Last week, fighters from all over the world assembled to throw down. I'm not referring to Tekken 8 itself, though due to its stunning realism you'd be forgiven for making that mistake. The game's global debut in Lyon, France saw press and creators alike globetrotting to spend hours cracking each other's skulls in-game just ahead of the fighter's appearance at EVO Japan 2023. Exclusive to current-gen consoles and PC, Bandai Namco's latest offers terrific fisticuffs that's moving the genre ahead in exciting new directions, and is a stupendously fun way to butt heads with other players match after match.
Having revisited Tekken 7 in preparation for the event (hey, I wasn't going to embarrass myself come match day), the difference between the previous iteration and Tekken 8 is night and day from the outset. Visually, Tekken 8 is bathed in a kind of hyperrealism, whether that's Marshall Law flexing his muscles both in his pre-fight intro and during one of his many punishing grabs – flaming sparks flying off Jin Kazama as his combo finishers briefly untether his latent, demonic abilities; or how his mother, Jun Kazama (featured here in her first appearance since Tekken 2), elegantly animates through twisting, turning, flowing combos that look as much like a traditional dance as the shin shatter-ers they are.
