TEKKEN Overview
Fighting games are often described as being a push and pull between three main factors of play.
They are:
Knowledge of the Game - what you know to be true about the game. The data.
Ability and Execution - your own ability to execute a combo or command
Emotion and Feel - an abstract representation of keeping composure
The way you play and the the things the game you're playing demand from you can be represented here, and every design choice in a fighting game helps aid or takes away from one or more of these factors. Ideally a game should require a good balance of each, but the individual preference is what makes such vast amounts of fighting games possible and interesting.
Some extremes:
Divekick, the two button fighter, is almost entirely "emotional" requiring next to no knowledge of the game or dextrous ability.
Toribash is a strange example, but that would be the extreme for "knowledge" as it is a turn-based fighter that is notoriously hard to control and program moves into.
Melty Blood and many other anime fighters have characters with exceptionally difficult inputs. This represents the "ability" portion of the split.
Back to TEKKEN
So when thinking about all the games I love to play and the way I love to play them, I realized that, personally, I enjoyed the "feeling" aspect of fighters, one where the interplay between players counts for a lot, and pace control is everything. TEKKEN is able to scratch that itch better than any other game.
There is an immortal ideal in every TEKKEN game:
"It doesn't matter how much damage your combos do if you can't land the hit."
So What Does TEKKEN Feel Like?
TEKKEN is a fast-paced game, with games not lasting much longer than 2 and a half minutes on average. The longest possible game is 5 minutes. It's a battle to control pace and execute your character's game plan in the face of your opponent and theirs. It's 3D, and players who utilise this freedom of movement do best.
For a game this fast you might imagine defensive options must be bad and you're not entirely wrong. They're simply harder to use and adapt to than traditional fighters, but there are trade-offs. As defense is specific and at times difficult, good defense is rewarded highly, as big damage comes from moves that are slow.
Hell, the fastest move in TEKKEN is 10 frames with a few very specific exceptions. 1/6th of the second is the absolute fastest 95% of the cast can do their fastest move. For references, the jabs in Street Fighter V are 3 to 4 frames, with even faster moves making their way into past entries.
TEKKEN is a game about time and wagering it against your opponent. Combos will be cemented into your brain, knowledge of the matchup is how you climb and improve, but when you reach a high enough level, it's all emotion. And because everything is a big investment of time and spacing and precision, the emotional highs and lows are incredible.