Tekken 8 Reveals Feng Wei, Tekken Ball Comeback, and Closed Beta Announcement!

updated_at: October 03, 2023 05:12

published_at: October 03, 2023 05:12

Tekken 8 reveals new trailers of Feng Wei, Tekken Ball game mode, and more. Learn more about the new character, the returning game mode, and the upcoming closed beta announcement.

Feng Wei Revealed in Tekken 8

The God Fist Returns

Feng Wei, the God Fist, joins Tekken 8 in the recently revealed September 19, 2023 trailer. One of the five Chinese representatives of Tekken, he is a master of Chinese Kenpo who aspires to be the "Dragon God," known as the perfect warrior who transcends all. He believes that true martial arts reside in pure and unyielding power.

In the recent King of Iron Fist Tournament, Feng was defeated by a Wing Chun master, Leroy Smith. Smith remarked to Feng, "You will never reach the height of true martial arts with that heartless technique of yours…" and proved his belief in true martial arts wrong. Feng then uses his rage as motivation to break through the defenses of Wing Chun, a martial art that is considered invulnerable due to using the opponents’ strength against them. He wishes to get revenge for his loss and his beliefs. Feng has since appeared in every Tekken release starting from Tekken 5, making this his fifth appearance overall.

New Wardrobe

His appearance remains somewhat similar to his Tekken 7 design, but with some noticeable differences. His dragon motif is still here, being adorned in red and gold. But his wardrobe has changed, with him now sporting a one-sided garb, huge golden ornaments, and a dragon claw-like right armguard.

New Style, Same Flair

He returns in full force with his evasive stances, numerous parries, high damaging moves, and strong mixup tools. His signature move, “Iron Fortress,” also comes back as one of his Heat Engagers. It’s a strong punish attack and a quick long range move able to catch opponents off guard.

Old Minigame Returns in Style

Tekken Ball Announced as Playable Game Mode

Tekken Ball, one of the older minigames of the Tekken franchise, will be returning to Tekken 8. The aim of the minigame is to deplete your opponents health by either landing the ball onto the opponent’s side of the court, similar to Volleyball, or hitting the enemy with the ball. The ball can be charged with each hit that it takes. The higher its charge, the faster it moves and the more damage it deals. It will speed up to a point where the ball will catch fire, dealing a massive amount of damage.

This was one of the minigames featured in Tekken 3 for the Playstation and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in the Wii U version. In Tekken 3, there were three different types of balls, with each having a different damage modifier. These three balls were the Beach Ball, Gum Ball, and the Iron Ball.

Get Ready for the Next Beta Test

Closed Beta Test Announced on October 20

An upcoming Closed Beta Test will be held on October 20, 2023, as revealed in the trailer. Those who were able to participate in the previous Network Test will be able to participate in the upcoming test without needing to apply again.

The upcoming Closed Beta Test will have a total of nineteen characters, three of which will be added to the playable roster namely, Feng Wei, Azucena, and Raven. Additionally, the game will be testing its new Battle Lounge feature. It seems to be similar to some other fighting games’ hub feature, like in Guilty Gear XRD, Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter 6, and so on. Like those games, players will have their own unique avatar and be able to interact with different players in the same hub.

The game also made several adjustments to its new universal mechanic called "Heat". This mechanic allows the player to enhance several of a character’s moves and also improves a character’s unique gimmick. In the patch notes, they said that they revamped the Heat Burst, Heat Smash, and Heat Dash mechanics as they were unintentionally making combos too long. They also adjusted the amount of time you will have in Heat State and increased the consumption of Heat-enhanced attacks as well.