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With the vast majority ofTekken 8’senormous 32-character roster being occupied by returning and familiar faces, it’s nice to see newcomers fit in seamlessly to the legendary and storied cast. This is precisely the case for the mysterious Reina, a crucial element in The Dark Awakens mode, which sees her use Mishima-Style Fighting Karate and Taidō to demolish her opposition.
While there are answers to her alluring mystique at the end of The Dark Awakens' story and her own personal Character Episode, the fact remains that she is a fierce and formidable opponent. And, with proper guidance and some training, you can be the one making people regret squaring off against you in the arena!
Reina Overview
Despite utilizingMishima-Style Fighting Karateto its fullest potential,Reina plays much differently than the likes of Jin or Kazuyathanks to herTaidōtraining, which opens her move list up quite substantially, despite her being an entirely new character to the series. - Even if some of her moves are borrowed from the most iconic members of Tekken.
Due to these blends of fighting styles,Reina has access to several stances,making hera bit tricky to get the hang ofin the early goings, but once everything clicks, you will realize she is a force to be reckoned with. She’shyperaggressive and punishing and can easily overwhelm her opponentwith the slightest opening.
Furthermore, the addition of the newHeat systems and mechanicspair perfectly with Reina’s intense speed and aggression,giving her even more opportunities to apply pressure and unleash disgusting amounts of damage to anyone who stands in her way!
Reina Important Moves
As detailed above,Reina has access to a large set of movesthanks to her mastery of Mishima-Style and Taidō, making her an outlier among the newcomers. Thetable below will only cover her most crucial actions,but we still encourage you to check out her complete Move List to see everything she’s capable of!
d = Down
u = Up
b = Back
f = Forward
★ = Neutral (Don’t Press Anything)
Wind God Step
d/f 3
Reina dashes forward with a low profile, which she can chain into subsequent actions.
d/f 2
d/f 4
f★d/f 2
f 3
d 3
d 1+2
Wind Step
f★
Reina moves forward swiftly, enabling her to chain her movement into several other actions.
The table abovedemonstrates the sheer number of stances and movement options Reina hasaccess to in Tekken 8, which is one of many aspects of her gameplay that can make her a bittricky and complicatedto pick up, especially if you aren’t used to stance-heavy characters in general. Conversely, this is also whatmakes her one of the best charactersin the game, so it more than makes up for it.
Reina Combos
Now that you have learned about what makes Reina so powerful, complex, and mysterious, it’s time todive further into her playstyle and provide some combosthat demonstrate just how intense her gameplay is overall.
Reinashines at mid to close-range encountersand excels most at punishing her opposition’s mistakes. The sections below will outline her bestStandard, Counter Hit, Wall Carry, Heat, and Rage combos,covering all your bases to better grasp how she’s played!
Reina Heat And Rage Combo
Reina Closing Thoughts
Reina is an extremely overwhelming player to both play against and learn,and hermany stances and abilities that build off themare prime examples of that. While she is one of the more unique and fun characters to play, you will have to invest lots of time and effort to be proficient with her, and even then, you would likely only be scratching the surface of what she can do.
Thenew system mechanicsin Tekken 8, such asHeat, gel well with Reina’s game plan and strategy,adding even more fuel to her fire, making herblazingly fast movement and attacksthat much scarier to deal with once she gets rolling. And, as you can likely guess, it doesn’t take much for her to begin her onslaught. One small opening and her opponent is as good as dead.
Is Reina abeginner-friendlycharacter?In short, no.But that doesn’t mean you should avoid playing her altogether.Learning how to Wave Dash is easier with herthan with Kazuya and Jin, buthitting Electrics is just as strict.And herstances will trip you up at first.However, with enough practice, you should get the gist of her gameplay down rather quickly, and the rest will come naturally as you play!
We strongly urge you to master Reina’s Combo Trials first before moving on to learning her many stances, as that will give you a better grasp on how she’s played overall. While those combos are a great representation of what she’s capable of, you can get much more out of her with some time and practice!
