Tekken 8 Gameplay Trailers Reveal New Fight Mechanics, Rage Recovery System And More

The most recent fully featured sequel in the popular fighting franchise, Tekken 7, was released almost eight years ago. In the interim, there have been a few updated versions, such as Tekken Mobile (2017), Tekken7: Rematch (2018), and Tekken 7: Definitive Edition (2021). There was even a Pokémon variation called Pokkén Tournament a few months after Tekken 7's initial release. Naturally, fans were excited when Tekken 8 was announced last September. Thanks to some new videos and trailers, we now have some insight into the new entry's gameplay mechanics.

Bandai Namco recently released a video featuring Tekken Project Executive Director Katsuhiro Harada and Game Director Kohei Ikeda which provides a detailed overview of gameplay mechanics that both lift from other games in the series and improve upon them. The main battle concept tenants focused on are "Aggressive," "Vision," and "The Direction Of The Battle." This is all to say that the designers are aiming to encourage more action, better visuals, and improve the player's understanding of how the match's momentum is flowing.

The gameplay overview goes on to cover changes to the Rage system, first introduced in Tekken 6. The specific Rage Drive system used in Tekken 7 has been removed. Instead, players will enter a Rage State when enough damage has been taken, and damage output will increase as health lowers. Players can choose to activate Rage Art to inflict a large amount of damage back at their opponent, but Harada and Ikeda suggest advanced players may instead prefer to remain in the Rage State to take advantage of the increased damage output for longer.


The next section of the video focuses heavily on the health and recovery gauge. This is a new system for the mainline games, adapted from Tekken Tag Tournament (1999). This iteration is far more interactive, though. For example, upon taking a hit, players can recover some of their health, indicated by a white flashing section of their health gauge. However, no health will be gained by purely resting, dodging, or blocking. The combatant must land blows upon their opponent for it to refill within the white section.

A "Heat" system is also outlined in great depth, which allows for a temporary burst in attack speed and damage when triggered. This is also shown by a meter under the health bar. Once activated the heat meter fill drops rapidly, so get your blows in as quickly as possible before this goes away.

The feature video also talks a little about player controller style options. For the authentic Tekken experience, players will want to choose "Arcade Style." However, there is now a "Special Style" which will not require memorization of commands in advance, as it combines the Easy Combo and Assist features of Tekken 7. That is particularly useful for those who want to play through story mode with a bit more accessibility.


Lastly, there is a Nina reveal and gameplay trailer that was released alongside the feature outline video. Nina Williams is described as a "silent assassin" wielding stilettos and akimbo handguns with efficient lethality.

There seems to be a high focus on making sure the action and speed of a match stays high in the latest installment of Tekken, and we are looking forward to it. The game is planned for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.