Tekken Pros Think Tekken 8 isn’t Fun

Bandai Namco introduced a new gameplay mechanic known as the Heat System. The latest mechanic ushered in several new ways for players to execute combos. Because of this new addition, veteran players of previous Tekken installments need to relearn how to hit combos. Having that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Tekken Pro Knee could be referring to the game’s new mechanics.

Fellow Tekken pro Akhil Kakar, best known as Tetsu, asked Knee about the difference between Tekken 7 and 8. Jae-min pointed out how blocking in the game almost has no bearing on the game anymore. Even if players block attacks well, they still end up losing health especially when their opponents activate the Heat System.

“It was Tekken’s skill to block well, avoid well, patience well,” Knee’s response to Tetsu. “But T8 is no reward even if you block well. you will lose health. good movements cannot be rewarded. Aggressive is not possible for all characters. Balance between attack and defense is tilted to one side.”

Other Tekken Pros Complain About Tekken 8

It appears that Knee isn’t the only Tekken pro player complaining about Tekken 8. Several others voiced their opinions on X while some responded to Knee’s tweet and backed up his sentiments. Esmond Fong, also known as Shen, had similar feelings toward the game. Shen mentioned how overwhelming the game is compared to Tekken 7. Aside from defense being seemingly useless, there are a lot of mechanics to worry about such as heat bursts, heat moves, and heat dashes to name a few.

“New T8 mains will say just adapt or go back to previous Tekken,” said Shen. “The truth is, Tekken 8 does not favour defensive playstyles. In t7, you had rage damage, rage drive and rage art. In T8, heat burst, heat smash, heat moves, heat dashes, chip damage, rage art. Its a lot.”

Knee also caught the attention of Street Fighter Pro Alex Valle as he gave his two cents regarding Tekken 8’s issues. Valle can relate to the difficulty of adapting to new game mechanics especially if one is a legacy player. Street Fighter seems to introduce new mechanics to the game every installment which is why Valle resonates with Jae-min’s sentiments. Speaking from experience, the Street Fighter pro feels that the three-time EVO champion will be fine despite the challenges he’s currently faced with.

“I understand this very well. Legacy skills are challenged with robust mechanics,” said Valle. “Street Fighter goes through this with every new iteration. As a legacy player you can’t help but doubt your skills after the opponent activates the pressure mechanic into mix up. I think Knee will be fine, it’s good to vent frustrations. The greats always adapt.”

The thing about the gaming industry is that developers would want to cater to a broader audience, hence some changes in the core gameplay of their beloved franchises. However, with legacy players used to old habits, adding these changes could be for the better or worse. Unfortunately, these Tekken pros need to accept the fact they’re not the only audience developers want to have in their community. At the end of the day, it’s still a business and the goal is to sell to a wider reach of players rather than sticking to the usual.