Tekken’s Harada hints at new play side-swapping mechanic 

Katsuhiro Harada continues to impart his Tekken wisdom to fans; this time regarding the franchise’s ability to allow two people to play from the same side perspectives. Replying to a social media post from X user jermaine611, Harada comments that while the feature was something he wanted since Tekken 6, its inclusion in Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 has caused problems in offline competitions. With this in mind, Harada and the rest of the Tekken development team are working on adding an option that allows players to randomly choose their side in matches. 

Most 2D and 3D fighting games have each player controlling their character from a specific side of the screen. However, Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 are unique in that they allow players to pick which side they want to play on regardless of what the other player chooses. This means that two opposing players can both play on the Player 1 (i.e. the left) side without worrying about adjusting their inputs. While this makes it easier for players to keep their inputs consistent, Harada recognizes that sharing the same screen in an offline tournament, or switching sides in the middle of a fight, can put some players in extremely uncomfortable situations. 

Tekken 7 and 8 currently ask players which of the two sides (left or right) they prefer before choosing their characters and stages. While this option is welcome for most players, those who want to practice playing both sides have no easy option to do so. The only way this is possible is by opting out of the character select screen and choosing the preferred side manually. The developers most likely aim to add a “Random” or “Either” option to the side select screen that will remove the need to return to it after every match. 

Some people have voiced their support for Harada’s planned improvements as they will help stop newer players from forming bad habits. Others reminded players that they should be practicing combos from both sides of the screen because it is inevitable that you will end up switching at some point during a match.  

What’s interesting is that there are a few commenters who talk about losing matches if they happen to end up on the side they are not used to playing on. This further emphasizes the point Harada made about being able to choose sides and the importance of adding new side options in the future. While Tekken 8 will undoubtedly get this new feature, here’s hoping it will be added to Tekken 7 as well.