Tekken 8’s Season 2 released to some of themost negative criticism the series has ever had. Some of the most common complaints are that the damage is too high, characters have been way overtuned (to the point where almost everyone is virtually overpowered), and the game feels more like a"party game"instead of a competitive fighter. Just two fifty-fifty mix-ups is enough to end most rounds for just about every character. There have been some smaller changes, but Season 2 still has a long way to go, which has beenaddressed byTekken 8producer Katsuhiro Harada.
The latest update, Patch 2.01, is the first major update since Season 2’s launch at the end of March. The update brings a lot of changes to the game, including character adjustments, Heat System rebalancing, and some new features like Super Ghost Battle. While I echo Harada’s response that the criticism of Season 2 is not unjustified, this patch has finally started down the long road to fully addressing two of my biggest issues withTekken 8currently:the Heat Burst utility and the high aerial combo damage.
Heat Burst Is No Longer A Guaranteed Hit In Tekken 8
There Is Now Some Defensive Play To Heat Burst
Season 2 ofTekken 8wasoriginally billed as defense-oriented, with most complaints in the game’s early days being that the game was too aggressive. While there were some improvements to side-steps and general defensive play, the season’s addition of new character moves and rebalancing of existing moves actually had the opposite effect, andthe game became even more aggressive. The Heat System has been controversial since its introduction, but now, there is some counter-play to Heat Burst.
Heat Burst allows players to activate their Heat, which opens up new moves, combo routes, increased chip damage, makes the character’s Heat Smash available for use, and more. The more you attack, the longer you keep your Heat. Heat Burst allowed players to activate Heat with one button press, and even if it was hit or blocked, it almost always guaranteed a follow-up from the attacker. As noted on theBandai Namcowebsite,the tracking of Heat Burst has been reducedin Patch 2.01, meaning if players predict their opponent will activate it, it can now more easily be side-stepped and countered.
Activating Heat Burst randomly as a get-out-of-jail-free card was annoying because Heat Burst has armor on it, so unless you could pressure the opponent before the activation frames kicked in,it often led to the player on defense taking a little bit of damageand then being forced into a mix-up situation. Now, opponents can be punished for activating their Heat Burst outside a combo, and be forced back on the defensive, something I’ve been wanting since even Season 1. More mind games, less straight-up guessing.
Reduced Aerial Combo Damage Is A Step In The Right Direction
But The Damage Might Still Be Too High
Tekken 8has some of the longest combos in the series, most flowing as a launcher, into a combo string, into a tornado spin, into a combo string, into Heat Burst, into another combo string. The opponent remains in the air through all of that, and assuming the opponent doesn’t drop the combo, there’s nothing that can be done. Tekkenhas always had an emphasis on juggling your opponent for combos, but the damage and combo length were too much inTekken 8. Thankfully,aerial combo damage is being reduced.
Moving forward,adjustments have been made to moves that contributed significantly to the high-damage aerial combos. The damage was so high that a character like Jun could juggle the opponent to the corner while taking half of their life, and then they would be in a mix-up situation. If the player guessed wrong, they would then lose the round. Combo damage has been pretty high throughout most of theTekkenseries, but it was a bit much before this patch.
“These changes are intended to increase the opportunities for offense, defense, and tactical exchanges, while also addressing the excessive disparity in damage potential between characters.” - Patch 2.01 notes
Bandai Namco is promising to keep an eye on aerial combo damage and will make additional adjustments as necessary, andI think more adjustments are on the way, as the game’s damage is still pretty high. Still, Patch 2.01 is a step in the right direction.
Tekken 8was, at one point, acomplex and rewarding fighter, and then Season 2 happened, destroying hardcore fans' love of the sophisticated and deep fighting system the series had been known for. Bandai Namco is probably months away from fully adjusting the huge Season 2 patch to a point fans are happy with. The game is on thin ice with a large portion of the community, especially after the Fahkumram character reveal. These two changes, however, are making me want to try the game again, so I’m excited to see how Bandai Namco evolvesTekken 8even further.
