Tekken 8: Which Play Style Should I Use?

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Table of contents

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How To Use Special Style

Traditional Style

Which Playstyle Should I Use?

Long considered one of the most difficult fighting series to hit the gaming world, the Tekken series gives players amazingly deep controls, allowing individual use of each limb of the fighters along the rosters of each game. While this control scheme offers players an immense variety of attacks and combos, it can make learning the game and learning a new fighter seem like an impossible mountain to climb.

In Tekken 8, players are graced with a completely new control scheme, making the barrier to entry to the series significantly more friendly to players who may not be familiar with Tekken games, or fighting games in general. Additionally, this new control style allows players to easily explore new fighters using a standardized layout, identical across all fighters. This can let players try new characters and discover some of their special attacks without having to dive too deep into the unique move list of a fighter.

With this new fight style, known as Special Style, players will have to explore the two styles to find which option works best for them - here's a full breakdown of each control layout and the pros and cons of each.

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How To Use Special Style

Tekken 8 introduces a new fighting style and button layout called Special Style. Players can activate Special Style with the Special Style input, the L1 button, or the Left Bumper, on consoles and O on PC. Special Style will replace the recommended inputs window (if active) with the Special Style inputs window,appearing in the bottom left of the screen. Similar to the Modern Controls layout in Street Fighter 6, Special Style activates a simplified control scheme, allowing players to unleash devastating combos with ease. While players will be limited in what combos and chains they can unleash with each character, Special Style can be a great introduction to Tekken 8 for players unfamiliar with the Tekken series.

Special Style reformats the button layout into a simplified control scheme:

J (PC), A (Xbox), Cross (PS5): Power Crush - A strong strike that debilitates the enemy, knocking them to the ground. This attack will often land even if the enemy is striking at the same moment.
U (PC), X (Xbox), Square (PS5): Specialty Move - The basic attack input in Special Style, players can access most of a fighter's standard combos by using the Specialty Move input. Combine the Specialty Move input with any directional input to alter the combo. Players will also use the Specialty Move input to activate Heat Style, when available.
I (PC), Y (Xbox), Triangle (PS5): Air Combo - Quickly launch into an aerial juggle combo that can be sustained by repeated inputs. This combo can be altered with directional inputs.
K (PC), B (Xbox), Circle (PS5): Low Attacks/Throws - Players can use this input for a variety of low attacks using the down, forward, or up directional inputs. When players combine this input with a back directional, they will initiate a throw that if successful, will rapidly drop a large chunk of the enemy's hp bar.

Tekken 8 - Rage Arts - Nina — Players can use Heat Style to unleash Heat Burst and Heat Smash on their enemies, along with Rage Arts to cripple foes.

Special Style will also prompt players to use special abilities like Rage Arts and Heat Smash when these attacks become available, making Special Style an effective training tool for learning how to properly time activation of these incredibly powerful abilities.

; (PC), Right Trigger (Xbox), R2 (PS5): Rage Arts - Available only once a fighter drops below the health threshold and enters Rage (designated by a glowing red aura around the fighter and the hp bar), players can activate a fighter's unique Rage Art to devastate their enemy with a powerful attack.
P (PC), Right Bumper (Xbox), R1 (PS5): Heat Burst/Heat Smash - Available after Heat Style is activated, players can use Heat Burst and Heat Smash by using the same input, launching fighters into a charge-down attack that can cripple enemies and turn the tide in a fight. Heat Style can only be used once per round, so be sure to save it for the most effective moment in the fight. Activate Heat Style abilities once your fighter enters Rage and follow up with a Rage Art to inflict a massive amount of damage.

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Traditional Style

The traditional control scheme in Tekkenuses the four main inputs on the controller to control an individual body part of the selected fighter. When combined with directional inputs, or when pressed simultaneously, players can unleash the full potential of a fighter's move list, unleashing incredibly devastating and unique abilities. The traditional controls for Tekken are:

J (PC), X (Xbox), Square (PS5): Left Punch (LP)
U (PC), Y (Xbox), Triangle (PS5): Right Punch (RP)
K (PC), A (Xbox), Cross (PS5): Left Kick (LK)
I (PC), B (Xbox), Circle (PS5): Right Kick (RK)

Players can use throws by inputting Left Kick + Left Punch, or Right Kick + Right Punch. Players can alter any of these inputs, including throws, by combining them with any of the directional inputs, allowing the most control of any fighter by using the traditional controls. For special moves like Heat Style and Rage Arts, players will use the same controls as Special Style; however, players will not receive prompts in the HUD to initiate these actions when using traditional controls.

Tekken 8 - Which Playstyle Is Best - Traditional Controls — The traditional controls for Tekken 8 allow players to control each limb of their selected fighter individually.

When using the traditional controls, players will have access to the full move list of their selected fighters. Check the move list for each character in the pause menu to discover their unique combos and attacks.

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Which Playstyle Should I Use?

If players are new to Tekken 8, they should explore using both sets of controls to find which fits best for their playstyle. While the simplified fighting style of Special Style may make using every character in the game a breeze, players who are familiar with fighting games with diverse rosters (while maybe not familiar with the Tekken series itself) may fight the Special Style overly basic and limiting. Additionally, veterans of the series will find that their favorite techniques are often unavailable in this style, requiring players to revert to traditional controls to truly explore the depth of each fighter.

Despite this, Special Style has huge benefits that cannot be overlooked - allowing players to explore every character in the roster using the generalized control scheme. With such a complex set of controls available in Tekken 8, it can take players of any skill level a while to learn a new character and all the nuances of their complete move list. It can be disappointing to spend several hours or days of game time to learn a new fighter, only to find the fighting style of that character doesn't quite fit with your playstyle. If players are looking to explore a new character and want the opportunity to get a taste of a character's move list without dedicating the time to fully learning the ins and outs of that fighter, Special Style can give you a glimpse into a new member of the roster before committing to studying them completely.

Tekken 8 - Which Playstle Should I Use - PC Controls 1 — Players have two default PC control layouts to select or can create a custom layout.

Tekken 8 - Which Playstle Should I Use - PC Controls 2

In addition to being beneficial for learning, Special Style can also allow players to spam and unleash rapid combos with incredibly easy inputs, for times when being fancy is less important than surviving (or more accurately, eliminating the enemy). Being able to quickly launch into Heat Style by using the Specialty Move input can let players still claim a win even if they panic in stressful fighting conditions.

Players looking to truly master Tekken 8 will learn to integrate both playstyles into each other, seamlessly switching between the two with the Special Style input. Knowing when to use finesse to unleash intricate special abilities or successive juggling combos with the traditional controls, and when to switch into Special Style to easily lock an opponent with a Power Crush followed up by a Specialty Move combo will allow players to dominate round after round.

Players will also have the option to go into the control setting and set up custom control layouts, allowing for an even more detailed and personal touch to the fighting styles of each character. Players can also set quick keys for combination inputs to assist with inputting complicated combo attacks.