{"id":42269,"date":"2024-01-23T18:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/tekken-8-review\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T18:00:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:00:08","slug":"tekken-8-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/tekken-8-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Tekken 8 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Tekken series is steeped in legacy. From the mechanical skills and knowledge needed to compete at the highest levels, to its iconic music and characters, to inside jokes spanning three decades and an ongoing story dating back just as far, each new entry has a heavy burden to bear. How do you honor that legacy without being chained down by it? That is the question Tekken 8 thoughtfully considers, and the answer it comes up with is a simple, yet profound one: you accept what\u2019s come before, but you don\u2019t let it stop you from moving forward. Whether it be a literal dash forward using the powerful new Heat system, impressive training tools, or the compelling story of a man trying to break generational shackles to create a brighter future, Tekken 8 is always honoring its past while striving to improve its present. And most of all, it\u2019s just some really good-ass Tekken.<\/p>\n

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They say if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it, and Bandai Namco smartly hasn\u2019t tried to change the parts of Tekken\u2019s combat mechanics that were already great. Movement, spacing, block punishing, and whiff punishing all remain as vital as ever, but two significant additions also twist those mechanics in exciting ways: recoverable health, and the Heat System.<\/p>\n

For the first time in Tekken history, other than the Tekken Tag Tournament games, recoverable health plays a major part in matches. Blocking big attacks and taking chip damage, absorbing them with a Power Crush, or being hit after getting knocked airborne will do partial gray damage. The only way to get this health back is by throwing out your own attacks, as you won\u2019t recover at all by just standing still and blocking \u2013 you have to go on the offensive to reclaim your life, and this made me adapt my mindset in a wonderful way.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a huge shift, as Tekken has always been a defensive game. It\u2019s not uncommon to watch high-level Tekken matches of the past and see two characters appear to almost glitch across the screen as they continuously cancel their sidesteps and dashes and block everything while looking for the smallest opening. A lot of that hasn\u2019t gone away in Tekken 8, but recoverable damage gave me the constant pressure to go on offense while I still had health that could be recovered, and never made me feel like I was out of the fight while being juggled across the stage.<\/p>\n

You have to go on the offensive to reclaim your life, and this made me adapt my mindset in a wonderful way.<\/section>\n

The new Heat system pairs with this new offensive mindset perfectly. There are myriad ways to enter Heat, whether it be through landing staple moves from a character\u2019s move list or simply pressing a button, and you start with a full bar of Heat every round, so there\u2019s no reason not to use it. Heat enhances your offense in every facet \u2013 you do increased chip damage while recovering more of your own health, you unlock new moves or properties for each character, and you can use the rest of your meter for a powerful combo extender or finisher.<\/p>\n

Do you press your advantage when you have your enemy on the ropes, or do you wait for an opportunity to recover health? Do you add a little bit of damage onto a combo now, or maintain stronger pressure after a knockdown later? Since you regain all of your Heat after every round<\/em>, these are questions you get to answer every round<\/em>, and Tekken 8 is much more dynamic for it.<\/p>\n

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That said, one aspect of these changes I could see eventually getting frustrating is how it gives even more offensive pressure to characters who thrive on it, like Hwoarang and the various members of the Mishima family. It\u2019s scary enough to try and keep blocking when it seems like it\u2019s been your opponent\u2019s turn to attack forever, so adding in chip damage and extra tools for characters with overwhelming offense is even more to deal with. But since these tools are universal, you always have a chance to turn the tide yourself, and Heat makes execution for a lot of moves easier, such as the Mishimas\u2019 electric attacks no longer requiring a single-frame input. Heat is both your most powerful offensive tool and a great equalizer.<\/p>\n

On top of Heat naturally smoothing out the beginner\u2019s on-ramp a bit, Tekken 8 also has some of the best training tools I\u2019ve ever seen in a fighting game. The new Arcade Quest mode is a great way to slowly ramp up the difficulty of CPU opponents, and the Training Mode is incredibly full featured, with combo challenges, save states (so you can drill specific situations like wall breaks easily), punishment training, moves you can pin to the screen while practicing them, and handy notes and icons that tell you the specific properties of each attack.<\/p>\n

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But the crown jewel is the integrated replay system. You can watch your own replays back, or even those of other players you find online, and take control of the characters at any time, as long as they were played by a human. That means as soon as you run into a troublesome situation in a match, you can immediately hop into your replays, watch back what you did, and then try a dozen different ways to find something better. It\u2019s a phenomenal addition, and one I\u2019ll be using constantly as I strive to improve.<\/p>\n

To simplify things even further, there\u2019s also a control mode called Special Style that binds important moves to a single button press. You can even bind the Special Style toggle to a button that you can press mid-match if you\u2019re getting overwhelmed and just want to do something cool and productive \u2013 the menu will pop on screen, even when playing online, so both players will know when someone activates it.<\/p>\n

The replay mode is a phenomenal addition, and one I’ll be using constantly as I strive to improve.<\/section>\n

However, Special Style isn\u2019t useful in any way that\u2019s viable competitively. Unlike Street Fighter 6\u2019s comparatively paltry moveset being downsized with its Modern Controls mode, Tekken characters have dozens if not hundreds of moves, and you can\u2019t realistically map a majority of those to four buttons. You can alter some of them by pressing a direction as well, but Special Style is mainly meant for beginners and those who want a quick taste of what a character can do, which it does provide nicely.<\/p>\n

New Challengers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Joining the roster\u2019s returning mainstays are three fighters new to the Tekken series. Victor, the French UN Agent voiced by actor Vincent Cassell, Azucena, the energetic coffee entrepreneur, and the enigmatic Reina.<\/p>\n

Victor sports some really flashy attacks that look cool as soon as you pick him up, and his vanishing strikes have great mixup and pressure options that are, thankfully, able to be punished if abused too often. His connection to the story is a nice addition to the lore as well, framing him as a character who has been in the background training other longtime roster mainstays.<\/p>\n

Azucena, as befitting of her occupation, is always moving. Both her personality and moveset are always baiting you to attack, and then hammering you hard for it. She\u2019s destined to be polarizing due to her taunting nature and obvious early strengths, but even after fighting against her many times, I am more excited to learn ways around her pressure than I am frustrated to face her.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n