Katsuhiro Harada has a plan to make Tekken 8 the best fighting game it’s ever made: keep the rhythm and excitement of the games alongside everything that made it an acclaimed saga and raise the bar in one key and very specific aspect: aggressiveness. What’s more, that emotion is both the central theme of the new installment and the philosophy that underlies all the novelties shown.
As a finishing touch to the finals of the TEKKEN World Tour 2022, Bandai Namco put on the table two generous appetizers from the next numbered raid in the Iron Fist saga. The first of them, which you can see below, is an absolute demonstration of his explosive games in Unreal Engine 5 in which Nina Williams confirmed his return. The second a breakdown of how and why what is shown will feel even better at the controls.
Nina’s participation in this installment is not something that caught us by surprise, since together with fighters of the stature Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law y King are considered historical and essential within each new chapter of the saga of Tekken. His appearance looks better than ever – there would be more – but it is his style that has caught us off guard, showing new elements and a more incisive, offensive and interesting technique than anything seen so far.
The key is the inclusion of a new batch of novelties created for the occasion and that revolve around two key concepts: el Heat System, which encourages all players to be much more aggressive in each game; and the introduction of two control alternatives when playing. But let’s go in parts.
This is how the Tekken 8 Heat System works
As we mentioned, aggressiveness is the engine and the philosophy that drives this new installment. This implies, on the one hand, accommodating the innovations introduced in Tekken 7 in this new direction and eliminate others in favor of the new experience. In this case, the key to beating your opponent, in addition to technique and reflexes, is through the Heat System.
Starting, the Rage system returns with interesting changes, so that we can continue to perform the equivalent of the Super Attacks of other fighting games once our health bar is depleted enough. However, the real news is that now, in Tekken 8, it will be possible to recover a portion of the damage received. And not by waiting (as in Tekken Tag Tournament) but by taking the initiative and landing blows.
The idea is to proactively encourage us to be more aggressive. Logically, there are conditions and our enemies can take advantage of our initiative to counterattack and continue doing more damage. Especially when there are two new tools: the Heat Burst and the Heat Engager.
- He Heat Burst it is activated with a button and activates a timer that gives us a technical advantage, unlocks unique characteristics of our character and, in addition, converts damage into recoverable health. And what happens if our opponent just blocks? Basically, in those moments the timer is not consumed.
- He Heat Engager it has the same characteristics as the Heat Burst but is activated in a different way: instead of pressing a button, our character accesses it as part of a combo finisher. Harada specifies that all characters have, on average, five combos with which to start the Heat Engager.
Each fighter takes advantage Heat System timer activatedwhich manifests as a kind of bluish flames that emanate from the character, through the Heat Burst and Heat Engager in unique modes and activates characteristics that reinforce his combat style.
Of course, resorting to certain advantages influences the consumption of the timer itself, making it a very powerful technique, but only if we manage our next initiatives well can we end the fight or leave our rival really badly injured.
Tekken 8, Arcade style or Special style?
The reaffirmation of the aggressiveness of the saga and the addition of new playable elements are good news for fans of fighting games, and what about those who want to start? Well, Tekken 8 it also has them in mind with a new gameplay scheme called Special Style.
- input, with he Arcade Style Longtime Tekken players will always have the classic button and combo system that was born in arcades at hand. In other words, the new installment is not going to lose its playable identity.
- However, el Special Style It is the natural evolution of the autocombos and assists system shown in Tekken 7, so that we will be able to do sequences constantly using the same button and if we also press another button we will be able to display a quick menu with shortcuts for complex combos.
What has changed compared to the previous installment? In essence, Tekken 8 interprets in a more efficient way the resources that our fighter needs, so that it evolves according to our actions, what happens and even if we are using the Heat System or want to activate it through a Heat Engager .
According to Harada, the Special Style resembles the combat style of Tekken 8 to current action video gameswhich balances the resources of new or very casual players versus seasoned ones, leaving enough leeway through the Arcade style for players to experiment and have a lot more creative freedom when it comes to executing combos and strategies.
Harada promises that very soon we will be able to play Tekken 8
Although, visually, the line of the previous installment is closely followed, which will define the strength and depth of Tekken 8 it will be your playable experience. The bad news is that we still don’t have a release date on the calendar. The good news is that Katsuhiro Harada anticipates that we will soon see how all of the above works for ourselves.
It is expected that, as with Street Fighter 6 and Guilty Gear Strive, a beta or test version of Tekken 8. Neither content nor dates have been advanced, but the responsible team is working “aggressively” to have it ready as soon as possible.
For now, we already know that Tekken 8 will be available on PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. And we are counting on the fact that, at the latest, the game will appear again in the face of the traditional EVO fighting multi-tournament every summer, being one of its great protagonists.
Will we see Heihachi again? Because no matter what happened in the previous installments, if there is one thing we are clear about the saga, it is that with each new installment the family soap opera of the Mishima family intensifies and, in the process, this old rogue ends up finding a new way to return.
