#SoITriedIt: FPS Player Experiences Tekken 8 - Firsthand Thoughts

Fighting games were never really my thing. I’ve always been more of a First Person Shooter (FPS) guy, worrying about smokes and post-plant strategies. But with the sudden sale of Tekken 8, I thought, “Why not?” 

From Bandai Namco Official Website

First impressions

First off, Tekken 8 looks stunning. The character models are crisp, the animations, especially the rage arts, are buttery smooth, and the environments? Interesting to say the most. Thanks to old-school arcade trips at places like Quantum, I even recognized a few characters. King was my go-to before, not because I knew how to play him but because button-mashing seemed to work well enough—spamming that low kick five times in a row? Trashy, but it worked. 

From Steam Official Website

Going into Tekken 8, I assumed fighting games were all about memorizing combos. So naturally, I jumped into practice mode and started drilling moves like my life depended on it. And in arcade mode and story mode, that worked fine. I genuinely felt like a pro. 

Until it didn’t.

The moment I hopped into quick matches and ranked, everything fell apart. None of my hits connected, my opponents blocked everything, and I barely got a hit in. I went from thinking I was a rising Tekken pro to questioning life choices. That’s when I realized—Tekken is as much about strategy as it is about execution.

From Steam Official Website

The game isn’t just about throwing out combos; it’s about understanding frame data, punishes, and conditioning your opponent. If I kept spamming lows, they’d start blocking low, which meant I needed to mix it up with mid launchers to catch them off guard. It was a whole mind game, predicting their next move while ensuring I wasn’t being too predictable. It was great and refreshing. 

Quick, fun, and frustrating. 

Tekken 8 is the perfect mix of fun and frustration. It’s a game you can hop into for 30 minutes of quick, intense matches, scratch that competitive itch, and move on. It’s fast, it’s technical, and when you win, it feels GOOD. When do you lose? You go again until you eventually win again. Not much to say here, but the music is high-energy, intense, and precisely what you’d expect from a fighting game. It gets you hyped to throw hands, which is all you really need. If you want to listen to things better, like their bopping playlist, consider the JBL Tune 720BT that elevates your listening experience to the next level. 

From Steam Official Website

As an FPS player stepping into the world of fighting games, Tekken 8 was an eye-opener. It’s not just about who can press buttons faster—it’s a game of timing and psychology. I started thinking I could just mash my way through, only to get a harsh reality check.

But the challenge? That’s what makes it so addictive. Now, do I buy a fight stick? Hmmmm…