Five Great Beginner’s Characters for Tekken 8

3 months ago 73

Tekken 8 - Kazuya holds one fist in his other hand, lightning crackling down his arm

Image courtesy of Bandai Namco

So, you’re new to Tekken 8 and you’ve got thirty-two possible characters to choose from. Who should you pick to start out with? With many of these characters having over a hundred attacks each, it can be difficult to decide who might be a good fighter to pick up as you try to learn about the game. I know I’m still having trouble settling on who I want to play in the long run.

While figuring out who I like the most, I’ve dabbled with each character, and in my experience as a newcomer, I’ve come up with a list of five characters I think you can pick up and have a lot of fun with right out of the gate.

Alisa

If you rip off your own head and use it as a bludgeoning tool in a combo, I’m at least going to try your character out. Alisa is a quick little android that is good at prodding at her opponents with some fast attacks in Tekken 8. You have some fairly simple combos that will blast foes across the ring while dealing solid damage, forcing them to come right back at you again. If they make a mistake while rushing in, she also has some simple, mash-able attacks that will send your opponents flying into the air long enough that you can do a combo (if you have one you’re already practicing).

Barring all that, you can just turn your arms into chainsaws and start carving your enemy up. It changes your attacks, but being able to mow through health with saw hands gives you some fun flexibility with the character. While this makes her feel like a complex “stance” character in a sense, I instantly know what to do with a chainsaw. I found her easy to pick up, enjoyed her good movement, and really liked being able to chew up enemies or send them flying. Or, again, smash them with my own head.

Hwoarang

Being a TaeKwonDo kid, I was bound to pick up this character at some point in Tekken 8. While he has some complexities with his stances, he is able to do some excellent combos just by slamming the buttons. As a lot of his stuff involves kicks, they have pretty good reach and speed as well. That can be a hindrance at times if your foe gets in a bit too close, but he has a handy little sidestep slap that can put you out of harm’s way and get ready to just boot your opponent in the face again.

And if your opponent is in the corner? Just absurd kicks. As a beginner I know these combos aren’t amazing, but just mashing a couple of kicks willy-nilly on an opponent stuck against the wall gave me some huge payoffs. Plus, the martial arts teenager in me will never get tired of seeing this kind of thing in action.

Paul

Paul just hits like a truck, and you can get a lot of mileage out of some very simple moves you can pick up really fast. He’s the sort of character where you don’t have to be right about your choice of attack very often in order to maul people (as a Marisa player in Street Fighter 6, this speaks to me). If you want someone who can stomp players with a few well-placed attacks while you’re getting to know the game, Paul can give you what you want. Just sneak in those highly-damaging strikes here and there so that you don’t get too predictable. As a new player, you’re going to fall in love with some of his big smashes, and you will absolutely start using them all the time. People will learn to expect them fast, but if you can learn to be crafty about where you sprinkle them in, you’ll likely have fun in a hurry with Paul.

Jack-8

Big robot does big punch. If you want to really hurt people from far away in Tekken 8, this machine will do it. Many of Jack-8’s moves just have excellent reach, and will put a major hurt on your enemies if you can string even a few moves together. He’s actually not as slow as I thought he would be given that he’s a giant robot, but he’s not exactly zipping around like Alisa. You will need to be careful and watch your opponent so you can sock them when they approach. Being able to control range with his abilities is great fun, although less so once they get in and start hitting you back. You’re also a bigger target, so expect more things to catch you. Still, I just like playing big characters with big hits as it feels so satisfying to just launch a metal fist into your foe’s face.

Sometimes, all I want is something simple.

King

King, our beloved wrestler, is unparalleled in the grappling department in Tekken 8. He just has so many different types of wrestling moves and grabs he can use, even chaining multiple different grabs together. As the opponent has to hit the correct button to break the grab, you can bend them into a pretzel while they struggle to escape. To me, he feels a bit slow with some of his offense so you can’t just go into combos, but knocking someone into the air and then catching them to pull them into a back breaking toss feels incredible.

Grappling is a bit more complex than regular kicking and punching, but there are few things that feel as good as catching someone with yet another of King’s surprise grabs. If you’re fighting someone who likes to block, you’re really going to enjoy making them eat the King Of The Ring’s highly-damaging tosses. King gives me that same sense of excitement that I get from playing Potemkin in Guilty Gear Strive, and that’s more than enough to get me to play him.

6 – Anyone Who Looks Cool to You

I know I said I had five, but there’s a sixth option I need to talk about for Tekken 8, and honestly, fighters in general. At its core, the choice of who to play, and what you find fun, is deeply personal. Some people like to get in their opponent’s face and never let up. Some people like to keep their enemy out with long-range hits. Some people love goofy characters or wild gimmicks. I love grapplers even though I am terrible at figuring out the right distance to actually grab someone. What jives with me may not jive with you.

When you find a character you really want to play, you will feel it. And this is honestly the most important part about a fighting game, and the most meaningful thing I do whenever I pick up something new. There’s almost always at least one character that simply clicks in my mind. They FEEL right to play as. And if I don’t find this character, I feel lost.

While having some idea on good characters to start with is helpful, I cannot stress enough that you need to find someone who feels right to you, regardless of how complex they are. Yes, that means they might be more of a pain to learn, but learning has the potential to bring so much more joy than picking up a character who is “easier” just so you can win matches. So, while I had a blast with the characters on this list and found them simple to pick up, many of them have huge depths that I’m nervous to explore. But I really LIKE the character. It feels fun to learn them.

So, play around with the cast. Look at how they play. Find someone that feels right for you in Tekken 8, and just see how far you can go with them.

Tekken 8 is available now on the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC.