefoot Muse- is none other than- get this- Leo Kliesen. Yes, THAT Leo. LEO is now the Barefoot Babe of the Moment... who'd have ever thought that could happen? I'll be taking her on in-depth in another article. For now though, check out the new vids with the Hakama Kazama team of Asuka and Jun Kazama.

So, should Foot Fans rush out to get Tekken Tag Tournament 2? Well, if you're a real fighting game fan, you probably already have it anyway. In any case, it's an awesome fighter- perhaps the most chock-full of content I've seen in years. The barefoot babe content by default is kinda low- but this game DOES have potential, particularly in KOs (even if the sexy win animations in Tekken 6 are gone) and probably added content in the future. I'll show you the goods soon enough. Don't write off TTT2 just yet!