Tekken 8’s launch has been anticipated since its well-received announcement last year, and while there’s still a lot to learn about the game’s launch and most of its content, there’s still a significant amount of information to glean from the trailers. and gameplay we’ve seen.
Despite the obvious excitement of avid players, Bandai Namco has been quite restrained in the promotional content they’ve put out regarding the release. That said, there’s still a good chunk of information to dissect from gameplay trailers and the roster itself, and we’ve rounded up everything there is to know about the release of Teck 8.
Tekken 8: Getting to the point
What is it? The eighth mainline Tekken game and the 10th overall in the series
When can I play it? The release date is yet to be confirmed.
What can I play it on? PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC.
Tekken 8: release date and platforms
Following the official announcement at Sony’s State of Play in September 2022, Teck 8 has not yet received information about a concrete release date. Currently, the only information we’ve received about the game is a few characters available in the base roster, an insight into the new arenas we’ll be fighting in, a few windows into new and returning gameplay mechanics, and the platforms the game will be launching on. are available.
Teck 8 coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. In addition, it has been confirmed that Teck 8 will be completely cross-platform, so no matter what console you and your friends are playing on, you can battle it out in the ring.
With the game’s emphasis on competition and the inspiration it has taken from community-led events such as the Tekken World Tour and EVO, the online side of competitive play is expected to support players better than before. That is because Teck 8 will also include rollback netcode, a huge improvement over Tekken 7s online that should lead to much more stable connections when playing online.
Tekken 8: Trailers
The most recent Teck 8 The trailer was uploaded back in February and showed off a variety of characters, including the expected return of Jun Kazama, alongside a few new locations you can expect to battle.
More Teck 8 trailers can be found at the Bandai Namco YouTube Channel (opens in new tab), in addition to the gameplay trailers for each announced character. Character trailers appear regularly, so expect this page to be updated as new and returning fighters announce their return.
With a new mainline Tekken game, players are desperate to see which legacy characters will return for the current generation experience. While many popular and storyline-integral characters, such as Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima, will return, we can also expect a handful of new fighters with all-new moves to master – though these have yet to be announced or showcased.
New characters and their coinciding gameplay seem to be dropping fairly regularly at the time of writing, with gameplay videos being uploaded to the Bandai Namco YouTube channel and Tekken’s social media. However, there are still many characters that remain unannounced for the title.
Teck 8The roster currently consists of:
- Emilie “Lili” De Rochefort
Considering how extensive the list of characters was Teck 7there are still many familiar faces we patiently await, such as Yoshimitsu and Eddy Gordo, who remain unannounced for now.
That being said, Teck 7 had several DLC characters available on top of the default list, which seems to be turning into Teck 8 as Leroy Smith will be part of the game’s base roster. That’s not to say DLC characters won’t reappear in Tekken 8, it could just be all-new characters receiving DLC spots as opposed to the ones we’ve learned to love.
This also raises the question of whether characters like Fahkumram and Lidia will debut on the main roster, but it’s hard to believe that the full roster will be announced before the game’s official release. With Jun Kazama’s expected return, it’s impossible to predict future debuts, adding to the excitement.
Tekken 8: gameplay
As expected from a game as high-stakes as Tekken, a level of aggressiveness and competition is bound to be reflected in the gameplay and accompanying mechanics. However, Harada stated during an interview with IGN that “the keyword to pass on the concept for the combat system is aggressiveness.” While fighting games already go hand in hand with aggression, expect Teck 8 to be fast and rock hard, especially with the introduction of a handful of new mechanics and the reintroduction of fan favorites.
A huge amount of gameplay inside Teck 8 is inspired by the competitive side of Teck 7, with particular emphasis on fan reception from the viewer’s perspective rather than just the players. In the same interview, Harada continued that “it’s not just important that a game is fun for the person playing it. It has to look fun to play to captivate and bring in new people.” So while gameplay may be the most technical and most aggressive we’ve experienced in a Tekken title to date, new players can also enjoy the game with no prior experience with the franchise.
In a Questions and answers of 35 minutes shown during the Tekken World Finals, Harada shared details of a few new gameplay mechanics players can expect to use Teck 8in addition to discussing some returning favorites and how they’re designed to match the new aggressiveness of gameplay.
The Heat system is a good example of a new mechanic for Tekken 8, which works similarly to rage arts and rage blasts, but once again amplifies the aggression that Harada is desperate to introduce. A blue bar sits below each participant’s health bar and fills up during battle, turning purple once ready to be activated. Activating your heat bar has a similar input to activating Rage Art, or a newly titled Heat Engager.
During the active period, which lasts about 10 seconds, the player can perform Heat Dashes and a Heat Smash to deal a lot of damage to the opponent. In addition, all the player’s attacks will result in chip damage, which is converted to recoverable health. At any time, the active player can use the rest of their Heat Bar to perform a Heat Dash, which works similarly to a Rage Drive.
However, there’s still a huge amount to discover about Tekken 8’s gameplay, but with no official release date, there’s still a huge chance to discover more elements through trailers and character debuts.