Skip to main content

Bringing a sword to a fistfight — Final Fantasy’s Noctis to join ‘Tekken 7’

TEKKEN 7 - Noctis Lucis Caelum Reveal Trailer | PS4, XB1, PC
Final Fantasy XV‘s Noctis Lucis Caelum is joining the roster of Tekken 7 at the start of next year as part of its third downloadable content (DLC) pack. Announced by developer/publisher Bandai Namco with a new trailer, Noctis will make his appearance in spring 2018 following the already planned debut of fellow DLC character, Geese Howard.

The past week has been an exciting one for fighting game fans, with the announcement of a couple of intriguing franchise crossovers in different games. The Ninja Turtles have been announced as additions to the Injustice 2 roster, and now we’ve learned that Noctis is making the jump from Final Fantasy to Tekken. As the new trailer shows though, he’s a good fit for the side-on brawler.

Recommended Videos

As much as Noctis’ pals might like to have taken on this mission themselves, he ultimately decides it’s up to him to fulfill his friend’s request, and he heads into the tournament, fighting off human and ursine enemies alike. Along with some of his gravity-defying attacks from Final Fantasy XV, Noctis takes the bold step of bringing his sword into the otherwise fist and feet-focused fights.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Alongside the addition of the new character, the planned DLC release will also introduce a new stage, which as Polygon points out, is based on the Hammerhead Garage location from Final Fantasy XV. Noctis should feel right at home.

All of that was announced a this year’s Tekken World Tour finals which took place on November 11 and 12, with 22-year-old Byeong Mun Son, better known as Qudans, ending up the victor after a hard slog as Devil Jin.

Before fans have a chance to test out Noctis or the stage he comes with though, they’ll be able to take control of Geese Howard of SNK’s Fighting Fury fame. He’s an old pro at this type of brawling, and has been beating the snot out of opponents of various types since his original debut in 1991. He hasn’t lost a step though, and should provide great competition for both the existing roster and Noctis when he becomes available.

Howard is expected to become playable before the end of the year, following his original July unveiling. Noctis will follow up in the spring.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
Everything announced at Evo 2024: SNK vs. Capcom, Heihachi in Tekken 8, and more
Terry Bogard holds his hat in a Street Fighter 6 cutscene.

This year's edition of the Evolution Championship Series, colloquially known as Evo 2024, was held this past weekend and served as the biggest fighting game tournament event of the year. As a result, a lot of fighting game developers showed up with exciting announcements. These reveals ranged from new titles to DLC characters coming to beloved fighting games, including some surprising guest fighters. If you're wondering what you missed this past weekend, I've rounded up every significant announcement made during Evo 2024 and sorted them by developer.
SNK: SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and much more
【ENG】SNK VS. CAPCOM SVC CHAOS|Trailer

The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown developer SNK showed up big at EVO 2024. It shadow-dropped SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos -- a rerelease of a classic crossover fighting game featuring online play with rollback netcode -- for PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.

Read more
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail takes cues from Mesoamerican culture and Dragonball
FFXIV Dawntrail, Erenville looking out on the front of a sailboat

Starting a new story arc from scratch in a video game that’s been running for over a decade is a tall order -- and it’s one that Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail expansion sets out to accomplish.

Setting sail westward and looking to the continent of Tural, the Warrior of Light and their companions seek to help Wuk Lamat, a female Hrothgar, in a contest for the right to rule the land of Tural. Dawntrail, which is set to launch on July 2 (and June 28 for those who preorder) sets the stage for political intrigue, exploration of a civilization unknown to us, and much more.

Read more
Tribeca Games 2024 will feature 7 games and a Final Fantasy 7 panel
Aerith stares at floating lanterns in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

The Tribeca Festival returns this June, and it will once again feature official games selections and even a game-focused panel. This year, the selections are all promising indie games, including a successor to 2021's excellent Before Your Eyes. The show will also feature a talk on the making of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Tribeca Fest will feature seven titles this year. Some of those should look familiar, as games like Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure have appeared on high-profile livestreams. The list of games features titles from publishers like Devolver Digital and Raw Fury. Here's the full list.

Read more