TEKKEN 8 Borrows Mechanics from the Dead or Alive Franchise

While more recent titles from Team NINJA such as: the anticipated Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty & critically acclaimed Nioh have not seen a lot of environment gameplay it has always been at the heart of Dead or Alive since the 90s and now TEKKEN 8 is borrowing various elements from its long-term rival.

Harada has also made sure to mention early on that this mechanic is not just for visual flair but will expand the stages as well and that environments will also play a vital role in the gameplay itself like DOA always has. What other fighters can you mention that have gone out of their way to go the extra mile with visual design and scale of a level?

This sort of inspiration makes the community wonder if we will see a special guest Dead or Alive character such as Kasumi or Ryu Hayabusa someday. Fans of both series have wanted to see some type of collaboration for years and with announcements like this, we could be edging closer to that; not to say it will happen by any means.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1602091724658155521

Spectators want a cinematic experience and players want more than to just fight on a boring square ring and with this announcement we now can say that DOA was twenty-four years ahead of the competition in some regard. Harada is now tasked at finding the perfect balance of how damage will scale. Sometimes DOA did struggle with this depending on the title you would play. Can a stage fall or explosion KO? Should it KO? How much damage will each environment do to the receiving opponent?

Dead or Alive 6 was all over the place when it came to answering these questions and it was received with a mixed reception by players, but Dead or Alive 5 did just about everything right even if some fighters wanted the 'Danger Zone' stage banned. What happens with TEKKEN 8 is still a mystery, but my guess is Harada will borrow a few more environmental destruction ideas from the DOA franchise and we will keep you updated on this if they do.

My personal opinion is that I completely stand up and applaud Harada for finally pulling the trigger on environment damage and seeing the importance and engagement it can bring to a fight.

 

A very-well writing content and yet interesting, I do like to think that Tekken 8 is using stage hazards from DOA series and doing with its game roots.

 

A very-well writing content and yet interesting, I do like to think that Tekken 8 is using stage hazards from DOA series and doing with its game roots.

It'll be interesting to see Harada's take on environment dmg. I'm a believer that it should kill, but IIR there were certain situations that wouldn't kill like rolling down the stairs in DOA4. I think I'm right on that.

 

I guess this was the next thing for Harada to learn after finding out that boobs do in fact move (even if it wasn't DOA that convinced him and it had to take one or a group of secretive underground programmers to sneak it into T5 before a real female fighter told him the bitter truth).

Hmm, while destructible environments (well, basically just breakable walls/floors iirc) aren't new to Tekken, I have to say the moment in particular in the trailer just somehow looks way too much like it does in DOA5. I wonder how Tekken fans who don't like DOA would feel about that...

I posted this comparison video before but I'll put it here because it shows the comparison really well, for anyone who hasn't seen it:

What DOA ultimately became in its own unique way started with DOA2 because of the direction that VF3 decided to go. You could almost see Tekken and DOA as two different children or disciples of the VF series that took two very different routes based on what they learned from the granddaddy of 3D FGs. But when Tekken tried the same kind of thing with T4, they left it at that one game and called it the black sheep of the series. It would be really surprising if they're going back to any ideas similar to that "black sheep" and how modern Tekken fans would feel about it (as a Tekken fan, I liked T4, so I'd be fine with it).

But then there's also speculation I'm seeing going in the total opposite direction, where people think T8 is going "2D", or more accurately I guess, 2-way-run, lmao. I find that hard to believe, but based what we've seen so far, it's not crazy. Anything is possible I guess.

Personally, this kind of stage interaction and stage design aspects are actually my least favorite kind in the DOA series, if I think about it. I like slopes, hurdles, stairs, balconies/windows, and falls more, but I have to say that the ones that blow up and send you into the sky are like the most classic of Danger Zones going back to DOA1.

Though... correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most competitive FG players want their stages to be as flat or square-like as possible? Even wall-less? Even distraction-less? It's why the most popular form of competitive smash is (was?) said to be "2 players only, no items, Final Destination". It's partly why some people keep picking those bland, empty training stages to fight in. It's probably another reason why some competitive fans of other FGs can't get into DOA, though I can't remember ever having seen it come up as a serious complaint.

I'm the opposite, I think DOA's stage designs since DOA2 helped make DOA feel like it was part of the future of FGs, ahead of the curve, while other FGs were sticking to the past for far too long, looking for innovation in stuff like meters instead and keeping to flat, geometric and symmetrical, or endless stages. DOA's fights in various stages can feel the most like realistic (albeit crazy) street fights more than in any other FG, imo. Let's see how far Tekken goes, maybe exploding walls will be the extent of its evolution in stage design.

 

It'll be interesting to see Harada's take on environment dmg. I'm a believer that it should kill, but IIR there were certain situations that wouldn't kill like rolling down the stairs in DOA4. I think I'm right on that.

DOA4 removed stage edge/fall kill hazards. DOA5 made it so only rolling falls don't kill.

 

The way I manifested this one.... I called it in a profile post months ago!!!

SaihateDYNAMO

www.freestepdodge.com

But anyways, Tekken has a long history of “”borrowing”” things from both VF and DOA. I didn’t think it would be so blatant this time though lol... that explosion in T8 is literally the exact same thing as the Scramble skyscraper danger zone

 

The way I manifested this one.... I called it in a profile post months ago!!!

SaihateDYNAMO

www.freestepdodge.com

But anyways, Tekken has a long history of “”borrowing”” things from both VF and DOA. I didn’t think it would be so blatant this time though lol... that explosion in T8 is literally the exact same thing as the Scramble skyscraper danger zone

Yes, you called it, but I still believe most fighting games borrow from one another and give their take accordingly.

 

Tekken has had stage transitions as far back as T6, an exploding wall is a new gimmick for them I think... but not exactly a game changer by any stretch, and I doubt it will be a major part of the gameplay. It will probably just be a single spot in a stage or two and that will be it. The last time they went ham with the environment was T4, and it did them no favors among their base.

 

so funny how doa has been doing this kind of thing for years, but almost never gets the credit it rightfully deserves when it comes to the stage designs and danger zones.

 

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1642180037427318785

 

Not surprised they brought back dirt effects from TTT2, TTT2 was worse imo since the dirt effect eventually disappeared but it was still dynamic, hopefully in Tekken 7 they do what DOA does with their dirt effects but it seems like they are.

I also hope they'll overhaul the sweat from T7, in that game they made it apply only to if you were taking damage, but I feel it should gradually appear