Fighting game enthusiasts have much to look forward to in 2023, between a new Street Fighter, the possible release of Riot Games’ Project L, and even an indie sword fighter called Varvarion. However, none of them can match the passion and excitement for a new King of Iron Fist Tournament to look forward to. While the worldwide release of Tekken 8 is still far out on the horizon, we spent some time at Bandai Namco getting our first hands on the game alongside other media influencers from the Tekken sphere, such as Avoidingthepuddle’s Aris and Maximilian. For an afternoon, I took part in an all-you-can-eat buffet of electric wind god fists and Xiaoyu’s fortune cookie.
The session opened up with a brief introduction to the mechanics and changes presented by Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray, both longtime producers of the fighting franchise. This was presented to the media group as a Guinness World Record holder for the longest running 3D fighting video game franchise as well as longest running video game storyline. If you’re been playing each and every entry to follow the Mishima arc, you’re probably well versed in more than just Heihachi throwing his son Kazuya into a volcano.
Typically a Tekken release is first introduced into arcades with a later release for consoles; by comparison, Tekken 7 was launched in 2015 in arcades, then consoles two years later. However, this will be the first entry in more than two decades that will see a release straight to consoles. Another figure that Michael Murray touted was that the series had released more than 10 million units worldwide, with 80% of the sales coming from the Western market.
Another focus that Harada and Murray wanted to showcase was the evolution of bringing Tekken not just to the next generation of consoles but also to the next major release of Unreal Engine. While the 7th mainline title was known for being a looker in Unreal Engine 4, Tekken 8 is looking to boost that to the next level with support for Unreal Engine 5. Whether that means support for more modern technologies such as ray tracing and global illumination is still yet to be discussed, as our roundtable interview where I asked such questions was met with non-committal responses, just the same as when asked if Tekken 8 would represent the end of the Mishima arc was similarly met with an unwillingness to share finer details this early into the preview period.
We’re also at the point where no Heihachi Mishima representation has been shown for Tekken 8, but as the patriarch has yet to miss an entry from day one (Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, and Nina WIlliams being the others that can share the same claim to fame), I wouldn’t be surprised to see the pair of Japanese representatives get their own debut trailers in the leadup to release.
Of the Tekken 8 cast revealed so far between the initial reveal and the character trailers since, Tekken 8 has revealed the first ten characters to make up its diverse cast of characters. Don’t expect any monster reveals that are as unexpected as any of the guest characters that made an appearance in the seventh mainline title. Alongside longtime series rivals Jin and Kazuya are Jin’s mother Jun, Law, Jack-8, Nina, King (non-armored variant), Lars, and Xiaoyu whose first reveal was conducted during the preview briefing that covered the new mechanics and changes.
As Michael Murray discussed in his opening reveals of gameplay content to Tekken 8, he made sure to emphasize the desire for an aggressive battle system where both the battle system itself and even visual expressions could be overhauled. The fundamental changes in that search for a more aggressive playstyle were because of the importance for both the two players engaged in close-quarters combat and also that of the spectators watching the match in progress. By implementing smarter visual cues and exciting battle moments, Bandai Namco hopes to make Tekken 8 easier to understand for the average player and become more of a spectator sport.
The changes to visual design aren’t the only major ones coming to Tekken 8 (Paul Phoenix’s change in hairstyle remains another obvious change). All new comeback mechanics and ways to press the advantage are coming to Tekken 8 by way of a system that evolved from the Rage system introduced in Tekken 6. The addition of recoverable or white gauge health may be new to mainline Tekken (not counting the red health from the Tekken Tag Tournament spinoff) but has been a common feature in Street Fighter titles for more than two decades among other signature fighting game entries. By having a chunk of life that automatically recovers (either from blocking certain moves or aerial juggles) until either filled to the maximum value or ended prematurely by eating a fist to the face, it promotes a shift into playing defensively for that brief moment.
However, as the old adage goes, an offense can sometimes be the best defense. This is where the variety of Rage and Heat systems come into play in Tekken 8. Both Rage and Heat are used together in tandem in a variety of aggressive tools that I had difficulty with balancing and remembering what each did in Tekken 8. As I learned throughout regular play, Rage represents the inputs that bring direct commands and flashy animations at a moment’s notice, such as the Rage Art that functions identically to what players would expect from a Super Art in certain other fighting games. The Rage Drive, last seen in Tekken 7, had been removed and replaced with a Heat Dash instead. This ability activates on hit and gives the opponent more stun animation to being struck, allowing the attacking player to chase the opponent down and continue a combo, especially when continuing after an aerial juggle.
On the other hand, the Heat classification of abilities in Tekken 8 are more in line with engaging and activating a special temporary state that enhances their character once per round for ten seconds or until the opponent is hit cleanly or downed. In this brief powered-up state, the attacker is pushed to the limits of their aggression and enters a period of temporary enhancement where their strikes deal recoverable white damage even on block while attributes of each specific character are enhanced in various ways, one of which was adjusting the hit recovery on block for some hypothetical moves to be plus on block. Another was to remove the strict frame specific requirements to pull off an Electric Wind God Fist for that specific character. To activate the once-per-round Heat state, players have a variety of ways to enter the state from overheard attacks that cause a Heat Burst to the Heat Engager where the player strikes the opponent then performs an automatic chase forward to pursue. Once in Heat, players can use those Heat Engager or Heat Dash moves to press the advantage or burn it all with a Heat Smash, a technique similar to a Rage Art that only requests one input to pull off but would consume any remaining amount of Heat energy.
Tekken 8 remains a four-button fighting game for the pair of punches and kicks. If it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix it, but what about adapting it into something that beginners could have an easier time to get into? That’s where the Special Style controls come into play that evolve from Tekken 7’s easy combo and assist mechanics. Every character will have access to this different playstyle which changes the accessible buttons to a palette of predetermined moves that adaptively change based upon the status of both player characters but would update on the fly. If you’re picking up a character for the first time and just want to see what manner of flashy stuff they could pull off, players could simply mash the triangle button and pull off a stylish combo.
The Tekken 8 developers didn’t want this to be a handicap or limitation strictly for new players.
To offset this in Tekken 8, the toggle to swap between the traditional Arcade Style and beginner-friendly Special Style is a single button press and can even be performed in the midst of a combo, bringing up a small command palette on screen to signify the Style change. By making it something that doesn’t lock the player into their choices for an entire match, Tekken 8 looks to make the Special Style more of an assist to complement players of all skill levels without being forced into a predictable playstyle. When a Tekken title typically features somewhere in the vicinity of thirty to fifty playable characters, each with up to a hundred moves apiece, that can be overwhelming to a new player. There won’t be a penalty to damage for players that prefer one Style over the other.
With the new changes Bandai Namco is implementing to create their most ‘aggressive’ fighting game to date, Tekken 8 has plenty to excite me for what’s to come on the horizon. Implementing adaptive playstyles that can be swapped on the fly, players can experiment with what makes their chosen character unique while still learning the all-important fundamentals. Whether the overhaul to Rage and Heat systems will take some time to explore the full importance of the mechanics, the lines that separate Tekken x Street Fighter are starting to erode little by little.
Tekken 8 will be arriving on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, PC, and Xbox Series S|X, although a release window has not been confirmed by Steven and Josh thus far. Much remains unknown about the state of the game, as even the commitment of a 2023 or 2024 release still seems far off the horizon.
[Editor’s note: Tekken 8 was previewed on the PlayStation 5. Travel arrangements, including transportation to Bandai Namco’s headquarters in Irvine, were covered for the media/influencer preview event.]
