Gaming

The best Tekken 8 characters for beginners

Tekken has a history of being difficult to get into and even harder to master. There is a level of mysticism around it, but we believe you can get into it, so let’s find the character for you.

By Yassin Hussein

5 min readPublished on 02/26/2024 · 3:55 PM UTC

Tekken’s large cast is part of why it’s gained a reputation for being hard to get into. Each has their own large move list to worry about. The fear of having to deal with the entire cast’s array of options is daunting, but everyone mostly sticks to their bread and butter normals and strings. So don’t worry.

Learning a character from this list doesn’t mean you have to know each and every one of their tools and how to apply them, just that you get a basic grasp of what the character wants to do, and how to threaten the opponent with a few simple mix ups or poke options.

Jin Kazama

In previous entries, Jin might have topped the list of characters to AVOID as a beginner, but Bandai Namco has done a lot of work to make him an easy character to play.

Jin now has amazing range on his most important normals in neutral. DF1 is a great mid poke that strings naturally into DF1,4. He also has B3,1 to whiff punish in neutral. He has amazing lows like D2 which swipes across the ground and tornadoes the opponent for a combo on counter hit.

He has access to the Mishima style of mixup with his Breaking Step. You previously had to hit a frame perfect input to do the best version of his electric uppercuts, but while in the brand new Heat mode, you will get the powered-up versions regardless of inputs. He can also do them out of his stance to get them without Heat or a perfect input.

Jin’s punish game has become much more accessible in Tekken 8, since many of his moves no longer require difficult execution to pull off.

Jin is for players who enjoy well-rounded characters. He has no notable weaknesses and can do most of everything. As you grow with the game, Jin’s gameplan will become more complete and accessible.

Asuka Kazama

Asuka is great for beginners who are looking for a slower, cleaner style. She has great jab strings to frustrate the opponent into pressing buttons and playing aggressive. When opponents are flailing in neutral, her great whiff punishing comes into play with F2.

She has strong plus frame enforcement with FF1, and a great 4 kick (a.k.a. Magic 4) to crumple her opponent on counter hit and get into Heat mode from there. Asuka has a great parry game and has moves such as Tsubaki that can blow up mashing and give her a full combo.

After showing off her strong options against offensive play, Asuka can use that new freedom to poke with her lows and further frustrate her opponent into making mistakes that she can capitalize on, or she can set up her install to bolster her punishes.

Naniwa Gusto is her new install in Tekken 8. She gains it from many of her combo enders. In Heat, she always has her install available, similarly to Jin’s electrics. This install buffs many of her moves’ combo potential, damage, and frame data.

If you want to play a character that builds up a solid gameplan through parrying and frustrating the opponent, Asuka might be for you.

Feng Wei

Feng is a pressure monster that will terrify opponents and make them second guess their natural response to basic situations. He has built in checks to counter jabs and ducking, making his basic jab strings very strong.

He is very evasive with moves like UB2, which pushes the opponent far and makes it unpunishable on block if they do respect it. B3 has amazing range and is plus 6 on block, pushes him forward and leaves him in the opponent’s face.

Many of his moves place him into his back-facing stance which gives him great mixup potential. He has another stance, Kenpo, that gives him amazing evasion and get him out of trouble. This stance also gives him great Heat engagers and strong offensive options.

Feng has great low launchers that give him a full combo. He has a safe on block mid launcher that complements his strong offense.

If you want to overpower your opponent with strong offense and learn a thing or two about stances, Feng is your character.

Honourable Mentions

Claudio Serafino

Claudio is a character with a strong neutral presence and good punish game against people pressing buttons. Moves like B1 make people think twice about backdashing or side stepping his offense.

Claudio lacks gimmicky strings and will help you learn timing and spacing with his simple normals and strings. Some of his moves give him a power up (Starburst), similarly to Asuka’s install.

Alisa Bosconovitch

Alisa is a character that moves around a lot. Her movement is great, and she can use that movement to create an aggressive playstyle. She summons the chainsaws in her Destruction stance to keep her offense going.

She has great damage and takes immense advantage of Heat. She has great lows to poke and pepper the opponent with small damage to build up to her strong offense through D3 and D4. She has a great string off D4 into a high that naturally strings.

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