"Try your best and don't be afraid to compete": CherryBerryMango on playing competitively, Red Bull Golden Letters, Heihachi, and more (Exclusive)

Jae-Hyun Kim, better known as “CherryBerryMango” is one of the select few invited to the Red Bull Golden Letters tournament. A prestigious event, it will feature some of the greatest Tekken 8 players on the planet, alongside a group of players who made their way through the open qualifiers. Taking place between September 28-29, 2024, it promises to be a memorable tournament.

We spoke to CherryBerryMango about a variety of topics, such as the Red Bull Golden Letters tournament itself, the balance of Tekken 8, and how he’s feeling about the DLC characters—including the upcoming Heihachi Mishima.

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CherryBerryMango opens up about Tekken 8, Red Bull Golden Letters, Heihachi, and more

Q. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! Would you mind introducing yourself to our audience?

CherryBerryMango: Hello, I’m Jae-hyun "CherryBerryMango" Kim from South Korea. I’m a professional TEKKEN player for KWANGDONG FREECS.

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Q. You’re heading into a tournament with multiple EVO World Champions, as well as other noteworthy players. Even you have a long history of excellent TEKKEN performances as well. With this in mind, how do you prepare for a tournament of this style?

CherryBerryMango: I’m excited to compete against all the professionals and invited players at Red Bull Golden Letters. However, as the tournament has a small pool of players, I can only watch the previous pros competing online to help me prepare—I have no insight on the open qualifier players yet!

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Q. Are there any players you’re particularly looking forward to battling in the tournament this week?

CherryBerryMango: Personally, I’m looking forward to competing against major international players like Yagami and Arslan Ash. Competing against Yagami, I’ve never played at such a high level against Reina, and I’m also looking forward to going up against Arslan Ash again. I lost against him at EVO 2024 but I’ve developed some new strategies since then that I’m interested in trying out.

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Q. You’ve had a number of successes this year with Jin Kazama, but how have the DLC characters—Eddy and Lidia—felt to you? And with the impending arrival of Heihachi Mishima, do any of those three catch your interest, when it comes to using them in competition?

CherryBerryMango: Playing as Lidia and Eddy were not of much interest to me, so I’ve focused instead on learning how to fight against these characters. However, Heihachi Mishima is a bit different and I’m a big fan of using Mishimas. So to have one more Mishima character is quite exciting to me. I can’t say that I’m planning to use him for tournaments, but it’s something I want to try.

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Q. As someone who competed in TEKKEN 7, how is TEKKEN 8 feeling for you so far? Are the changes to balance and game mechanics improvements, would you say?

CherryBerryMango: TEKKEN 8 has more tools and mechanics to better support players with an aggressive play style. Before TEKKEN 8, I felt that TEKKEN had lots of defensive tools like back dash and side step, which gave passive players a better advantage and chance at winning.

Now, however, TEKKEN 8 has added mechanics like chip damage, heat system, and power crush, which makes for more dramatic and interesting plays.

Q. Despite the success of TEKKEN 8, there’s always room for improvement. Where would you say the game’s weaknesses are, that could be improved by the developers?

CherryBerryMango: Recently, a lot of tournaments’ grand finals have featured Sergei Dragunov. While I don’t want to say the character is broken, I’ve seen casual players saying that Dragunov would benefit from some adjustments.

To complement the aggressive play styles of the heat system, I think it would be great to incorporate something like a heat gauge or a new system to help players get out of these situations. Dominating the game through aggression is great, but I think if opponents have an opportunity to escape that would make for more enjoyable and exciting gameplay.

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Q. It can be incredibly frustrating to be a fighting game player, trying to make their mark and show the world what they can do. Do you think these kinds of open-invitation tournaments are a strong way for a player to exhibit their skills?

CherryBerryMango: I think tournaments like Red Bull Golden Letters create opportunities to gain more experience and can boost their visibility as they have better chances for their skills to be captured on stream.

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Q. How has TEKKEN 8’s balance been so far? Are there characters, this late into the year that still stand out as too strong, or perhaps too weak?

CherryBerryMango: I think the balance of the TEKKEN 8 characters has been quite controversial. I believe most professional players have similar thoughts on who the top four or five characters are, which shows a very clear difference in character balance that I hope is revised soon.

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Q. As an experienced fighting game player, you’re probably aware that many fans would love to take that first step from just being a casual player, to a pro. Any advice on how players can start making those steps?

CherryBerryMango: I wasn’t always a professional gamer, so competing in and trying my hand at lots of different tournaments helped me to have faith in myself. So my advice would be to try your best and don’t hesitate to compete.

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Q. As you get ready for the next battle, do you have any final words for your fans as you go into the Red Bull Golden Letters tournament?

CherryBerryMango: It’s a big honor to be invited to such a big event, and I want to show through competing how much I enjoy the tournament. Thank you for all the support as always.

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The Red Bull Golden Letters tournament will take place on September 28-29, on Twitch and YouTube. You can find more of CherryBerryMango on Twitch, YouTube, and X.