“When you watch boxing, it’s not particularly entertaining when the fight is so balanced that the fighters feel each other out in a tactically demanding way, but neither of them lands a critical hit,” is how Tekken veteran and Katsuhiro describe Harada , who has held his creative hand over the series since part three, a phenomenon he would like to abolish. After all, good players can fend off any attack relatively easily, so that high-class games in particular tend to end in a fairly even exchange of blows.
Harada and producer/translator Michael Murray answer questions from me and other editors in an interview after and before we play Tekken 8 for several hours. Not the finished game, of course, but an early demo in which we could fight our way through five arenas with ten characters at will.
And of course, Tekken 8 feels like Tekken right away. As a quick reminder: The Rage Art and Rage Drive introduced in the predecessor, as well as moves with which you – provided you have enough life energy – could power through an enemy attack, broke up the familiar back and forth of attack and defense a little and most of it is still available.
But Harada wasn’t completely satisfied with that. “It’s a lot more interesting – and you can see people love it – when one of the fighters, for example, takes advantage of a mistake and the balance suddenly shifts.”
So these are moments that should shape Tekken 8 and that’s why there is a system called Heat, which works very simply in its basic form: whoever activates it can hit so powerfully for ten seconds that the hits even go through the opponent’s block . Meanwhile, a particularly powerful attack is available with the Heat Smash; in a way a second kind of rage. Last but not least, the timing for triggering certain moves during the heat is significantly simplified.
What’s more, if you land certain combos, you can then move towards your opponent with a fast forward movement, the so-called heat dash, to keep the aggressive flow going. The offensive is gaining in importance in Tekken. In fact, you can actually increase the duration of the heat by hitting or defending during it. The running ten-second bar stops every time.
So button stitches instead of martial arts? Well, the heat system actually gives the games a lot of momentum and some rounds should be shorter than in part seven. Harada wants to bring a little more fire into the arguments and he easily succeeds in doing so.
Especially since the whole thing is also excellently staged! Now I definitely think that most of the arenas in the demo could do with one or the other detail more. For example, grass on the ground does not move, while steps in the water leave barely visible “tracks” – both of which could underline the dynamics of all actions even more. Only the neon sign of the officially unnamed Times Square gives the urban scenario by far the coolest style.
It is therefore the characters that will benefit most from the switch to Unreal Engine 5. They weren’t just completely recreated: I especially like the sometimes very expressive animations with which, for example, the rage arts are introduced and games are ended and started. Just look Marshall Law in the eye. Or watch a Jack-8 thump his chest so hard he falls onto his back after a win.
I was particularly impressed by the transitions, such as triggering heat or the arrival of certain hits, where the movement of the respective athlete is briefly captured in super slow motion. These are damn chic shots that surprisingly don’t even disturb the flow of the game, but instead underline the force of the mighty beating together with other clever camera pans.
But let me come back to the fear that Tekken 8 would degenerate into pure button-mashing thanks to the heat system. I don’t see this danger. For one thing, the game doesn’t lose any of its depth. All fighters still master dozens of moves and if you play the game at even a halfway advanced level, you won’t see a country without a well-considered approach and practiced timing.
And did I mention before that the attacks under Heat even penetrate a block? They do – as do some of the regular attacks with no heat at all. However, you can regain the lost life energy by going on the offensive yourself. You only have to land hits yourself or hit the opponent’s block to heal yourself very slowly. That’s right: Tekken 8 also pushes the game forward here and only punishes snooping, not skilful tactics.
I also don’t think that the defense will lose importance as a result. At least you can let the opponent’s ten-second heat run into the void with a good defense. And by the way, enemy heat hits that smash through your own cover can’t KO you.
Is all this still too much for you? Just want to push a few buttons to dictate to roommates and buddies who’s boss in the ring? Can you have! Pull the left shoulder button and the four central input buttons work very differently than normal. Then you always combine the same combo on the body with square or X, while circle or B strings together a few low attacks and so on.
This should also help connoisseurs to quickly get to know the style of a new character – I have to say, however, that I didn’t enjoy trying it out much. Now I’m miles away from “expert”, but I still find the regular use of left and right limbs to be more catchy and fun. Also to get to know each other.
Does not matter! Some beginners should be happy about the simplification and at least you can switch at any time, i.e. several times per round, however you like it, like in the middle of the combo. That’s surprisingly entertaining, at least for trying things out for fun.
Especially since I haven’t even mentioned a further simplification. After all, you don’t have to activate either Rage Art or Heat using a regular key combination or even build them into an attack chain. Because you can call up both via one of the right shoulder buttons. That’s not mine, but of course it makes triggering the strong maneuvers a lot easier. With this help, you only have to accept that only one heat dash is available for the heat used in this way. Usually it’s two.
And by the way, Heat can not only fuel the penetrating power. Sometimes I’ve found it helpful to trigger them as early as possible and not save the heat smash until last, but instead smack it right at the start. Sure, that’s significantly less effective. In return, the opponent’s life bar is much lower than your own – which had the psychological effect for me that I got a mental foot into tricky matches faster than would have been the case otherwise.
As I said: Tekken 8 should live from those moments that can tip the balance in a moment. And if you ask me, Heat could indeed be the tip of the scales to achieve just that.
