A brand new season is upon us in Tekken 7, and with that, there comes a lot of changes to the game, not just on a cosmetic level but the entire gameplay and roster as well! Season 2 welcomes brand new mechanics such as the new wall bounce, buffs for various characters, promotion of move diversity, along with the obvious balance changes that are necessary to keep the game fun. First, let’s take a closer look into the new wall bounce mechanic as that heavily alters the gameplay in a major way, adding a new method of combo potential for Tekken players.

In Tekken 7 season 2, one of the more defining changes made to the game is the introduction of the wall bounce mechanic, allowing players to diversify their options in terms of damage and addressing the somewhat limited combo system from the previous season. In season 1, players could rack up damage optimally from midscreen, which encouraged players to maintain their neutral game and wait for openings to extend their damage. Players who were close to the wall couldn’t really produce any significant threat and this in fact diminished the damage potentiality, so therefore the grounded opponent could easily make their escape.

With the wall bounce mechanic now in place, the aggressor now has the advantage and can punish the cornered opponent severly for any mistakes, which adds even more pressure and increased damage over time. While the new mechanic will certainly benefit some characters more over others, having this new universal mechanic in place will now encourage players to find new creative ways to maintain consistent pressure after a knockdown and ensure that their damage is rightfully earned.

In Tekken 7 season 1, players took advantage of the pushback when using either ground stomps or lows which gave the aggressor a safe approach, and created a hard time for those on the defense to properly punish. In season 2, that’s all changed as pushback on ground stomps and lows have been decreased so that now players on the defensive can successfully punish the opponent should they be overzealous with certain moves on block. Regarding pushback on hit, this has been decreased as well, which now gives the game a more aggressive oriented approach and greatly rewards the player for making the right decision. Hitbox changes have also seen a change as now the hitbox on a lot of moves has been transferred downward, which doesn’t help supplement evasion tactics or stances but provides Tekken 7 with a more well-rounded feel and less sporadic.

Every character is now much stronger but most importantly, characters who previously weren’t as spectacular in season 1 have now received buffs to help increase their fighting potential, and with that this allows for players to now incorporate more moves into their toolset for more diversity during bouts. For example, if a character was known for having a certain abusable move, that has been toned down and now their more situational moves have been buffed to encourage move diversity. While this certainly adds a lot more complexity to the cast of the characters, it will now encourage players to be more creative on the fly, and make for a more interesting fight at a high level! With that being said, the more technical characters such as Yoshimitsu, the Mishima family, and Steve are now rewarded, which gives credence to the fact that Bandai Namco wants to reward players who put in the work, since these characters require a lot more dexterity than the vast majority of the cast.

Players who take to the online portion of Tekken 7 season 2 will notice a few changes made to the ranking system, which will make finding players to fight against much easier. Not only that but this will allow you to have a much more consistent experience in terms of connection, as before in season 1, players found it frustrating to always be paired with opponents with poor connections, or that they’d be paired up with an opponent of higher ranking than them. This has all been modified and now players can adjust their settings accordingly in the rank mode menu, so please take advantage of this if you’re looking to have a more satisfying experience online.

As with any new season to any fighting game, there comes the addition of character customization options, and in Tekken 7 season 2 there’s a lot more to choose from! Now you can go crazy and really personalize your favorite character with more outrageous items, and even change your player tag for when you play online.

Of course we can’t leave without mentioning the addition (or rather return) of both Anna and Lei, two highly requested fighters that are now officially playable in season 2! While there are a plethora of balance changes done to each character, that would need to be completed in another separate article since there’s a ton to look over. We do encourage you though to dive deep into the game and seek out these changes for yourself, and take your character to the next level with all of the new additions introduced in season 2! For official patch notes for each individual character, be sure to check out the official Tekken 7 website. Get ready for the NEXT BATTLE!