Why I'm Excited for Tekken 8

Over the past few years, I’ve found myself delving deeper and deeper into the world of fighting games. I started with Dragon Ball FighterZ and dabbled in so many more over the past couple of years, but none of which hooked me as much as Tekken 7. It took me some time to get used to it, especially when it came to finding a character, but as soon as I picked up Jin, I knew he was the character. Despite my love for the game, I found it to be an uphill battle to learn; getting into the game so late made learning everything so much harder, especially when faced up against a much more concentrated player base of the most dedicated fans.

I put a good amount of time into Tekken 7 and still find myself going back to it, but on top of my previously stated issues, it also has pretty bad netcode, making online matches feel pretty bad to play in a lot of cases. Tekken 8, however, seems like it will fix many of these issues and more. From players in the Closed Beta, I’ve heard mass improvements over the Tekken 7 netcode, and while it’s not quite as good as the likes of Street Fighter 6, it’s getting there, especially considering it still has time before release. While Tekken 8 will still be somewhat of an uphill battle for me, considering I’m still relatively new to Tekken as a whole, and it’s still frequented by people with more than 20 years of experience in the genre. The new mechanics and smaller changes to the game will somewhat even out the playing field, along with a smaller roster of characters being easier to learn to fight against.

Beyond fixing the issues I had with Tekken 7, Tekken 8 is adding a lot of new and interesting systems. Including the new system mechanics in-game, such as the Heat system, emphasising aggressive play, and some of the new game modes and training modes look both incredibly fun and helpful. Past the usual stuff found in training modes, such as combo trials and the basic training mode, they’re adding an improved version of the punishment training from Tekken 7, and most impressive are the playable replays. After finishing a game, you’re able to watch the replay and take control again at any time, while the game gives feedback on how you played, helping you work out how to better handle certain situations, and learn character matchups. The single-player offerings look interesting too, from the usual Story Mode, which is usually relatively enjoyable, to the brand-new Arcade Quest mode. This is an interesting homage to the roots of fighting game culture as a whole, taking the player-created avatar into an arcade, to face off against others. The most interesting thing about this is that the CPU can supposedly learn and adapt to your skill and playstyle, which seems as though it may lead to being a genuinely fantastic training tool.

Characters make or break fighting games, and Tekken 8’s roster looks fantastic, from the returning classic characters such as King, Jin and Kazuya, to the fantastically designed newcomers, such as Victor, Azucena and especially Reina. All of which I’m stoked to pick up and play as soon as the game launches.