A new era emerges as we enter the fighting game masterpiece TEKKEN 8.
We enter a new era as TEKKEN 8 finally makes its way into the fighting game community. After some great years of the predecessor, Tekken 7, we go into the next step and enter the eighth edition of the King of Iron Fist Tournament. It has been pretty good within the year, especially with rival Street Fighter 6 being crowned Fighting Game of the Year, taking the community by storm.
Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the other fighting game rival, Mortal Kombat 1. It was a great start, but as the months go by, more players are starting to realize that the game isn’t doing too well right now, mainly due to the lack of content and the array of bugs and glitches. Many have concluded that the game is “unfinished” and are thoroughly concerned about its future.
Because of this, it seems like more of its players are moving to TEKKEN 8. But it’s not just players from Mortal Kombat 1. More Street Fighter 6 players are either making a move or playing TEKKEN 8 casually. It is the same for players from other fighting communities, such as Virtua Fighter, Skull Girls, DragonBall Z FighterZ, and more. But why is TEKKEN 8 the go-to title and currently the hottest fighting game in the world?
Let’s begin by bringing up the incredible base roster containing a whopping 32 great characters with incredible fighting styles and redesigned character visuals. A mixture of returning fighters and some new faces. Including French Navy Veteran Victor Chevalier, Peruvian MMA Fighter, and Coffee Farmer Azucena Ortiz.
Wildly, there’ll be more characters to come with the DLC Year 1 onwards that’ll each feature four characters, with the iconic Eddie Gordo being one of them. Meanwhile, the other three have yet to be announced. Unfortunately for you, Heihachi mains, he won’t be in this installment due to his death in the last game.
These fighters come with the same Tekken gameplay format but with much more aggression. Offensive players will reap more advantages and rewards than defensive-minded players. For this to be possible, Bandai Namco Entertainment and Arika have introduced a brand-new gameplay feature, and that’s called the ‘Heat’ system. This battle system takes up a few notches and provides intense intensity that not even the longest-serving Tekken player has ever experienced.
TEKKEN 8’s Heat gauge is the thin blue bar under the character’s health bar. Once a player activates it, you’ll see a cool animation from the character, the blue line glows, and a timer on the Heat starts. The Heat provides chip damage and additional move sets and alters the properties of some of their moves, like the heavy guard break.
You can also perform dash cancels to their moves while in Heat. To stop the Heat’s timer, you need to use a character’s move set. Also, while in Heat, you receive chip damage when trying to block against normal state’s heavy attacks or Heat State characters, leading to lost regenerate health. The only way to regain some health is to attack your opponent.
Whether you use it before, during, or after a combo, your opponent will receive a relentless beatdown. And the bar refills every round, whether you win or lose. So, you shouldn’t be afraid to use this incredible new mechanism. Bandai Namco has worked on the existing mechanics with updates or modifications to this new system. The Rage system, introduced in Tekken 7, has a few changes. Such as, the ‘screw’ mechanic was omitted from TEKKEN 8, and instead, they brought in the ‘Tornado’ extender.
This mechanic will allow you to get your opponents into a ground-bound position when they have fallen. Another change is the ‘Heat Smash,’ previously known as ‘Rage Drive.’ The Heat smash has become a character’s super move for the Heat system.
The Dark Awakens Story is immersive and thrilling, and you simply will not be able to take your eyes off it. You’re guaranteed the most thrilling, exciting, and intense Tekken story mode ever, as it revolves around the longtime saga between Kazuya Mishima and their son, Jin Kazama. They continued their long, bitter rivalry months after the last battle. Jin intends to defeat Kazuya and destroy him to end the anarchy within the family lineage.
If you’re not playing the story, there’s the offline mode where you can progress through a story in-game arcades with your custom Avatar with ‘Arcade quest.’ Fight through eight battles against ghosts and CPUs and revisit and learn of new rivalries in ‘Arcade Battles.’ Play against CPU or friends in ‘VS’ and more.
TEKKEN 8 reintroduces Tekken Ball mode and returns since 2012’s Tekken Tag Tournament 2. For those who aren’t familiar with this popular mini-game, pay attention. In Tekken Ball, the aim is for you to either hit the ball at your opponent’s side of the court or hit the opponent themselves to damage them. To win, you must empty your opponent’s health. However, you’re unable to attack them directly. Therefore, the ball is the only available weapon you use.
The practice mode is the best in shape in the franchise. It’s much more informative and can even help casual players learn the characters and their combos more efficiently, including the set of character combo challenges for them to complete. Speaking of combos, we’ve recently published an article for Jin Kazama’s combos players who want to learn more. And it has so many options for you to prepare for virtually every single situation imaginable in battles.
As for TEKKEN 8 online, and of course, there’s crossplay. Ranked, quick match, or player match, get ready for constant wild and explosive battles around the world as you take on players of your level or close to it and show them your skills and prove yourself. Moreover, you can create your own custom Avatar that represents you. As well as check the leaderboards and view your standings.
You can view your own online or offline replays, study your moves, and analyze what you’re doing correctly and incorrectly with great help from the in-game tips and recommendations. Plus, you can download replays and watch exciting replays from other players from around the world.
This goes without saying, but TEKKEN 8’s music and soundtracks are off the charts. Without a doubt, it’s the best you’ll hear in a fighting game. Whether it’s from the menus, character selection, stages, etc., you’ll love listening to them from start to finish.
You’ll also love that the game has a Jukebox mode where you can listen to an abundance of music from every single Tekken game ever developed. Even better, you can play the game and battle with these tracks.
Imagine going through the menus, character selecting, and battling in TEKKEN 8 while listening to music from Tekken 3. That’s some injection of nostalgia right there. The only downside is that you can only shuffle and preset the music. You can’t edit them, so you can only listen to your favorite ones.
TEKKEN 8‘s customization is excellent. This is mainly towards Avatar and Player customization. Character customization options are good, but they definitely could be better, especially when it comes to character panels, clothing, etc. And the characters’ designs, stages, and more are to die for. There’s not much more you could ask for.
The sheer volume of outstanding content in TEKKEN 8 makes it the go-to fighting game for players of other series, and fans of this genre are flocking to this new release from all over the fighting game genre. TEKKEN 8 is the best in the franchise’s history and perfectly fits players of any level and experience. TEKKEN 8 is undoubtedly an excellent bet to win the Fighting Game of the Year.
