The next Season 1 character for TEKKEN 8 is out now for early access, and releases on July 25th, 2024 officially. Lidia Sobieska is a returning character first introduced in TEKKEN 7 who is a master of traditional Karate.
Here's what Namco Bandai had to say via Xbox Wire:
As one of the next-generation leaders of the world, she is gathering forces capable of countering the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation. While upholding the motto “never yield to unjust power,” she also believes that mere ideals cannot protect people. She seeks ways to bring even those tainted by unjust power back to the right path. At times, she even reforms those who were once adversaries, hastening the planning of strategies and the strengthening of forces in preparation for the impending decisive battle.
With Lidia’s strong history in Tekken, we had a great foundation for her character development and wanted to share some behind the scenes details on how we continued building on her move sets within Tekken 8.
The Beauty of Karate Forms, Simplified Controls
In Tekken 8, Lidia aims to deliver the experience of “penetrating an opponent’s defence with powerful attacks,” a hallmark of karate. Her signature move, the ‘Seikenzuki,’ is imbued with unparalleled penetrating power. The overall action has been renewed with a focus on “more realistically recreating traditional karate” and “making various forms effective in real combat.”
Combined with the movements of Karate expert Tatsuya Naka, who served as the motion actor, the game achieves a more authentic representation of karate techniques. We previously received feedback on the controls as ‘having too many stances and complex moves that were hard to memorize,’ so we have restructured the stances to make them easier to learn and to execute.
Upgrading Lidia’s Stances
In the Tekken 7, Lidia’s stance transition techniques had to hit the opponent to maintain the stance and continue the attack, often resulting in single, standalone actions. Therefore, in Tekken 8, stance transitions can occur even if the attack is blocked, allowing for a more continuous offensive. This change enables her to execute more complex mind games against blocking opponents, particularly from the “Horse Stance,” which has been reworked from the previous “Cat Stance,” against the opponent’s standing guard to feature more aggressive techniques.
Additionally, during Heat she can utilize the extremely powerful “Heaven and Earth” stance, and some Seikenzuki attacks gain a reversal break effect. Therefore, during Heat, Lidia can aggressively use her Seikenzuki without fear of the opponent’s power crush or parry techniques, showcasing the essence of karate.
A Unique Power-up Feature
Lidia also has a unique element called the ‘Heaven and Earth level.’ This is a special characteristic that allows her to power up as she shifts to ‘Heaven and Earth level,’ a trait that other characters do not possess. This level persists across rounds, so broadly speaking, she becomes stronger as the match progresses into the later rounds. Endurance battles are her specialty, so this expresses her patience and mental strength in the face of adversity in battle.
Emphasizing A Traditional Karate Gi Style
To highlight the forms of karate, we decided from the beginning to continue with the karate gi style in this instalment. While the gi imposes certain design limitations, we focused on enhancing the “traditional” elements and keeping the attire as neat as possible to distinguish it from the previous instalment.
The evolution of cloth simulation, which handles the physics of fabric, allowed us to effectively express the gi’s loose impression and the wrinkles that accompany movements within her design in Tekken 8. This advancement in technology is also a key reason for adopting this design.
One more point related to design: we put great effort into the presentation of Lidia’s Rage Arts. In her Rage Arts, we expressed Lidia’s determination to fight for her country as the Prime Minister of Poland. The pure white space that appears during activation symbolizes Lidia’s sense of justice, while the red eagle represents Poland. This contrast of white and red is inspired by the colors of the Polish flag. The words displayed are “Ludzie,” “Pokój,” and “Uczciwość” in Polish, which mean “People,” “Peace,” and “Integrity” in sequence.
Get ready for the next battle with Lidia Sobieska when she releases on July 26, and check out for yourself the powerful karate moves implemented within Tekken 8!
TEKKEN 8 is currently available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on PC
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