Tekken 8 Faces Backlash Over Controversial New Season Features

The Tekken community has developed a familiar approach to voicing its frustrations, as Tekken 8 has faced a wave of negative reviews following the launch of its third season. This isn’t the first instance of players resorting to this tactic.

After the season three update rolled out last week, Tekken 8 saw hundreds of unfavorable reviews on Steam. Dedicated players, some with extensive playtime, are expressing their discontent with Bandai Namco over perceived balance issues, claiming the game has shifted to an overly offense-centric model that favors aggressive playstyles.

One player noted, “Tekken 8 general rule of thumb: You must defend from all of your opponent’s nonsense so you can take their 50-50 mixups after.” Another chimed in with, “Delusional devs. Each patch buffs offense and adds new moves instead of improving defense. In previous Tekken games, including T8 season one, I enjoyed losing because I could learn from my mistakes, but now it’s just about who can be more aggressive. The fighting isn’t fun anymore.”

Another review bluntly advised, “If you don’t want to be in an abusive relationship, then use your money to get a better partner that treats you better than Tekken 8 does its fans. Seriously, you all deserve better than the gaslighting, money-hungry, tone-deaf nonsense we’re getting here.”

One of the more straightforward critiques simply stated, “Just play Tekken 7.”

The season three patch was marketed as a “back to basics” update aimed at gradually refining the game, but Bandai Namco clarified that this would not be a complete overhaul of the game’s systems. With the update now live, fans are expressing their dissatisfaction with the game’s trajectory through Steam reviews and discussions on platforms like Reddit.

This isn’t the first time Tekken 8 players have resorted to this method to voice their concerns about game balance. A glance at the Steam user review timeline reveals a surge of negative feedback coinciding with the season two update released in April of the previous year. While the reviews evened out in the months that followed, Tekken 8 currently holds a “mixed” rating on Steam. In contrast, console ratings are more favorable, with both PlayStation and Xbox averaging around four out of five stars, possibly indicating that players are more vocal on Steam than on console platforms.