Preview: Tekken 8 Is Heavy on Aggression

It’s a great time for fighting game fans. Street Fighter 6 released to great fanfare. Mortal Kombat 1 is just around the corner. Now Tekken is getting ready for its next battle with its eighth installment. The release date is still a mystery, but a lucky group of players did get to try out the game in its current state as part of the Tekken 8 Closed Network Test. I was one of those lucky players.

Truthfully, I’ve never been much of a fighting game player. I’ve bounced off of both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I didn’t even know SNK’s games existed until Terry got added to Smash Bros. The exception to this is Tekken, which I’ve been a fan of since Tekken 3 back on the PS1. I can’t explain why, but the more methodical style clicks with me better than other franchises, so my excitement for the new entry is high.

As you’d expect, the Closed Network Test was limited on content. There was online matchmaking and a lobby with basic practice mode features, and nothing else. As a result, it’s impossible to state how Tekken 8 feels as a full package at this stage. However, what can be talked about is the new Heat system, the major shake-up to Tekken’s fighting system.

Image via Bandai Namco

Heat is designed to make players more aggressive. Moves become more powerful and can cause chip damage to blocking opponents. It’s represented with a blue bar that sits underneath a character’s health bar. Both fighters start with a full bar that can be activated at any time, either by hitting a shoulder button or performing specific heat activation moves. Once activated, the bar will start to drain, but aggressive actions will slow this down. Once it’s drained, it’s gone for the rest of the round.

It certainly does a lot to shake up the gameplay of Tekken. The series is known for being on the more defensive side, especially in high-level Tekken 7 play. However, Tekken 8 wants to break that apart by encouraging players to go on the offensive more often. And considering how most of the matches I played went, that’s exactly what they’ve achieved.

You don’t even need to be using the Heat mechanic to see this change either. Character movement feels much smoother, allowing moves to be chained together with greater ease. It’s much easier to close the distance between you and your opponent. And backdashing has seen a slight nerf. Tekken 8 always wants you to be in your opponent’s face, for better or worse.

Image via Bandai Namco

For the most part, it’s great. Matches are tighter, more exciting affairs than in previous games. I definitely had fewer matches with me and my opponent performing an intricate mating dance before anyone punched anyone else like in Tekken 7. The presentation adds to this feeling, with dramatic camera angles and flashy hit indicators all over the place. Some Tekken players have complained about the excessive use of particle effects, but I can honestly say I didn’t find them to be a problem. Matches felt tense and rewarding, and it’s clear that this push towards aggression is a welcome way to keep the action moving.

However, this can also be a massive source of frustration too. Defensive options are limited, and escape from some long combo strings can feel impossible at times. The chip damage inflicted by Heat moves also makes blocking less effective, and the reduced backdash (combined with teleporting Heat moves) means that it can feel harder to make your opponent whiff too. Staging a comeback when under intense pressure feels much tougher now, and that’s almost guaranteed to scare off newcomers. That’s a real shame at a time when fighting games are generally trying to find ways to be more accessible. This can potentially be improved for the final game, though, and no doubt the community will pull apart all the intricacies of defending in this system once the game is in the wild, so I will reserve full judgment for now.

Image via Bandai Namco

That said, it’s hard to deny that even after I got destroyed by a whirlwind of Hwoarang kicks, I still wanted to play more. Tekken 8 just feels good to play, even at this stage in its development. It even ran smoothly on PS5. The only hiccups I encountered came during cross-play with PC players, and even then, it was only the occasional frame drop every few matches.

If this is just a fraction of what we can expect from the full game, Tekken 8 is set to be another superb addition to the current crop of excellent fighting game sequels. Now if you could just add Kunimitsu to the roster, Harada, then all would be perfect.

Tekken 8 is currently in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.