Tekken 8’s Katsuhiro Harada Calls Player Response So Far ‘Extremely Positive’ | Child Comics 2023

At San Diego Comic-Con 2023, we had the chance to chat with Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada and producer Michael Murray, and learn the latest details about the highly anticipated sequel to the legendary fighting series.

During the interview, we covered a variety of topics, including how the team handles player feedback, how that feedback makes them a bit nervous because it’s “extremely positive”, who is the best-dressed fighter in the Tekken universe, which moves will hurt the most in real life, etc.

Tekken 8 doesn’t have a release date yet, but the PlayStation 5-only closed-net test is running through today, July 24, and all platforms (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC) will have one between July 28 and 31. Unfortunately, the sign-up process for these tests has ended.

in us Tekken 8 hands-on preview, we said, “Tekken 8 looks phenomenal, its hits are as impactful as ever, and its iconic cast of characters is even more uniquely defined thanks to the new Heat system. There’s still a lot we haven’t seen, but first impressions Tekken 8 is a knockout.”

You can learn more about Tekken 8 below and be sure to check it out cross-play and recovery network code details, as Our first exclusive interview with Harada about the game.

IGN: What’s up guys? Stella Chung here. I’m outside of the Tekken 8 region and I’m excited because we’re about to talk to the developers, Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray. Let’s go inside and see what they can tell us. So now that there is unique intro dialogue between specific characters before the match starts, do you have any particular favorite pairings or quips between the two characters?

Katsuhiro Harada/Michael Murray: That’s something we’ve done in previous entries, like Tag or sometimes Tekken 5. So it depends on the character pairing and what they say. So if they have some special relationship, good or bad, it changes. And Harada said his favorites are Jun and Kazuya.

How will the new special control type help bring in new characters and new players, not just for Tekken but for fighting games as a whole?

Customer/MM: The system you mentioned is completely new to Tekken 8. We have something similar to the predecessor system in Tekken 7, where you press a button and you can simply execute some commands. But this developed even more during this time period. But one of the cool things is obviously, as you said, it’s good to attract new players that you find they like. Also, even if you’re a veteran player, if you’re trying to pick up a new character you’re not familiar with, it’s much easier if you’re using special control systems. So it really benefits many different players. And so far, it’s been a great response to it.

What feedback have you received about the game in the last month since we talked in Summer of Gaming?

Customer/MM: First of all, we had many different people playing the game. We have it here and elsewhere. We announced it and then people watched it and had time to play it for a bit. So at some point, we expect people to get used to it and then give us a variety of feedback. Some of it may not be positive. That’s how it works. And then we fixed it and everything was fine. For us, what makes us a little nervous is the over-reaction. And last time we spoke with IGN, we only showed the game in the early stages, but now we have closed network testing going on in the background and we can get more feedback from everyone. They obviously love the new gameplay mechanics, but both the network code and the online experience are by far the first time they’ve tried that.

You have 16 playable characters at San Diego Comic Con.

Customer/MM: Yes, right?

Correct. So who is the most popular character so far?

Customer/MM: We have 16 characters in the playable build. We haven’t had a chance to look at the play data, so we can’t speak from an empirical point of view but can only watch people play the game. Kazuya, a lot of people are waiting, King too. So those are probably the two that are popular by far.

Can you go into detail about some of the changes you’ve made to this closed experiment, what people are going through right now?

Customer/MM: Well, it wasn’t long since we last talked so there aren’t any drastic changes to the gameplay, just tweaks etc. The biggest difference is probably just playing online as everyone sees it for the first time. Although we said but not many people noticed, the game has crossplay feature and everyone can try. Not this week, but when we open it up for other platforms. So it’s there and then people can just see the fit and see some other element of the game.

Tekken contains some of the most eccentric and stylish characters in modern fighting games. In the current list shown, who is the best dressed in your opinion?

Customer/MM: It’s difficult, because this time all the characters are so unique. But, especially Lili, because there’s a designer he’s had his eye on for quite some time, and this is the first time we’ve actually worked with her. Her name is Jasmine, I think, from New Zealand. And we actually asked her to design Lili this time. And it’s a whole new outfit for her, based on the artist he’s been wanting to work with for a long time. So that’s probably his favorite.

Earlier today, you attended a workshop that I watched and you guys were amazing. You are discussing moves in real life and how they are represented in Tekken. So, of each move in the game, which move do you think hurts the most?

Customer/MM: It was a tough question indeed, but perhaps King’s. All of his throws are pretty dangerous if you’re really going to do them in real life. But one thing that may not stand out at first is the low kicks to the shin or other areas of the low kicks. This is because it is quite painful for people who are not used to it. As a Muay Thai practitioner like me, you’ll get used to it because your shins are stiffer, but he said it really hurts if you kick low and you’re not used to it.

Those are good answers. For me, I just said, “I’m fine. I’m not taking any of them.” well, thank you very much. This is interesting. Thank you so much for spending time with us.

Customer/MM: Our joy.

Stella is a Video Producer, Host and Editor at IGN. Her gameplay focuses on competitive FPS games, and she has previously reviewed Apex Legends, Hyper Scape, Halo Infinite Multiplayer, and Battlefield 2042. She regularly hosts and broadcasts competitive Apex Legends and Halo Infinite tournaments when she’s not streaming on her Twitch channel after practice. You can follow her on Twitter @ParallaxStella.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and more Convulsion.