Tekken 8, the latest entry into arguably one of the greatest fighting game series of all time, is only a few months away. Bandai Namco recently gave gamers around the globe an insightful taste of what’s to come in a new Closed Beta Test which dropped this past weekend.
I had the chance to jump back into the ring and resume my quest to become the next ‘King of Iron Fist’, and I have a lot to say about it.
Fist Royalty
To begin, Jin is still very much the face of the series, and upon firing up the CBT (Closed Beta Test). I was presented with the option of playing a complete tutorial (recommended for brand new players) or a partial tutorial (covering the new, core fighting mechanics of Tekken 8 only). There was also the option to skip the tutorials entirely.
If I didn’t write for a living, I’d have just skipped the tutorial altogether, but in order to cater to players of all skill levels, I went for option two so I could jump straight into the new features and let muscle memory do the rest.
While I’ve played every Tekken title to date, it wasn’t until Tekken Tag Tournament 2 that I really got to grips with the series and decided to get good with both Steve and Dragunov.
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After playing on medium difficulty for a little while, I was confident enough in my abilities to jump up to Very Hard. I figured this would really start to put my skills to the test, and I wasn’t wrong. Generally I prefer to battle amongst my friends, but I decided to jump online and start playing against randomers.
Some players were good, others really good, but only a select few I came across were amazing, and it was these players I really wanted to test my skills against.
Branching Out
Tekken Tag 2 really pulled me in and gave me a true lust for battle. After neglecting the majority of the roster (basically everyone bar Steve and Drag), I decided to branch out by seeing how King, Kazuya and even Doctor Bosconovitch played. It’s a good job too, because to my surprise, neither Steve nor Drag made it into the Beta.
Enter Hwoarang – a staple of the series and a character I’d put a decent amount of time into with the release of Tekken 7. With great range and speed, and a diverse, sometimes unpredictable moveset, this is who I first used to test my skills in Tekken 8, eventually giving most a try and discovering a new-found love for Lili.
Tekken 8 Brings the Heat
So let’s begin with newest edition to the Tekken series – Heat. Effectively Tekken 8‘s evolution of 7‘s Rage Drives, the new Heat system gives players a new way to dish out the hurt. There are two ways to activate this, and if used correctly, both can turn the entire fight around.
Using Heat Burst when an opponents guard is down, and/or during an enemy attack, this enables you to tank incoming blows, lessens damage received and breaks through most attacks, providing an almost guaranteed hit.
A full Heat bar lasts for exactly 10 seconds, and in this state, your attacks will deal extra chip damage. This extra damage is recoverable, but makes it through blocking enemies defense and often pressures your opponents, backing them into a corner (sometimes literally) and giving you the upper hand.
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There’s also the Heat Engager, which tends to work more like a fast counter-attack with decent frame advantage. Think of this as a riposte in response to an enemies attack. By activating this while on the receiving end, you’ll pull off a blow to your opponents mid-section, causing them to be knocked back, at which point you’ll automatically dash towards them, setting you up for your next attack/s.
You can also prematurely end your Heat Burst by landing a Heat Smash and even following up with a simple press of the R1 button for a stylish combo that’ll send your opponents skyward, but that’s not all.
Heat Versus Art
Heat has the other added benefit of making you think more tactically than you would in previous entries. This is because you can use it to catch your opponents off-guard, bait them into attacking you, bounce them to extend combos and even send them skyward. It’s down to you to decide when best to use it, but the key drawback to this is it can only be used once per round.
Heat is a serious game changer for the Tekken series. It encourages aggressive play, forces you to think about your next move, and if properly utilised, will knock your opponents health down in no time at all.
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When playing online, while this won’t work all of the time, one of the main things I liked to do was to purposely whiff my Heat Burst with a readied Rage gauge, baiting my opponent to attack me, only to then pull off my Rage Art.
Streets of Rage
Yes, Rage Arts make their full return in Tekken 8. They’re just as fun as they were in Tekken 7 and to keep things fresh, it appears every character has an entirely new Rage move, and man are they satisfying.
To activate Rage, all you need to do is press R2 (PS5) and provided your opponent is open, just sit back and enjoy the show for the next five or so seconds, because these moves hit hard.
All New Avatar Creation
Before you can jump into the Tekken Fight Lounge, you’ll need an in-game online Username/Handle.
While I see little point in needing to create a Handle (we have our PSN Tag, Gamertag and Steam Handles for that), the main purpose here is to create a recognisable avatar to represent your online identity.
With a selection of face types, clothes and hairstyles to choose from (along with colour choices for each), once you’ve created and customised your own chibi-styled avatar, you’re all set to jump into/explore the Tekken Fight Lounge.
The Tekken Fight Lounge
While you can access Ranked Matches, Quick Matches and even the Battle Tutorial from the main menu, the main place you’ll want to visit is the Tekken Fight Lounge.
The Tekken Fight Lounge is your general hub area and is broken down into five different locations.
The Fighting Area
This is going to be your most frequented area when playing online. It’s a social space with arcade machines, a bar to sit at (for when you’re AFK) and players to meet. In here you can battle opponents in real time as you normally would, but also test your skills in a less stressful way against player Ghost Battles.
For each player you interact with, you’ll see a little stat sheet giving you an idea of their skill level and preferred characters. On top of this, when selecting Ghost Battles, you can also choose which of their preferred characters you’d like to fight against.
The Beach Area
While this area was accessible within the Closed Beta, its primary feature was not – Tekken Ball.
First featured in Tekken 3 (along with that gassy, little dinosaur – Gon), Tekken Ball was a fun little game mode which placed you and your opponent in what can best be described as a Volleyball Court.
Locking you to each side of the screen, the objective of the game wasn’t to punch and kick each other into oblivion, but to instead whack a ball at one another until one of you got KO’d. This and failing to keep the ball off the ground, were the only ways to deal damage to one another. Aside from a huge graphical improvement, it appears very little has changed since.
Tekken Ball will be accessible via the in-game arcade machines come launch day.
The Tekken Dojo
The second and last accessible area of the Closed Beta lacking its primary feature.
The Tekken Dojo is Tekken 8‘s online practise area – a place to try out new moves, tactics and characters with friends online. This area will also be accessible via the in-game arcade machines.
The Tekken Apparel Store
The originally named “Iron Fist Outfitters” is your one stop shop for all things customisable. In here you’ll find all of your options for outfitting your avatar and making your own character profile look more visually appealing.
A lot of the profile design options have been lifted straight from Tekken 7, but you can expect to see more options in the final release.
The Roster
Going by Tekken 8‘s official website, 26 characters have been revealed so far, but with a confirmed final roster count of 32 characters, it appears we’re missing several from the list below:
- Jin Kazama
- Asuka Kazama
- Jun Kazama (she’s back!)
- Kazuya Mishima
- Paul Phoenix
- Marshall Law
- Nina Williams
- Jack-8
- King
- Lars Alexandersson
- Ling Xiaoyu
- Feng Wei
- Panda
- Kuma
- Sergei Dragunov
- Shaheen
- Steve Fox
- Yoshimitsu
- Leo
- Azucena
- Raven
- Claudio Serafino
- Hwoarang
- Bryan Fury
- Lili
- Leroy Smith
The Roster Leak
Not to worry though, because this leaked roster fills in the blanks.
According to a post on Reddit, this is the complete roster which leaked several days ago. It looks to be genuine and I’m pretty happy with the list.
With Zafina, Lee, Devil Jin and Alisa all making a return, this is great news, but who are Victor and Reina, and what significance will they have in the story?
Additional Features
Jukebox Mode
Originally featured in the outstanding Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Jukebox Mode makes its return in Tekken 8 and promises to feature the full soundtracks of every Tekken game to date.
Re-Plays
I know what you’re thinking, but no, this wasn’t typed in error. Coming to Tekken 8 is a somewhat ingenious new replay feature. By saving your player data, previous fights can be replayed, but interactively with on-screen prompts advising you on how to react to specific attacks and situations where you previously failed.
Ever felt like your win was all but guaranteed, yet in those final crucial moments, your opponent somehow managed to turn the tables on you?
Well, that’s something you can work on, because now you can go to the exact moment you slipped up and replay it to see how different the outcome would be.
I’m honestly impressed with the concept of this and while it’s unlikely I’ll be using it myself, it’s pretty cool for newcomers who’ll be able to re-play their replays in their very own fight school.
A Series First: QTE’s
I know there’s a bit of a divide now between those of you who love and those of you who hate Quick-Time Events, but I’m actually happy to see Tekken 8 heading in this direction.
Instead of just spamming whatever button prompt pops onto the screen, it looks as though Tekken 8‘s story will have diverging paths or outcomes, depending on the choice you make.
In one screenshot for example, we have Kazuya throwing a punch at us from a first person perspective with two options on the screen. Do we dodge or do we punish? I know what I’d pick, but depending on the context of the scene and how pumped up Kazuya appears to be, perhaps attempting to punish him would have an adverse effect?
I don’t know for sure, but QTE’s always serve as a good way to keep us on our toes, and if they play a key role in how the story will play out, I’m all for it. Worst case scenario, it’ll give the story some more replay value.
Whether or not Tekken 8 can surpass its predecessor remains to be seen, but with so many new and returning features, it’s certainly in the running and is practically guaranteed to become a fan-favourite for years to come.
Tekken 8 releases 26th January 2024 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
Liked this article? Got a favourite Tekken moment you’d love to share with us? Let us know in the comments below, or hit me up on Twitter @CaptainCortez.