It’s a day of celebration for many a Tekken player, as one of the series’ most popular characters — the awesome looking Armor King — has arrived as the latest DLC fighter in Tekken 8.
In some ways, Armor King’s highly anticipated return is the shot in the arm that Bandai Namco’s brawler has been begging for. You may recall that the title’s been under a lot of scrutiny for months now, with the big Season 2 update drawing a lot of criticism when it dropped back in April.
Since then, the development team has implemented various changes in an attempt to get hardcore fans back onside, and to be fair, some of the adjustments have made a difference. In short, Tekken 8 is no longer in the borderline disastrous state that Season 2 brought about.
But there are still plenty of concerns over the game’s balance, as evidenced by the mostly negative reaction to the latest patch notes, which have accompanied Armor King’s release.
Many were hoping for broader balance changes via this update, Patch 2.06 — but it mainly just addresses a number of slightly buggy interactions.
While Bandai Namco had never promised any kind of overhaul, the developer did previously state that it wouldn’t be addressing the balance of Tekken 8 ahead of key competitive events — like Evo, or this past weekend’s Evo France.
Obviously, though, both of those tournaments are now done and dusted — and so the criticism is coming from a growing lack of patience. Basically, the argument is that a proper rethink of Tekken 8 has been needed since Season 2 was implemented — and we’re still waiting.
Now that Armor King is out, we would hope that Bandai Namco’s attention will turn towards the long-awaited adjustments. After all, making absolutely sure that everything’s settled down ahead of the Tekken World Tour finals, which are set for the end of January 2026, will be key to the game’s health.
What are your thoughts on Tekken 8 right now? Are you playing Armor King? What do you think the game’s future looks like? Leave some balancing ideas in the comments section below.
Robert (or Rob if you’re lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his true passion. The Witcher, Persona, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Trails, Tales — he’s played ’em all. A little too much, some might say.