3. The Return of “Bounds”
Introduced in Tekken 6, a Bound hit slams an airborne opponent to the ground and stuns them so combos can be extended. Walled arenas are also plentiful for continuing combos off of walls, should you pressure an opponent into one. Executing combos effectively has been a mainstay in the franchise, so this should come as no surprise to anyone. With two characters working with and off of each other’s moves, combined with bounds, the hits should pile up. Namco has worked hard on balancing the game and will continue to do so. Just keep in mind abusive infinite combos or game-breaking ones seem unlikely.
4. Stage Gimmicks
On certain stages, if you knock someone through a wall or off an edge, the fight will continue in a new area. What’s different about this is you don’t lose the round/get ringed out, and if you do combo somebody into a new area, your tag partner is waiting there to continue the combo, something previously impossible in Tekken 6. Knowing the stages and being aware of your surroundings while fighting is always important in Tekken. With the potential of round-ending combos and Tag-Ins, utilizing stages or at least neutralizing your opponent’s ability to do so will be a big part of winning consistently. Mastering your characters is step one; how they work together is step two; and the final piece is what their advantages/disadvantages are depending on the stage selected.
