With EVO Japan 2024 just a few days away, the event looks to set the tone for not just TEKKEN’s future but also the community as a whole. Read on to find out about the event and why it matters.
TEKKEN 8’s First Master+ Event Will Set the Tone Moving Forward
EVO Japan 2024 is right around the corner, and Bandai Namco will be holding Tekken 8’s first-ever major tournament on its own tournament circuit, the Tekken World Tour (TWT) 2024. This will be the world tour’s first event out of two Master+ events, meaning that the winner will most likely be locking their placement in the finals to be held at the end of the circuit. But how is this important to the game’s future and, more importantly, the community?
Different Styles Clash on the World Stage
EVO Japan 2024 is going to be exciting to watch, as most of the international players will be aiming to take home both the EVO trophy and the chance to lock in a spot at the TWT 2024 Finals. If you follow the competitive scene at all, it’s more than evident that there are stark differences between the different regions, both in terms of gameplay and how they think about the strengths and weaknesses of characters in the game. This is based on the discourse that the community has had regarding character balance, and while there are certain characters that have common placements, the majority of the other characters are placed in completely different tiers.
But more than that, this will be the first major event where those regions will be able to test how valid their theories are. It will be one of the first times the different regions of Asia, Europe, North America, and more are battling it out in this 8th iteration of Tekken.
We’ve actually already seen a glimpse of this at Electric Clash 2024, which was held on April 20th in Toronto, Canada. The winner of the event was Kim “Kkokkoma” Mu-jong from Korea, with notable attendees Mathieu "Kirakira" Nguyen from Switzerland and Hasan "JoKa" Rehman from the UK. This time, however, Japan will have the home advantage, and attendees from all around the world will be watching with bated breath to see how they’ll match up against each other.
Regrettably, Pakistan, one of the strongest regions that suddenly made big waves for Tekken 7, , will not be sending any representatives to EVO Japan. The recent relocation of the Japanese embassy in Pakistan led to complications regarding the player’s visa applications, ultimately disbarring them from entering the country. This was announced by professional Tekken player and founder of Ashes Gaming, Arslan Ash, in his post on Twitter(X).
"It's official! No Pakistan reps at Evo JP this year. Insha'Allah next year!" “Insha'Allah” translates directly to “if God wills it,” for those who don’t speak Arabic. Arslan notably achieved Tekken’s first "grand slam," winning at EVO, EVO Japan, and the TWT Finals in 2023.
New Game, New Rules, New Meta
New releases and new iterations of games will inevitably have changes. However, Tekken has historically carried over a lot of its universal mechanics, and so there was shock when a lot of changes and additions were made.
One change is that universal throws are now able to track, meaning they can be used as an effective offensive option for pressure and damage. They can answer an opponent who moves laterally, and is an option to beat "Power Crush" moves. We won’t dive into all the universal changes and additions made in Tekken 8, but the gist of it is that the game has been completely flipped on its head when it comes to the character designs and how they mesh with the added Heat mechanics.
One of the most well-known and decorated Tekken players, Bae "Knee" Jae-Min recently posted his thoughts on Tekken 8’s current state on Twitter(X), stating: "My [opinion]: Tekken 8 is not fun." He says the changes made in the current release favor aggression and that the strategies he has learned from playing since the first game are not as effective as they were before.
"The reason I said it wasn't [fun] was when I realized that the legacy knowledge and strategies I learned from playing Tekken for a long time weren't working. Because there is only reward in attack and no reward in defense. [If] you block, you've lost health. If this is a new era of Tekken, I probably haven't adapted. This may be the trend of gaming these days," Bae said.
The addition of chip damage (damage while blocking), tracking throws, "gamble" situations, and others have made Tekken 8 essentially a completely different game from its predecessors. However, even with all this, Bae remains hopeful that, if he could adapt to the new meta, he could enjoy Tekken 8.
"It may be negative if [I] look at it as a legacy player, but if [I] think [I] should try and adapt to a new meta, maybe enjoy T8. I will try hard because I really like Tekken."
The new focus on aggression and offense in the current meta makes for fun-to-watch matches but extremely punishing-to-play games. Matches have a tendency to swing very fast. Multiple situations would arise where you or your opponent would essentially have to gamble on certain options when interacting with a specific situation. While this isn’t exactly new, as this is basically what a fighting game is at its core, the number of situations where you have "gamble" on an answer rather than just knowing the right answer has definitely increased compared to previous iterations.
The previously mentioned Electric Clash 2024 winner, Kkokkoma, also highlighted the game’s gambling problem. "I can't understand why guys just talk about char tier, We should talk about game's gambling."
He specifically calls out the new Heat mechanics and compares the game to a casino. "This game is everytime just turn on heat and go rock paper scissors. We can avoid side step or back dash? No just choose every moment. [Aggressive] is okay, [but] this is like we are all in [a] casino."
Competitive Balance is Tricky
It’s actually possible that the dev team took a closer look at the game they made and adjusted it to fit a live spectator’s standpoint. There had been a lot of controversy and vitriol aimed at the devs for patch 1.03.01 or the "Eddy Gordo" patch. The patch, to put it simply, broke a lot of the game’s mechanics and made a lot of unintended changes. While this has already been patched in the latest update, there are still a multitude of problems that plague the game even as EVO Japan approaches.
From a competitive standpoint, the community is still up in arms with regards to character balance, as some characters are overtuned compared to the rest. One universally accepted character that’s overtuned is Dragunov based on where all the regions place him in their tier lists. With his strong offensive pressure being further bolstered by the Heat mechanic, he has been the poster boy as someone who is able to utilize all of Tekken 8’s options to a highly effective degree.
This isn’t even to mention all the other gameplay changes, like online matchmaking and microtransactions, but these won’t exactly affect the offline competitive experience in the tournament. We also already know that a balance patch is coming after the tournament in mid-May, and this patch could potentially add or remove some buffs and nerfs from that list depending on what happens in the tournament.
EVO Japan 2024 Begins April 27 to 29
Regardless of anyone’s opinion, EVO Japan 2024 will be important for the game itself and its community. This will be the game’s first major tournament where every region’s players will be able to display their prowess (except Pakistan). With ¥1 million yen on the line and the chance to compete in the world tour finals, players are competing to show off their region's talent. EVO Japan will be held at the Ariake GYM-EX in Tokyo on April 27–29, 2024.
For the stream schedule and more information about the event, please click here to visit their website.
Sources:
EVO Japan 2024 - Website
Twitter - Arslan Ash
Twitter - DRX | Knee
Twitter - Kkokkoma
