Tekken 8 shows Nina Williams in action

The announcement of Tekken 8 left us wondering about the new features that the game would include. Innovating in fighting games while giving the fans the type of content they expect can be quite difficult, especially on long-running series like Tekken, which is at the top along with Street Fighter since its origins. The new installment in the popular series will see the return of many iconic fighters, and Bandai Namco has just confirmed the appearance of Nina Williams with a new gameplay video that shows her in a brand-new outfit. You can discover many of her classic and new attacks and combos in the gameplay video below.

Tekken 8 features a new battle system

The video has been revealed on the occasion of the Tekken World Tour 2022 Global Finals, and it has been accompanied by another one that sheds light on the new gameplay mechanics in Tekken 8. Bandai Namco wants to favor a more aggressive gameplay style and has introduced some changes that push toward that direction. The Rage system will return in Tekken 8 but Rage Drives have been removed. Rage Arts will do more damage the lower your health is and the activation commands for these have been unified for all players, who can now trigger them by pressing "forward diagonal down and both punches".

Tekken 8 will also let you cover your lost health with the Recoverable Gauge system. Some of the health you lose while blocking will appear as a white bar, and you will be able to recover it for a limited time if you manage to land some hits on your opponents or make them block. 

Then we have the Heat System, which lets a fighter power up for a short time. While in the heat state, some attacks are empowered, your strikes will deal damage even when blocked, and you can perform Heat Smash and Heat Dash special attacks. You can enter the heat state on demand once per round and it lasts 10 seconds, but hitting your opponent will stop the timer, so it can be prolonged if you go on the offensive.

With those additions, the new battle system in Tekken 8 definitely favors offensive players, but it also makes the game much more tactical. Taking advantage of the Heat System will be decisive in many matches. Unfortunately, we will still have to wait for a while to enjoy it as Tekken 8 still does not have a release date. But you can check the best prices to pre-order your Tekken 8 code for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.