Why Tekken is Widely Considered the Hardest Fighting Game to Master
As a hardcore Tekken specialist and content creator, I‘m constantly investigating why Bandai Namco‘s flagship fighting series has developed its legendary reputation for being arguably the most difficult fighter to excel at. For newcomer and veteran alike, Tekken demands a higher skill floor and ceiling than any other major fighter I‘ve experienced. After breaking down community perceptions, analyzing top player sentiments, and drawing from my own struggles in climbing the Tekken rankings, I‘ve highlighted the core reasons below on why mastery seems so elusive, even for established fighting game gods:
Huge Movelists: 200-500+ Moves Per Character
The first monumental learning curve Tekken presents is the positively massive movelists each of its 50+ characters boast. While the average 2D fighting game roster provides around 30-50 moves per character, the typical Tekken fighter has between 200 to 500+ moves at their disposal!
To throw out some examples:
- Kazuya has over 260 moves
- Nina has around 270
- Newcomer Leroy has a whopping 350+ moves
- Mishimas have 100+ moves just for their wavedash mixups!
And seasoned players will utilize a significant proportion of these moves once they identify which strikes, throws, and stances flow together most optimally to lock opponents down. I regularly reference community movelists to memorize new attack options.
"So much time goes into just learning matchups and defense. People don‘t realize how hard Tekken is with the amount of moves for each character. It‘s not something where you can just get good in a couple months – you gotta constantly grind it out." – Anakin (2x EVO Champ)
This gigantic movelist learning curve naturally breeds incredibly nuanced layers of mind games. Top players leverage obscure niche moves at optimal moments, leading to unpredictable mixes of lows/mids/highs that leave minimal reaction time. There‘s immense reward from truly knowing your character inside-out.
Execution Barriers: Precise Inputs
On top of expansive movelists, many characters introduce demanding execution barriers requiring precise directional inputs to unleash their most threatening abilities. Let‘s overview some prime examples:
Mishima ‘Electric Wind God Fist‘ – Consists of a forward input followed by a clean down/forward electric motion. Essential punishment tool but requires dexterity to input cleanly under pressure.
Nina‘s ‘Butterfly Loops‘ Juggle – Famous combo staple where precise qcf+Punch inputs juggle the opponent. New players often drop this input when nerves kick in.
Backdash Cancel – Must quickly KBD by inputting b,b~n repetitively. Top movement technique but tough execution.
‘Just Frame‘ moves – 1-2 framers like Heihachi‘s OTGF require utterly flawless input timing to unlock their true potential.
Many report struggling with EWGF motions or consistently landing Heihachi‘s 1-frame Electric Wind God Fist. These barriers push intermediate players to invest months drilling inputs for competitive viability with their main, ultimately extending Tekken‘s skill curve.
Sidestepping/Movement – Key for 3D Fighter
Since its 1994 debut, the 3D plane has always been central to Tekken‘s identity compared to 2D fighters like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Sidestepping and lateral movement are essential, but introduce yet another technical layer to internalize on top of blocking, attacking, baiting, whiff punishing and securing max damage through juggle combos.
Some key examples of how 3D movement interacts with other Tekken mechanics:
Sidestep crucial strikes to land your own whiff punishes
Absorb mix-ups by sidewalking left/right
Backdash out of throw range
Use lateral movement to realign combo screw attacks
Whiff hop kicks or orbitals to catch sidestep attempts
Many newcomer struggles originate from neglecting the lateral plane and being too comfortable blocking on the 2D axis. But true mastery requires proficient and purposeful sidestepping to simultaneously avoid damage while threatening from all angles. It‘s incredibly mentally taxing managing this extra dimension alongside all other in-fight considerations.
Matchup Knowledge Across 50+ Fighters
While many fighters field rosters around 20-30 characters, Tekken 7 boasts 50+ unique fighters with more still likely to come. And wildcard guest additions like Akuma or Geese introduce completely foreign mechanics to contend with!
Considering the movelist size per character, that means Tekken demands internalizing:
10,000+ unique attacks
1000+ abilities easily punishable if you don‘t know the matchup
50+ styles requiring tailored responses per character
The knowledge checks are immense! To have tournament success, players grind endless matches memorizing optimal responses to dragon tails, AOP mixups, warp strikes, sword sweeps and more niche abilities other fighters don‘t bring to the table.
"I feel like 79% of Tekken is knowing matches. The rest comes from execution and movement." – Fergus (Tekken content creator)
Yomi Layers – Next Level Mind Games
All this expansion on movelists, input execution, and matchup knowledge breeds monumental layers of mind games and mixup potential during competitive play at the highest level. Players are continuously evaluating risk, baiting errors, recognizing patterns in the opponent‘s neutral game, and leveraging obscure niche attacks from 500 move movelists to catch each other off guard.
Top level Tekken sees players desperately trying to stay a step ahead of each other while navigating:
- Opponent‘s attack/throw mixup selection
- Likely follow-up choices if a strike lands clean
- Escape options if launched airborne
- Escape failures if combo enders catch escape attempts
- Safest options when regaining footing pressure locked down
The sheer fighting IQ and conditioning involved creates immense yomi layers rarely glimpsed in other fighting game genres. It‘s equally terrifying and captivating to watch unfold!
In summary – Bandai Namco has crafted the ultimate weapons-based chess match in Tekken 7. But solving its immense knowledge checks, execution tests, and mixup potential requires truly unprecedented levels of dedication compared to any other fighter.
After thousands of hours and matches myself, I‘ve barely scratched the surface skill wise. But that‘s part of the appeal – the pursuit of mastery seems endless. Hopefully this deep dive has provided some guidance on why successfully climbing the Tekken ranked ladder is considered a monumental feat even within the greater FGC. Keep striving to level up your lateral movement, match up knowledge, mental stack and input execution – and one day we may cross fists atop the Tekken God Prime altar.
