Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: Bandai Namco
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
Release Date: 01.26.2024
With the recent releases of new chapters in legendary fighting game franchises such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, it’s only fitting that another king of the ring, Tekken, is now poised to return as well.
Set six months after the previous entry, Tekken 8 once again builds around the falling out of father and son. Except, instead of that pair being Heihachi Mishima and his son Kazuya, the family’s tragic fate now falls upon the younger Mishima and his offspring Jin Kazama. And, to make things even spicier, Jin’s mother Jun returns after years of being presumed dead.
Tekken 8 retains the tried-and-true 3D combat of previous iterations, as well as more recent additions such as Tekken 7’s Rage Arts. At the same time, it also brings with it some important new options, the biggest of which may be the Heat System. The more aggressive you are in your fighting style during matches, the more Heat gauge you’ll build, which you can then spend on options such as showy combo starters, additional moves specific to each character, or new movement techniques.
And, thanks to running on Unreal Engine 5 and focusing specifically on the current crop of consoles, Tekken 8 will look just as good as it plays. This should especially be true for the game’s characters, who have been rebuilt from the ground up with “high-fidelity skin, hair, and muscles that flex realistically to portray lifelike character animation,” according to the team.
