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Patch 3.01 for Tekken 8 has arrived alongside returning DLC character Kunimitsu — and it's actually turning out to be another significant win for Bandai Namco and the Tekken team.
Just in case you haven't been keeping up, Tekken 8 was in a terrible state just several months ago. The big Season 3 update dropped in March, and was absolutely slaughtered by players.
The biggest problem is that the seasonal overhaul did almost nothing to revert the already deeply controversial changes made by Season 2 the year prior. And in some cases, it actually made things worse.
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The reception was so bad that the developer essentially had to come out and apologise by announcing a new update schedule.
Roughly one month after Season 3's launch, the team delivered patch 3.00.02. Not much was actually expected of this update at the time, but it marked a shock turnaround for Tekken 8, as it undid a lot of the fundamental damage that was caused by Season 3's obsession with oppressive, borderline broken gameplay flow.
And now, version 3.01 is doing similar things. Most notably, the Heat system has been toned down yet again; a near complete removal of Heat regeneration across the entire roster is a celebrated change.
Basically, some characters could actually regain their Heat resource by using certain moves, leading to situations where the defending player was forced to turtle up for large chunks of the match. Not exactly what I'd call fun.
What's more, a hefty number of Heat-specific attacks have been nerfed — a continuation of the nerfs that were key to the last update's success.
Some of the most oppressive moves in the game have now been kneecapped. Most of them are still good moves, but they're no longer going to feel completely overpowered, or without weakness.
In short, it's another very positive step forward for a fighting game that was seriously on the brink of losing even its most hardcore fans.
I'm left wondering, though: what's next for Tekken 8 with regards to balance? In my humble opinion, combo length is still a bit excessive, but the Heat changes in general should have a positive, meaningful impact on the rhythm of each match.
Overall, it's just good to see Bandai Namco respond to player feedback, particularly when it comes to the overtuned Heat system. There was a worry that the developer would simply never admit to the system being flawed.
Patch 3.01 also adds a random stage select rematch option when playing online — which is nice — and the ability to have your player side chosen at random. The latter should help tournament-going players to hone their gameplay regardless of which side they end up on.
What are your thoughts on Tekken 8 right now? Is it finally moving back in the right direction? Pop your Heat in the comments section below.