Tekken 8 Impressions And Analysis: Top Key aways From The Game

Katsuhiro Harada, director of Tekken 8, has declared these days that during the closed tests, the reception has been so positive that he has felt nervous, and the truth is that we cannot be more satisfied with the news. It should not be forgotten that this is the first Tekken first developed for home systems without prior passage through arcades in Japan, a period that used to serve the team to listen to comments from the community, perform balances or modify everything that needed tuning before its jump on consoles or PC.

These days Bandai Namco has launched the first massive test for players, a CNT ( closed network test ) that is not intended so much to receive feedback on the gameplay, although it surely serves to listen to opinions, rather to check that the online infrastructure works correctly. Let’s not forget that Tekken 8 will debut with cross-play between PS5, Xbox Series and PC and that today the fighting game fan is very demanding the stability of the network or the implementation of rollback.

The online test is quite generous for what we usually see in these cases: no less than 16 fighters, more than the complete squad with which some games are released. We don’t know the total number of characters that it will debut with, but Bandai Namco assures that this is a small sample and that it will probably have a higher number than many expect and more than the competition. We are not surprised: the series usually debuts with several dozen faces and Tekken 7 -including the DLC- closed with 52 fighters.

Tekken up a gear with the Heat mechanic

During the test period we have been able to test all the fighters announced so far for Tekken 8, that is, Jin, Kazuya, Jun, Paul, Law, King, Lars, Jack 8, Xiaoyu, Nina, Leroy, Lili, Asuka, Hwoarang, Bryan and Claudio. As you can see, the Tekken team is saving the news for later: they are all old acquaintances from the series, although it is appreciated that Leroy –who debuted as DLC in Tekken 7- now confirms your exit participation; We hope that Lidia, one of our favourite original additions from the previous game, will also return and that classics like Lei Wulong will not be relegated to post-launch content. Of course, Jun is completely renewed since her last official appearance in Tekken 2, however, she does bring some moves seen in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Unknown.

As for the settings, the five locations chosen are Urban Square, Yakushima, Rebel Hangar, Sanctum and Arena. Needless to say, the street illuminated by neon lights and advertising screens is one of the most spectacular settings in Tekken 8, although we also have a weakness for the ring area that has been more or less -and with redesigns- a constant in the saga since Tekken 4. The rest are less impressive and closer to what we had seen in Tekken 7, but Harada assures us that they are still working on improving the graphics.

Also Read: Tekken 8: All Confirmed Characters, Power Mode And More

Tekken 8 Know All Info

Tekken 8 has as its flag the increase in aggressiveness, it is the philosophy that has been proposed with this instalment. Producer Michael Murray explains the reason for the decision: In another type of multiplayer, you attack your opponent and if you hit the target, you’ve dealt damage. In fighting games, however, there is defence, and in 3D fighting, you can even move to completely avoid an unstoppable attack. In other words, the defensive part is very covered, and a good player could block all the opponent’s attacks. Learning to defend yourself is part of the fun, of course, but two good players could cut through almost all of the opponent’s attacks and that is not good for the show, neither for the players themselves nor for the public that can watch the fight – the streaming and tournaments are a fundamental aspect of a fighting game.

With this idea, the Tekken Project team has given more tools to attack and rewards for those who take the initiative. We are talking of course about the Heat mechanics that give the combat personality in Tekken 8 and highlight more the unique characteristics of each fighter, the game styles for which they are designed.