The first year ofTekken 8is drawing to a close, and the 3D fighting game has had a strong start. Controversies regarding DLC practices and the firstTekken 8iteration of the Tekken World Tour have stayed on its heels, but the game is generally in a good state right now. Fans are enjoying the improved netcode of this entry compared to prior ones, and its focus on aggression through the Heat system has also gone over better than some veteran players feared. With one more season 1 DLC character on the horizon, the future ofTekken 8looks bright.
Helping matters has been Bandai Namco’s Chief Producer of Action/Fighting Games, Katsuhiro Harada. Although he has stepped down fromTekken’s directorial chair withT8after being the series’ primary director sinceTekken 3, he is still involved with many of its internal and external affairs. That includes public relations, and Harada has spent the last few years not only running podcasts and attending major events, but also posting development insights on social media, including vital information that couldaid some ofTekken 8’s worst controversies. One of his November 2024 tweets even revealed the logic behind a notableTekken 8roster cut, but adhering to that logic in future games could be risky.
Why Tekken 8 Left Tekken 7’s Eliza Behind
On November 18, Harada addressed a fan asking for theTekken RevolutionandTekken 7character Eliza to joinTekken 8. Although Harada is also fond of the narcoleptic vampire, she isn’t likely to return due to the development challenges involved. Eliza is widely regarded as a test forTekken 7’s guest fighters, Akuma and Geese, as all three had meter-based mechanics and accessible projectiles. She wasn’t a competitive terror like the other two “2D characters,” but sharing their quirks while boasting a few of her own made tuning Eliza a unique challenge acrossTekken 7’s long life.
Eliza’s Abilities Added Unnecessary Work To Tekken’s Updates
Changing Eliza’s parameters even a little risked making her too weak or too strongcompared to the rest ofTekken 7’s roster. TheTekkenfranchise has always incorporated redundant elements into fighters to improve balance and development flow, so having such a large departure was inviting trouble. Eliza frequently annoyed the battle tuning staff and some tournament players despite never being labeled broken like her meter-using peers, which Harada indicates was the reason why she didn’t make it toTekken 8. Some would argue that losing Eliza is a reasonable price for ditching Akuma and Geese as well, but this reasoning could be dangerous if it sticks around.
Future Tekken Games Can’t Let Balance Decide Character Slots
If Eliza was left behind for being unique in a problematic way, one must wonder if other characters could be cut fromTekken 9for the same reason. Cutting headaches is a sensible and easy solution to maintainingTekken’s tight balance long-term, but hitting every problem character that crops up risks being even more controversial than those fighters were during their dominance. Eliza was only around for thelive-service spin-offTekken Revolutionand one subsequent mainline game, but developer frustrations could also hurt returning non-essentialTekkencharacters if they get bad enough.
Tekken 8’s Dragunov Is In Danger Of Following Eliza
Sergei Dragunov isTekken 8’s current target. He is a silent Russian soldier who joinedTekken 5, but hit his stride inTekken 7. Dragunov’s atypical moveset employs a straightforward poking approach, but its versatility and high damage makes him dangerous in skilled hands.Tekken 7humbled him after years of nerfs, butTekken 8’s Heat system synergized with the aggressive Dragunov so well that he has topped tier lists for several months. And yet, as of late October, Harada has him pegged as the fifth most-used character worldwide. Fixing Dragunov will probably come later inTekken 8’s life, but his repeated offenses might have long-term consequences that his fans will feel the most.
