It's here. After years of waiting and an extremely dense promotional campaign that has fueled phenomenal hype in recent months, Tekken 8 is finally about to arrive. Almost thirty years after the release of the first opus, Katsuhiro Harada and his troops are back with the promise of offering a great generational turning point to this legendary franchise.
Tekken 8 stands out on many levels, and the first differences are immediately visible before even arriving at the main menu. It wasn't a surprise since Bandai-Namco has been releasing a lot of teasers, but it's hard not to be amazed by the scale of the aesthetic transformation carried out by the studio.
A very successful, but divisive, graphic style renewal
From a strictly technical point of view, Tekken 8 is absolutely magnificent for a fighting game, knowing that it's a genre where artists have to juggle with many restrictions since it's imperative to prioritize the fluidity of the gameplay. Produced under Unreal Engine 5, it easily rises to the level of Mortal Kombat 1 in terms of graphic fidelity. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful fighting games ever produced, both in terms of characters, animations and settings.
When it comes to the artistic direction, however, players may be a bit more divided. Much like Capcom with Street Fighter VI, Bandai Namco has opted for a visual identity that is quite different from previous games. The rather sober and down-to-earth graphics that were part of the series' identity have been sacrificed on the altar of great spectacle, with a constant surge of bright colors and particle effects that give a decidedly more anime feel than before.
Even if the result is undeniably impressive, this change of style will not necessarily please everyone, both for reasons of artistic taste and gameplay. For example, for our part, we found that these avalanches of VFX had too great an impact on the readability of the matches, and chose to reduce them to a minimum. PC gamers with modest machines may also have to reduce the graphics quality.
Another important detail: Bandai Namco recommends installing Tekken 8 on an SSD, and this is not an exaggeration. Even if we are not in a Starfield situation, downright unplayable without an SSD, loading times can quickly become exasperating on a traditional HDD. Whenever possible, therefore prefer the flash option.
Story Mode: much more accomplished, but still anecdotal
Before the long-awaited opening of the servers, we spent a few hours discovering the offline content, starting with the single-player content, and in particular the new Story mode. The narrative is exactly what you would expect.
After finally getting rid of his illustrious father Heihachi at the end of Tekken 7, Kazuya Mishima is more determined than ever to satisfy his thirst for absolute power. He embarks on a grand enterprise of world domination with the goal of launching a new era for humanity, where only the most ruthless fighters will have a place. However, he comes up against one last obstacle: a coalition led by his son Jin, heir to his famous Devil Gene and the only person capable of standing up to him in single combat.
Nothing overly original, in short – and that goes for the gameplay too. Sure, the different episodes are much better staged than in Tekken 7, but they still suffer from the same problems as before, notably because of the AI of the opponents which makes the matches very different from those between humans – and not for the right reasons. The Bots still chain together actions that go against the fundamental principles of the game, and compensate for their total lack of strategy with a good dose of nauseating input reading. More frustrating than anything else.
In other words, it's a Story mode far from being transcendent, and largely insufficient to justify the purchase of the title on its own. If you're not a fan of player-to-player combat and you're thinking about buying Tekken 8 for its storyline, unsurprisingly, you'd better abstain.
Arcade mode: finally a helping hand for beginners
On the other hand, the new Arcade mode that replaces Treasure Battle mode has real arguments. Instead of chaining together sterile fights against these brainless bots, this time it offers a semblance of staging by inviting the player to progress from one dojo to another by facing increasingly tough virtual opponents.
The latter still suffer from the same AI problems, which makes the experience quite hopeless for experienced or advanced players. On the other hand, this mode is of real interest to neophytes; in practice, it plays the role of progressive tutorial that allows newcomers to discover the different mechanics of this atrociously complex game at their own pace. This is the first time that a Tekken offers this kind of gentle initiation, and it was high time! This arcade mode alone that takes beginners by the hand could make the first steps much less intimidating. It avoids having to learn everything the hard way – an often frustrating process that has undoubtedly discouraged many players.
We can also mention the arrival of the Special mode, modeled on the Modern mode of StreetFighter VI. It greatly reduces the number of options to force the player to focus on a handful of generally useful moves. This has the effect of eliminating almost all the nuances that make Tekken so great, but it also allows beginners to start having fun much more quickly, without having to spend several hours learning the bare minimum to play a character.
In conclusion, the barrier to entry is therefore significantly lower than before, and this is very good news for the future of the franchise.
Training mode: close to perfection
If the release of the latest Street Fighter made many players jealous, it is not only because it brought a breath of fresh air that the Tekken community greatly needed. It's also because it included a host of tools and quality of life options that made Tekken 7 seem like an antique, starting with its extremely comprehensive and intuitive training mode.
Bandai Namco was therefore expected at the turning point, and fans of the franchise will therefore be delighted to learn that the developers have made a nearly perfect copy at this level.
First observation: everything is better organized, more intuitive and easier to access. The best example is certainly the tool dedicated to the analysis of frame data. It seems obvious to have access to it in a versus fighting game, but yet, it only existed in Tekken 7 in the form of... a paid DLC. An incomprehensible and inexcusable insanity in such a complex game, and it was high time to correct it.
That being said, we are pleased to see that the developers have once again made a point of honor to make life easier for beginners. This starts with the menu that brings together the moves of each character. It is now divided into two parts. In addition to the complete list, often very intimidating for new players, there is now a tab that brings together the most important attacks so that newbies can know where to start. The full version is also clearer than before. Each option is accompanied by a small, clear legend that allows you to immediately identify the properties of the attack before even getting to the heart of the matter.
There’s also a new Combo Challenge feature borrowed from Street Fighter that lets you practice some basic combos. While they’re far from optimal, they’re a good starting point for new players. And for veterans, it lets you get a feel for how the new mechanics (see below) fit into the combos they already know.
The new training mode also offers a few more options than Tekken 7. They’re now split into two distinct sections. The first lets you work on offensive situations, with the ability to set even more different reactions from the CPU. The second focuses on defensive training, and lets the bot alternate between a maximum of 8 moves, compared to 5 previously. A subtle change, but still appreciable.
There are also a few very useful new features. For example, instead of starting from the center of the arena at each reset, it is now possible to save a precise position. Very comfortable to work on combos or situations that would have required a little setting up in Tekken 7.
Replay mode: the boss' surprise
Another very unexpected but absolutely fantastic new feature is hidden not in the training mode but in the Replay mode. If you have already played Tekken or any fighting game, you already know very well that it is crucial to analyze your old games to identify possible errors or dissect the opponent's strategy.
This was already possible in Tekken 7 with the replay mode, which gave some rudimentary information such as missed defensive options. The problem is that correcting these errors was not easy. You had to go into training mode, then identify exactly which moves your opponent used during the sequence that caused the problem and reproduce them before you could start looking for a solution. And sometimes, it was a real ordeal when it came to reconstructing very specific situations.
But that's all in the past. Now, with a simple press of a button, you can regain control of your character in the middle of the replay! As a result, you can replay any sequence over and over again until you've mastered every nuance, without wasting a single second setting it up.
It's hard to explain how much of a blessing this little, discreet option is. It could make a huge difference in players’ ability to improve, from beginners making basic mistakes to hardcore competitors looking to optimize every single ultra-specific situation.
Ghosts: A Genius Idea..?
Machine learning is all the rage right now, and it’s even made its way into Tekken 8 with a new feature: ghosts. Essentially, they’re bots that gradually learn to imitate a player’s playstyle over the course of fights using “the latest AI technologies.” In other words, if like us you’ve spent a lot of time wondering how your Bryan would fare against your Dragunov, you might now have some answers!
The kind of promise that seems too good to be true… and yet, we were frankly surprised by the result. After about twenty games of trading blows with a virtual clone, we have already observed striking similarities between his way of playing and ours. He still suffered from very clear shortcomings, especially in terms of movement and strategy. On the other hand, other points like the selection of attacks or the quality of the combos were extremely convincing. Even after such a limited training period, the result is rather interesting; compared to the usual Tekken bots, it is truly night and day.
But what could really make this feature valuable is that it is also possible to download the ghosts of other players to face them. Obviously, the experience will never really be the same as against a real player. But the prospect of being able to infinitely face the virtual replica of a friend, a rival or a professional player, even if it is approximate, is frankly enjoyable.
It's still way too early to judge the true interest of this feature. But it's already clear that it's full of potential. Everything will depend on what they'll be able to do with more training; if the recipe works, these ghosts could well become more than just a gimmick. For our part, we're already looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the AI clones of legends like Knee or Arslan Ash, if only out of curiosity.
Gameplay: aggression at all costs
After having looked at these features, we were finally able to get to the heart of the matter when the online servers finally opened. The opportunity to look a little at the mechanics of this new Tekken.
First observation: the movement is essentially the same as that of Tekken 7. The famous Korean backdash is still there and does not seem to have been nerfed. The same goes for side steps, a fundamental component of a 3D fighting game like Tekken. They even seemed more effective to us than in the previous opus, even if more matches will be needed to draw a real conclusion on this level. In any case, it is rather reassuring, because these defensive maneuvers will not be too much to manage the tsunami of new offensive options that are about to flood the players; moving correctly has never been as important as in Tekken 8.
Indeed, the philosophy of this new opus can be summed up in a word that was brandished wrongly by the developers during the promotion: aggression. Where the previous opus favored methodical players and perfect defenses, Tekken 8 puts the emphasis on initiative and risk-taking in all directions.
To highlight this new identity, Michael Murray and Katsuhiro Harada have concocted a flamboyant new mechanic to replace the Rage Drives. It is called Heat, and it is exactly what the name suggests. In essence, it is an overdrive system like we often find in anime fighters.
When a character goes into Heat mode, he gains access to new moves that can take very different forms. It completely changes the dynamics of combos, allows access to new launchers, and above all to exert insane pressure during a short period of time.
But it would be very reductive to limit these changes to the Heat system. The other big new feature is the arrival of a chip damage system – small damage suffered even when a hit is blocked. At the same time, it is also possible to recover a certain amount of lost HP, materialized by a gray bar, by constantly attacking the opponent.
There are also several changes to the grabs; for example, they are now guaranteed, without the possibility of getting out of them, when they are inflicted in a counterattack situation. King players are already rubbing their hands.
It's hard to explain how much all this changes the game compared to Tekken 7. These are absolutely radical changes that completely dynamite an identity that took three decades to build step by step - and let's be honest, it won't please everyone. Some will see it as a breath of fresh air that was essential to modernize the formula; others will consider that it completely distorts the DNA of this historic franchise.
For our part, the first steps were difficult. Our first reaction was to wonder where the methodical gameplay that made the game so complex and so engaging had gone. Has Tekken been reduced to constant pressure, to an avalanche of horribly oppressive mixups that force us to play guessing games throughout the fight? Our worst nightmares seemed to be confirmed.
Fortunately, after several hours of experimenting, these apprehensions gradually faded. Once familiar with these new mechanics, we find ourselves with extremely dynamic, thrilling, and much more nuanced gameplay than it seems; it quickly becomes clear that the Heat system is a real added value, insofar as it leaves more room for creativity and allows players to express themselves differently. We can't wait to see what elite players will be able to get out of it, and the next competitions promise to be more spectacular than ever.
Ultimately, it is still too early to give a definitive opinion on all these new features, and in particular on the Heat system. It will probably take dozens of additional hours to appreciate its full depth and identify its possible shortcomings, particularly in terms of balancing. But the recipe seems to be working, and that's already very good news compared to the disaster scenarios that we saw looming on the horizon.
Characters
As for the characters, the vast majority of the series' headliners are there, with a few notable exceptions; a few community favorites have unfortunately been sacrificed. We can mention Heihachi Mishima or Lei Wulong, who had not missed an episode in over 25 years, or Armor King, another very popular character. In total, the player still has the choice between 32 diverse and varied characters, and the casting is remarkably well balanced in terms of archetypes.
As with each new opus, we are also entitled to a few newcomers. This time, there are three of them. It starts with Victor, the new Frenchman on the roster. Rather visually interesting, with his well-dressed look, he nevertheless seemed rather ordinary in terms of design… probably because he committed the crime of stealing the senior spot from our beloved Heihachi. Azucena, for her part, takes Josie’s place as the South American representative. He is a colorful, exuberant character with an atypical moveset full of dynamic and evasive moves.
There is also Reina, who is still a real mystery for the moment. She plays an important role in the story, but she is especially distinguished by her very intense, extremely complex fighting style (5 stances and 4 unique movement modes, including the Mishima's signature wavedash) which is a kind of hybrid between Heihachi, Lydia and Kazumi. Suffice to say that she is likely to appeal to quite a few players, and we will have to expect to come across a certain number of them at the release.
Finally, we can also mention Jun, Jin Kazama's mother. She’s not technically a new character, but this is her first return after a long absence since Tekken Tag 2. With her aerial and tricky moveset that’s full of great tools (like a fast and unpunishable double mid), it’s a safe bet that she’ll be a hit with players as well.
All of the other characters have had their movesets changed significantly, and often nerfed significantly. Special mention goes to Zafina and Feng, who aren’t nearly as terrifying as they were in the last game.
This seems to have three goals: to limit the power creep that was starting to overwhelm Tekken , to counterbalance the Heat system, and to reinforce each character’s unique identity. And it’s fair to say that the latter is a great success. However, we’ll refrain from passing judgment on the balance, as Bandai Namco will likely be making a lot of adjustments in the first few weeks. It will therefore be necessary to wait a little to see more clearly on the strictly competitive side. But for the moment, almost all the lights are green for the players who were impatiently waiting for the return of the franchise.
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