- While I was having my fair share of fun playing Tekken 8, I realized I had started getting stressed about the ranked mode.
- Amidst this problem, I installed the Tranquility mod, and before I knew it, my ranked matches were fun again.
- The mod hid my rank and my opponent's, effectively helping me not get stressed while enjoying the overall experience.
While I do love all genres of games out there, fighting games is the one category I keep coming back to time and time again. Be it the recently released Tekken 8 (review) or last year’s Street Fighter 6, I love them all. After finishing Tekken 8’s main story, I started playing the game’s ranked mode for an unhealthy amount of time. Sadly, like any other ranked game, the fun was slowly sucked out of it. While a part of me did expect it because of the competitive nature of ranked games, I didn’t figure it would be so quickly.
Totally unaware of how to fix this, I started browsing the Internet. It was on one lucky day that I chanced upon an X post talking about a Tekken 8 mod called Tranquility. Seemingly simple at first sight, the mod helped me drastically improve my Tekken 8 experience. So what is the mod, and how did it help make Tekken 8 fun again? Let’s talk about that.
What Is the Tranquility Mod in Tekken 8?
While you would think the tranquility mod in Tekken 8 would fix something like connection woes or even bad texture, it does something much different: It turns off the player ranks. Let me explain.
Whenever you play ranked matches in Tekken 8, you get introduced to your opponent with their rank. Depending on who you’re fighting, your enemy might be above or below two/three ranks compared to you. At the end of the match, you also get a rank bar that shows how many points above/below you’ve gone in your placement. At its core, the tranquility mod in Tekken 8 turns these indicators off, thereby removing the urgency and the added pressure.
Do note that despite removing the ranks, the mod keeps all other essential information you require to win or lose your engagements. This left a lot of room for me to play my ranked matches peacefully without having the added pressure of seeing the levels go up and down.
Tranquility Improved My Ranked Matches by a Margin
As someone who doesn’t handle stress well, I usually prefer to stick to open world games instead of multiplayer experiences. However, the one place where I make an exception is ranked fighting matches. Simply put, the dopamine rush I get from outsmarting my opponent is undeniable.
However, the flip side of ranked matches is the constant overthinking and rumination when I see my ranks change. I always felt unwanted pressure to prove that I was a good Tekken player. This was made worse by Tekken 8’s real-time ranking system, thereby ruining the experience.
This was until I installed and used the tranquility mod above. After getting it and playing a few matches, I realized that I started worrying less about losing matches and started focusing on the actual fight. This has increased my focus, and I now open up Tekken 8 much more enthusiastically to learn my match-ups. Playing Asuka has never been more fun!
More Games Could Use Some Tranquility
The tranquility mod made me realize that more game developers should add the feature of hiding ranks or other competitive indicators. While the more sweaty gamers among you would disagree, I believe it helps players who want the challenge of ranking without the added worry.
I’ll close my rant by thanking Koenji for making something like this and helping me enjoy Tekken 8. If you’re in the same boat, get the Tekken 8 Tranquility mod and join me in making your ranked experience less stressful.
Did you end up installing the mod in Tekken 8? Let us know about your experience in the comments below!
