Tekken 8 Review: The King of Fighting Games is Back
The latest installment of the Tekken series is a masterpiece of fighting game design, offering a rich and rewarding gameplay for both casual and hardcore fans.
There were so many amazing games that were released while we were away. Our backlog is like a hidden treasure: the eternal youth of happiness. One game that caught our eye this year, though, is one of the big three fighting games, Tekken 8.
Now, I don't consider myself good at fighting games at all, but Tekken 8 is great for casual and hardcore players with all the new mechanics it has. It encourages players to get good and learn with the impressive replay feature, showing you where you went wrong and how to punish certain moves, and the helpful tutorial/practice mode to learn each character's playstyle. When jumping online, Tekken 8 makes online battles a fun experience, seeing how much you've improved and how far you can go. What is also appreciated is that if you want to focus on the main story, learn more about the character, or play local matches/Tekken ball - you can! There’s something for everyone.
When getting into the game, you’re getting stared at intensely by Kazuma, showcasing the new engine’s power. When you press start, you get introduced to an uncomplicated and direct menu. Still, the loud techno music with the “OHHHHHHHHH WOAHHH” lyrics and the constant zoom-in to Kazuma’s different parts of his body when scrolling through the menu makes this an unforgettable one, to say the least.
Gameplay and Soundtrack
Seeing the first trailer of Tekken 8 in 2022, I knew this game would be great just by the visuals and dope soundtrack. Playing the release of the game, I was right. This game comes jam-packed with 32 characters and 16 stages. Each character has a unique move list, and every stage has a unique song, wall and floor breaks, and more. It never gets old jumping into a match and seeing how vibrant the stage is. It reminds me of Super Smash Bros. and how every match always felt fresh. The only bad thing about Tekken 8 is that I miss my old characters. Where is Lei ?! What happened to my boy Bob ?! Why did they take out Armored King?! Cmon now, Tekken gods! But I’m sure they will introduce these characters again through the character pass. They did rebuild this game from the ground up, of course!
Getting into the battle, the characters introduce themselves, and the introduction becomes different if they have a history with each other. It will be them reminiscing, being angry at each other and attacking, or being silly if they have a friendship. The hits feel solid and quick, the movement feels fluid and snappy, and the sound of the design lets you know when you made such a powerful attack, or you ended up getting hit so badly that you’re about to lose. One of my favorite characters to use is Victor with his crazy teleport-style moves, like Noctis from Final Fantasy XV or the new fan favorite Reina with her powerful Mishima style.
They introduced a new gameplay mechanic called “Special Style.” It is similar to Street Fighter 6’s Modern controls, but in this case, you can switch between classic style and “Special Style” at the press of a button. You would know if it’s activated when a control menu pops up on your character’s side of the screen. I love mixing up the “Special Style“ and classic attacks, as I can do some combos better depending on the mode and character.
Rage Art is back from Tekken 7 and can also be activated with a button. It can make or break a match when used at the right moment. It is so flashy and powerful. It is one of the main things I look forward to doing in a fight. Another big thing introduced is the “heat system,” where you press R1 or the Right Bumper to activate it. You get a boost/power-up, like Dragonball Z with turning Kaio-ken or Super Saiyan. You can press the button again to make a burst attack, which is another special attack that can be mixed up with regular combos, and it is so fired when you get that to happen.
I love the stages in this game; I have some favorites, like Fallen Destiny, Ortiz Farm, and Celebration on the Scene. How each stage is made feels like it’s with a lot of love. The soundtracks are loud and explosive and change depending on if it’s the final round or the ground breaks and more. It feels very dynamic. Celebration on the Scene gets you pumped up so much because of its jazzy soundtrack. I’ve had a lot of battles with my brother on that map, and we always go back and forth with the wins.
When you lose, you get up and try and try again, practice, train, do ghost battles, learn more of the mechanics, and get back in there. Tekken is fun to play and look at with the mind-blowing graphics from Unreal Engine 5 and the flashy combos characters can do.
The Story Mode: The Dark Awakens
The story of Tekken 8 is anime as hell. Jin fights his father, Kazuya, and loses. He has to learn the meaning of strength, friendship, and hope with his inner demon to best his father once and for all. It was pretty badass, with some good Saint Seiya references and moments where the fighting style changed to a dynasty warrior gameplay. The wildest part was the number of times Kazuya didn't want to stay down. You would think he is losing at one point, and the battle with him continues throughout the Dark Awakens story mode, especially the last battle.
One of the things about the story mode that always made me laugh and love is how the characters come together. Everyone talks in their language and understands each other. Kuma talks in Bear, King roars, and Victor speaks full French, but everyone seems fluent, and there's no issue/miscommunication. I feel like the story mode is something you have to experience for yourself. It’s just that entertaining and exciting, like an action movie with non-stop wild scenarios with all the different characters. The story was beautifully straightforward, and if you feel like you don’t want to jump in without knowing the previous game's story - they created animated movies for each game and incorporated cutscenes from the previous games to catch you up to speed. Hopefully, there will be more in the future, probably in Tekken 9 or a future DLC.
Character Episodes
On top of the Story Mode, there is something called Character Episodes. You learn more about each character and their journey within Tekken 8 outside the Dark Awakens story. Each character has five battles, most of which occur within the King of Iron Fist Tournament, where the characters fight to get the prize money to use however they like. The rest happen outside the tournament, and you fight interesting fighters that can’t be chosen in the character menu. They all start with an introduction about what they have been up to, why they are joining the tournament, or what/who they are fighting for. In the end, you get a cutscene showing what they did with their winning prize.
Seeing each character interact with their rivals or someone they knew was great. Kuma proposes to Panda, and Panda rejects him by smacking his fish down. Lee and Nina’s interaction is also memorable, with Nina not liking Lee and smacking down the flower he tossed at her. I enjoyed seeing how the end of the character episodes reveal what they do with their prize; I feel like Marshall Law suffered the most, having so much debt and “dying” because of shock. I would say to check out your favorite character’s side story and see what their future holds!
Offline Modes Galore
This game has a lot of modes, which surprised me! There is Arcade Quest, similar to Street Fighter 6, where you have your custom-created avatar, but in this case, you’re in an arcade setting and doing different tutorials to get used to the game. Then there’s Super Ghost Battle that you unlock after playing Arcade Quest, where you will go against characters that will fight like your playstyle so that they will be tough. It is a great way to train and learn more about the game's mechanics. You can also view the gallery from the offline mode, where character episode videos, cutscenes from the main story, and various artworks will appear there.
Then there’s Arcade, where you do matches back to back until you reach the end (8 battles total), and VS mode, where you can fight another person locally with another controller connected or a CPU player. My brother and I have been playing locally almost daily, and running a few games has been fun. In practice mode, you can train with any character you want to improve. There are so many options within practice mode; It reminds me of Street Fighter 6 and how much they expanded that - and it is the same with Tekken 8. They have also brought back Tekken Ball, which is basically volleyball and is still enjoyable. You can use the “heat system” and “rage art” to get your score, and it’s satisfying when you win at the end of the time limit!
Online Battles and Customization
Online play is pretty good! It only lagged a handful of times, but it seems the online play is on its way to being on the same level as Street Fighter 6. Creating lobbies is fast, and the load times, my lord, are phenomenal; You can complete an entire match and jump back in quickly and easily. The online section has many options to choose from, like Ranked Battles, where you will be put to the test each battle and you will be ranked based on whether you won or lost a match. The other is quick battles, where it pairs you with another person online for a causal matchup, and the last one is player matches, where you can create lobbies and play with friends.
You can also check out the leaderboards for everyone’s rankings. Soon, there will be PS5-hosted Tournaments that players can participate in. But one of my favorite online modes is Tekken Fight Lounge; it is like the Arcade Quest but with online players, and you can do battles through that aspect. It’s where you can customize your avatars, meet new people, lounge around, and spectate fights.
It will be an experience for you when you start a fight online. Customization is available to everyone, and the more you play, whether character episodes or online matches, the more coins you will receive so you can buy clothes for every character. I even jumped onto the bandwagon and customized Kuma, which was very enjoyable. You will see everyone’s customization, starting from the avatar to the character they play as, and people are so creative that they customize their characters to look like Mario and Luigi, Optimus Prime, and Banjo! Not only that, but you can also customize the main menu's music. You can choose music from any of Tekken's games, which is so fire. I chose Tekken Tag Tournament 2 music as it is one of my favorite Tekken games.
Replay
Replay has its specific section on the menu, and rightfully so. It is one of the best features of this game. The fact that this game records all of the matches you have done is genuinely impressive. It is so enjoyable to look back to see an eye-catching combo or rewatch a loss that was so unbelievable that you had to look back to it. The replay section is divided into three different parts. “Online Replays” is where you can watch all the online battles. “Exciting replays” are where various skilled players are highlighted by their insane battles so we can all watch. “My Replays & Tips” is where local battles are saved, and while watching them, you can be given tips on how to avoid a particular attack or something you could’ve done to do more damage.
One of the things I like a lot from the replays is that you can control the characters within the match. Both the character you played during the match and your opponent! So you can see what attack they did, try to replicate or do another attack to see how you can counterattack, and more. You could do much with that feature and learn about each character's move set. You can even be toxic and make it seem like you won a match or you did a crazy combo, but in reality, you got your ass beat.
If you have the itch to play a fighting game, Tekken 8 is highly recommended. I'm hyped that fighting games are back better than ever. It helps grow the Fighting Game Community and encourages new players to get into Tekken 8. It is back in its prime, and here’s hoping that the Character Pass is interesting yearly and new updates get introduced to keep the game thriving in the future. Despite what others might say, Tekken 8 reaches the heights of Street Fighter 6, standing toe-to-toe with it (dare I say knocking it out), and surpasses the heights of Mortal Kombat 1 in many ways. Tekken 8 is already out, so get in there and get ready for the next battle!