Tekken 8 is just around the corner and fans of the series is waiting in anticipation for the game. Seeing how Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 was well received in the fighting game community, I am sure its “frienemy” Tekken 8 will be too.
Bandai Namco held a closed beta which we were invited to try for 2 weekends and I must say, the games feel a little bit more chaotic to me. First, as most of you already know, the new Heat System makes your character not only have some Heat Moves but also deal damage even if it is blocked by the opponent. You can basically activate Heat at the start of the fight each round so this can be used to pressure your opponent at any time or to make a comeback.
As I said the game feels more chaotic because the Heat System basically promotes offensive gameplay. For some people, this is great because there are more ways to punish defensive players but some players just really go ham on offence and make more mistakes because of the 10-second timer for Heat Gauge. With the still available Rage System which activates when you are in low health, there are a lot more chances to make a comeback in each round.
There are limited characters available during the closed beta but I am happy to report, that each character I tested so far feels like it had some upgraded moves. Lily which is my main felt familiar as all the things I remembered from Tekken 7 are still there in Tekken 8. Jin on the other hand, felt different, he has better move animations and some moves have been reworked which for me felt great using him that I might just just main Jin for Tekken 8.
The only plight I have is the new auto combo mode which can be turned on or off mid-match. You can know that your opponent is using auto combo when you see a list of moves appearing on his side of the screen. I felt that this mode is actually easy to handle but certain characters’ Heat Engager combo are hard to block. The auto combo system is okay for now but until all the characters are tested, it is not sure how this system will fare to some lower/mid-tier hardcore players.
The closed beta sadly only had online ranked so the only way to get a good match was with people online. Being in Malaysia, I mostly got matched with Japanese and Koreans and got my ass whooped. Not to take anything away from these players but adjusting the search filter either gave me a higher rank player with a good connection or a lower rank player with a bad connection. Playing with lag is very punishing as you watch your character freeze mid-fight. Without saying, the best way is to play with a wired internet connection obviously so for those who want a challenge, you can try playing with wireless internet.
Overall, Tekken 8 is a subtle but significant upgrade from Tekken 7. Even my wife said the game looked nicer because she used to play Tekken 7 with me. The only issue that I think the community will have with is the auto combo system but only time will tell if that will be an issue when Tekken 8 releases.
Tekken 8 is set for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S and PC with the official launch date still unannounced.
