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General Notes
Kohei "Nakatsu" Ikeda is the Director of this game. Unsure if Murray and/or Harada are (still) involved in the development directly, especially with Harada being in charge of Namco's original IPs, though I suppose Michael retains the Producer role still as his Twitter bio was not changed
"Aggressive" is the key word that describes pretty much everything about Tekken 8, from its main overall theme, to the gameplay, the overall presentation, the visual effects, the battle system, how developers want players to experience the game, how they approach the design philosophy for this entry, and so on
The game's battle system is intended to highlight each character's unique personalities, notable traits, and special characteristics, both in their costume design and also the actual gameplay
per Nakatsu's own words, he wants and intends to make Tekken 8 the most enjoyable entry in the series to date
The development is in progress and "will take some time" still, no approximate date given. Very likely now that this is a 2024 release while SF6 takes over the second half of 2023 with its early June debut. At the moment the late 2023-early 2024 period is kinda looking like wild west in terms of potential fighting game launches
No details on the netcode being used were mentioned in the videos or trailers, so for now assume it's the same (maybe somewhat improved?) technology as Tekken 7's online solution
The Coliseum Arena stage we've seen in various trailers thus far is confirmed to have walls, though it does appear to be pretty damn big, perhaps bigger than most T7 stages in general
Based on the character trailers, the intro animations are still in, but in the build used to demonstrate the mechanics, characters kinda just go into their classic T1-3 era animations with a quick "Round 1 - Fight" sequence before the actual match begins. Perhaps the intros are removed for the Rematch so there's no more loading every single time and you can immedaitely jump into action, since PS5 and XBSX allow devs to do this thanks to their internal storage
No battle damage / match progression effects have been spotted so far, i.e. characters getting sweaty with each round or wet under changing weather conditions like in T7
The KO-attack SloMo effect is also still in, you can briefly spot it later in the gameplay segments when Paul and Law trade blows
According to Harada and Nakatsu, all moves with armor (normal, super, hyper) have generally been made stronger, however it wasn't explained in detail whether it means higher damage, better framedata, better recovery, etc, so it remains to be seen until we can observe proper T8 gameplay from real players
Based on the Nina gameplay trailer, the Screws/Tailspins are still present in the game, however it's possible they were simply renamed for Tekken 8
As was also seen in the previous trailer, certain stages will have Interactable Hazards similar to the Dead or Alive series. Though so far only one stage has that element ith potentially more to come. These will work differently to just breakable balconies and floors and inflict not only more significant changes to the environment but also extend combos with stuff like barrel explosions and more
Rage System
Works pretty much the same as since its introduction back in Tekken 6: get into low enough health state, and get stronger. It doesn't seem like the HP threshold at which Rage triggers was changed so it should still be ~20% of your health remaining. Rage Mode also still increases damage dealt by your moves
Rage Arts are confirmed to be back once again as the game's comeback factor mechanic, commonly found in the current era of fighting games
The lower the amount of health remaining, the more damage your Rage Arts do, which in itself is a sort of risk-reward element. Normals, Specials and Throws are obviously not affected by this
The RA input has been universally changed to DF 1+2 (or just R2 for PS5 / Right Trigger for Xbox controllers) across the board, no character-specific inputs anymore
Rage Drives are gone, primarily because of the Heat system. The devs found them overlapping with other mechanics so they consolidated the battle system a bit. More on this below but regardless this particular mechanic is dead
Health Gauge Recovery
In Tekken 8, there are now two types of damage that are inflicted upon the opponent. One is same as before where landing attacks decreases the overall remaining health and causes a KO, the other is brand new recoverable "grey/chip" damage officially called Recoverable Gauge, or RG for short.
The RG primarily comes from juggle combos and is based on a percentage of damage dealth with each attack in the combo, however it can also be applied by normals, including on block as well, but this trait is only reserved for what Harada and Nakatsu call "strong moves", so think stuff like Mishimas' EWGF or Feng's Shoulder Tackle, or Paul's Death Fist, and so on
Jabs and other "weaker" normals and specials otherwise work the same as they do now in T7 and all past Tekken titles, unless you activate a certain new mechanic, which is described further down below
This system is designed as a sort of callback to the Tekken Tag series where a chunk of player's health remained as red damage even after a combo is done, though obviously it is functionally different this time
Unlike, say, blue damage in DBFZ when you switch off a character, Tekken 8's RG doesn't regenerate on its own and instead requires action to be taken by the receiver. Think of how the Rally system works in Bloodborne where if you take damage and immediately retaliate, you'll regen HP back with each attack dealt to the enemies - basically the same concept is used for RG in T8
If the defender doesn't respond in time however and eats a Low from the attacker, the total amount of RG on your healthbar is permanently reduced based on the damage done by said low, which promotes going onto offensive play instead of turtling / holding back and keeping distance, which links back to the game being designed with the word "aggressive" in mind
Moving around the stage (dashes, sidesteps, jumps etc) also doesn't regenerate the RG, so the system works promoting the player to directly trading blows with the opponent
Thankfully the devs confirmed that the RG buildup does not end in a KO, so for now Tekken still doesn't have any form of what is otherwise known as "chip kill", meaning depending on how much white health is currently present you could in theory regain the initiative, put pressure on the opponent, and regen all the way back up and still finish the round or even a match with a W
Also, if armored moves such as Power Crushes absorb opponent attacks, the damage absorbed is turned into RG, so in theory you could even instantly regain all the chip if the move successfully lands
Heat System
the Heat System is essentially an Install that's available to every single character in the roster
Heat is activated with a single button press, and this action is called a Heat Burst (HB). Using HB starts to slowly burn the blue colored Heat gauge located right under the healthbar
At the start of the round, both players have immediate access to this mechanic, meaning no meter generation required at all unlike the 2D characters' meters in T7
the Heat state itself lasts a total of 10 seconds if a player just stands still or moves around, but landing attacks, whether on hit or block, as well as knocking the opponent down, will cause the Heat gauge burn to momentarily stop, so once you pop it - you have to keep your offence going
You cannot just whiff buttons in neutral/footsies, the moves actually have to connect with your opponent, otherwise the gauge will keep on draining
Another method of triggering Heat is called a Heat Engager (HE). Unlike the HB, this isn't a single move but rather a multitude of buttons in each character's movelist, with an average of 5 different ones per
The HEs are designed as primary moves to learn for the beginners designated to most well known ones so they're not overwhelmed by seeing the movelists for the first time, and until a newbie gets comfortable enough with the game and the character, they can sort of rely on HEs while also directly engaging with one of T8's main unique mechanics
The Burst / HB is generally plus on block, and can be used in the middle of a combo. Keep in mind the HB is an attack in itself, not simply a toggle like the V-Triggers in Street Fighter V, so it can be whiffed if your opponents reads you and dodges in time. However, you also have an option of cancelling out of HBs with an additional input (they didn't specify which), making it safe to enter Heat at a distance
If used in the middle of a juggle combo, HB puts the opponent into a Bound-like state found back in Tekken 6 instead of a Tailspin/Screw from Tekken 7. This means that if you want to continue the combo, you can't just run towards and have to utilize a special action only available while Heat is activate. More on that in the next section
Similarly to HB, the Engagers / HEs are also attacking moves, but unlike the Burst, Engagers cannot be cancelled out of, and upon connecting with the opponent, no matter if hit ir blocked, they trigger an auto-run kinda similar to KOF XIV and XV's Max Mode activation, allowing you to quickly close the distance to the opponent
The moves' framedata does not change when in Heat state, so at the moment the biggest advantage for the attacker is extending the duration of the gauge itself by landing attacks, while the biggest disadvantage for the defender is slow build up of the RG on every hit taken and blocked until he goes on offensive himself
Very important to remember: once the Heat gauge burns out, it's gone until the next round. There is no way to regain access to it or regenerate it, not even via Rage Mode or landing a Rage Art etc, and since it continues to burn down after activation - catching an opponent's attack potentially means you lose all momentum and one of the game's major mechanics
Heat-specific State Actions
After popping the Heat state, a chain or an eight-shaped icon appears next to the gauge. This is an indicator for another mechanic called Heat Energy, and you gain up to two of it depending on how you enter the Heat state itself - one is granted if you use the Burst, and two if you use an Engager, so there's a certain element of choice as the Burst instantly activates Heat
From there, you gain access to two brand new moves, which are called the Heat Smash (HS) and the Heat Dash (HD)
The Dash sort of works like Focus Attack Dash Cancel (FADC) in Street Fighter IV, Boost in Hokuto no Ken, or the Drive Rush in Street Fighter 6, allowing you to spend 1 unit of Heat Energy (or HEn for short, I guess?) to cancel out of a move and quickly charge towards the opponent, which opens up combo routes in situations where you'd otherwise be too far to continue attacking
HD can be used twice in a row if you have enough Energy, however if the opponent is currently being juggled - you're limited to only one use of HD until he falls to the ground. Very likely this is to prevent "wall-to-wall" style juggle combos we commonly see in high level T7 play
The Smash on the other hand cosumes 2 units of HEn, and is designed to be a super strong move with its own cinematic. You can think of HS as this game's Rage Drive but locked behind more resources instead of just being at low enough health since Rage triggers automatically.
Keep in mind that HS is still available even if you have only 1 HEn left, just know that using it will instantly end the Heat state for the remainder of the current round, so while you can't use two Smashes in a rapid succession, you could first cancel out of another move, like an Engager, using the Dash and then immedaitely use the Smash as a combo ender to quickly deal a ton of damage
While active, the Heat state applies a passive effect where every single attack you land inflicts the chip damage / RG, even if your moves are blocked, no matter if it's a jab or something stronger.
Also as Nakatsu explained, the Heat system in T8 is designed to highlight the strengths or certain quicks of each roster member. We don't yet have the full extent to which this particular concept is realized, but from what was shown today: Paul can now guard break the opponent on moves like the Death Fist, Law gets better juggle potential on various attacks such as his Nunchucks which he now actively uses, King gains Power Crush-like hyperarmor on his new command dash move, and Nina's gunplay and acrobatics skills appear to be expanded upon and powered up significantly
Control Scheme
with Tekken 8, Bandai have established two sort of control scheme styles, intended to be used by players of different skill levels
One of them is the traditional Arcade style that we're all now familiar with, no real changes here compared to T7
The other is called Special style, which combines the Easy Combo and Assist features that were initially present in T7's story mode and later patched in as a button mapping option in the controller settings, but greatly expanded
Instead of simply being a one-tap activator for just 4 moves depending on what face button and bumper button you press, the Special style can now act as the trigger for Heat system, use auto-combos similar to various other fighting games, and it even takes into context what state your opponent is currently in, so for example depending on your starter, you could go from a single move, to juggle, to HE, to RA or HS, all with the press of essentially one button
Unlike T7, there are no restrictions for using the Special style, meaning it seems to be fully legal even in Online Ranked matches, at least based on Harada's and Nakatsu's wording. They also did mention competitive play, but since T8 is not yet a part of Tekken World Tour, I can only assume Special style will be universally banned at TWT events, at least after the Pools stages, but we'll see what happens next year
Other Stuff
the 2023 season of Tekken World Tour is confirmed and is set to kick off with EVO Japan at the end of March. Bandai will be releasing more details about the next TWT over the coming months, and they're set to open the Dojo event applications in mid-March
No Online events or regional restrictions like in the past couple of seasons due to Corona outbreak, we're back to the TWT 2017-2019 format with a unified Global leaderboard and offline tournaments
One of the first major TWT2023 events is The Mixup in Lyon, France, which is going to be held in the middle of April. More events to be confirmed. Obviously no details about the next LCQ and Finals were given
After the mechanics breakdown video, Harada and Murray came back on stage at TWT to announce that there will be a Closed Alpha Test held for Tekken 8, but only players who entered T7 at EVO Japan can sign up for it. They did not mention what platform will be used for the test or whether there'll be an online version of it, but what they did mention is there's going to be a raffle-style pick for the participants if there are too many applicants on site, though it's currently unknown what number they consider as "too many". Other regions will also be able to sign up at future events, most likely major FGC tournaments, and they'll share the details in the coming months
Nina was officially confirmed as playable in T8. She's given a new design, one of her intro animations is same as T7, and she also now can use guns as a part of her moveset. Doesn't seem like the VA changed but her grunts do sound new so looks like we can expect some new voiceclips from the characters
As of now, the total playable cast of Tekken 8 consists of 9 characters: Jin, Kazuya, Jun, Paul, Law, Lars, Jack, King, and Nina. Seeing as the game isn't coming out any time soon we'll for sure keep seeing reveal trailers in the coming months, and I wouldn't be susprised if a couple more show up at EVO Japan
At the moment we have no idea about the Defensive mechanics in the game, so I guess for now we wait and see what kind of adjustments and changes the developers make to the game as time goes on, plus I'm sure they'll take feedback from the Closed Alpha into consideration. But I'm not gonna like things are looking kinda scary
"agreessive this,aggressive that" its painfully clear that tekken 7 already rewards random buttons too much
you deal with that by being patient in this game, in T8 if you get access to heat once per round its super dumb cause you can deal damage on block quite often
It does sound difficult to balance though.
I will quit tekken if this is how T8 will end up being.
I hope they reconsider this ultra agression approach.
"Kazuya is a defensive char" is a meme and not true.
Kazuya can and will be played hella agressive, just look at BoaLuvb.
The reason people say he's the most defensive mishima is because he doesn't have any special tools to do defense for him, which is why he needs to do it properly the hard way.
People confused that as "he's a defensive char" which is simply not true.
But I guess some people think it's defense when they wave dash at you with 500apm, mixing you up like there's no tommorow.
Honestly, please stop parroting just any opinion you find online. Most of that stuff is crap. And alot of it comes from delusional mains of literally any character, always downplaying how strong that char is or overstating how difficult and honest he is.
Jin players are the worst when it comes to this but kazuya players aren't far behind.
I am honestly not sure what to think.
I will try it and see eventually.
I have a feeling some of this is going to have to be either toned down or removed- unless defense has more wild stuff besides movement and powercrush.