Amid the sea of fighting games, Tekken has always stood on its own island. Not unlike series protagonist-turned-villain Kazuya Mishima, it’s propelled by its belief in its own strength- being the biggest 3D fighter means it has carte blanche on what that means, and often ends up the less approachable for it.
It’s in that field that Tekken 8 manages to overcome its own history. Tekken 8 is the final foot of rug welcoming the golden age of fighting games, being easily the most welcoming entry in the franchise without diluting the game’s core mechanics. For new players, it’s a weirdly muscular and outstretched hand into the world of fighting games. For the veterans, it’s a shake up to the Tekken formula.
In Heat
So, the biggest problem with fighting games is always balancing being deep against looking deep to outsiders. For as much as a versus mode only needs two people, the game’s survival does depend on its ability to actually pull in crowds to watch along.
And yet, Tekken 8’s Heat system seems to have done both with style and panache. On the mechanical level it’s a pretty dramatic shake-up to the more defensive Tekken 7: the game briefly becomes an anime fighter as you extend combos with Heat Dashes and dramatically end your combos with powerful Heat Smashes.
It’s a hilarious alternative to the Rage system- while Rage still activates when you’re low on health, Heat instead pushes the advantage- certain moves will have you in Heat state, and keeping the aggression up will slow the meter’s decay.
This is why I say it’s fun to watch as well- there’s no questioning when a character is in Heat, and the big boom of them activating it is sure to be a crowd pleaser. On the player side, it’s also a huge knowledge check- characters like King or Alisa will have their movesets shift in Heat mode, and it’s up to the defending player to be able to survive until they’re out of Heat.
Back To The Lab Again
This all pairs nicely with a five-star training mode. Tekken’s big problem has always been its approachability- characters feel like endless repositories for moves, with the game not being the best at actually explaining how any of them work.
While we haven’t gone into full explanations yet, Tekken 8 does give bite-sized chunks of info for each character- some highlights include explaining each unique Heat mechanic, as well as my personal favorite, actually giving context for suggested combos.
I’m not kidding when I say these are a huge boon for anyone looking into getting into Tekken seriously. Just having a combo say something simple like “This one’s safe on block” or “This one is a good punish” is a huge deal, since it helps you make sense of the flurry of inputs before you.
It’s even better because the game actually has some good training options, too- there’s even Punish training now, with the game outright telling you good punishes for key moves on every character.
Combine that with things like frame data and you’ve got a veritable set of building blocks to make a pro player. It’ll still take work, but it definitely feels like something more attainable compared to previous titles.
Welcoming The New Players
It’s not just technical mechanics that drive Tekken 8’s success, however. Despite being one of the more technical fighters in the market, Tekken 8 sports a wealth of new player resources. The chief of this is Arcade Quest- a single player story aimed at teaching you the basics of Tekken 8 while also making some money to buy cosmetics.
Sure, it’s not as deep or dramatic as the main story- there’s been 7 Arcade quests too few to even compete. But the fact the game acts as a sort of training for online- fighting pre-made ghosts who even go far enough to dress up characters feels like the game was designed to be an in-between to get you used to climbing online.
There’s even the game’s Special Style, an easy-control mode that can be turned on mid-match for when you realized you don’t actually know how to play King as well as you’d thought.
And even if you’re not in the mood for climbing the perils of online, there’s always Tekken Ball. Glory to Tekken Ball.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, Tekken 8 is easily another point on the home run streak of triple-A fighting games. It’s a deep and complex fighter even by Tekken’s own standards- with characters feeling like a step up from previous incarnations alongside stylishly cool new additions that really challenge the definition of “fighter in a martial arts tournament”.
Tekken 8’s biggest strength is that even with the variety of modes, it all still boils down to the same game. Arcade Quest is still about playing Tekken 8, and even Tekken Ball will go a long way to getting those inputs for your characters right.
On a purely mechanical level, there’s not much to complain about with Tekken 8. At it’s best, it’s a deep fighting game that you could lose hours to in the pursuit of getting better. Even if you have no delusions about joining the Tekken World Tour or its equivalents, its variety of single-player content is sure to keep you playing for hours on end.
Score: 9/10
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