I don't remember the last time I was as excited for a game as I am for Tekken 8. I've had the pleasure of playing it four times this year—twice at public gaming events, once for October's closed beta test and, finally, a closed invitation to try the completed game in late November—and every single time I walk away from it buzzing for hours on end.
It's a stark contrast to my feelings about Tekken 7, a game I've spent a lot of my time this year playing, watching and gradually becoming exhausted with. I've been a lifelong fan of the series, but struggled to latch onto Tekken 7's clunky movement, lack of casual singleplayer modes, and load times. So much loading. It's not entirely Bandai Namco's fault that it's so primitive—Tekken 7's budget was considerably smaller than previous entries—but it sucked to see a lacklustre story and shoddy netcode bog down what was at its core solid brawling with an enjoyable character roster.
Less than five minutes with the full Tekken 8 experience and it's already clear to me that Bandai Namco doesn't intend to deliver the same barebones experience. All of my time with the full game was spent in the game's offline modes: story mode The Dark Awakens, Arcade Quest, Tekken Ball, versus, training, and tinkering around with character customisation.
Everything feels like a vast improvement. It's particularly obvious in Tekken 8's story mode where I was allowed to play the first four chapters. Gone is the previous game's monotone narrator and still images, replaced with a well-paced blend of gorgeous cinematics and hard-hitting matches. It's the first thing I dove into during my time with the master build, where I was greeted with an action-packed cutscene before I took control of Jin, attempting to pummel the crap out of his father Kazuya among a wartorn New York-esque landscape.
While in combat, certain moves in story mode cause the camera to snap to super punchy angles, as the characters banter with each other—or in Jin and Kazuya's case, play a game of "no, you" over who started the ongoing war. Side note: If you're currently going "wait, what war?" because you're not clued up on Tekken's 25-year narrative, there's the option to peep a recap of the previous game before you dive in.
There are mid-cutscene QTEs that affect how you start the next battle, too. I had the choice to either dodge or punish an incoming punch from Kazuya. Picking the latter knocked some damage off Kazuya's health bar, while the former put Jin in his stance and gave him a slight advantage on round start.
These small tweaks to how the combat functions in the confines of the story mode makes the battles feel far more engaging than your standard CPU versus fight. I was actually excited to get smacked around just to see more snippets of dialogue, while at the same time it made me want to dive into practice mode to pick up some cooler combos and give the story the bombastic battles it deserves.
The next battle
Thankfully, Tekken 8's practice mode is significantly improved too. Frame data is actually free this time! There are tons of different ways to quickly set up scenarios—you can plonk the enemy at the balcony at the press of a button to practise balcony break combos, switch to a more defensive training mode to work on block punishing, or even save entire states that you can quickly reset to, like the moment you pull off a low parry to lab the follow-up.
While it's still not perfect—I think Street Fighter 6's training mode is still unbeatably good—it makes learning the ins and outs of how to Tekken significantly easier, and while external community-driven resources will always be optimal, it's nice to have more base-level teachings contained within the actual game.
Combo samples are back with the addition of combo challenges this time, with each character having around 11 combos of varying difficulty to complete. They're a great way to try out different characters at a glance and see which ones click with their flow and playstyle. I really appreciated getting that instant feedback on timing and spacing, and it encouraged me to try out characters I've never touched in my two decades of playing, like Paul and Hwoarang.
It was also a great chance to try out two new fighters only now being properly shown off. There's Victor, a suave Frenchman with a high-tech armoury, and Reina, a mysterious woman who's awfully similar to the now-dead Heihachi Mishima. They both benefit from relatively simple move list inputs, with more complexity folding in from combo timings and movement. Victor's switches from his energy sword to his gun keep things fresh and interesting, while Reina has been afforded some easier ways to pull off legacy Mishima moves like Wind God Fist. I found both a ton of fun, and I'll likely be making Reina my secondary main when the game releases.
In the lab
Traditional practice mode isn't the only place to pick up new tips and tricks, either. Arcade Quest, a solo story mode that centres around old-school arcade culture, is Tekken 8's attempt at something a little more casual and cutesy. Instead of bulging muscles and all-out war, it's chibi avatars and a story that tries to pull from real-life experiences of playing fighting games offline locally, battling rivals across multiple virtual arcades.
It's all very sunshine and rainbows, and will definitely have more appeal to total newcomers than it will to hardened veterans. It looks… significantly crustier than the rest of the game though. The avatars are noticeably low-quality, with a thousand-yard stare that makes it feel like they either haven't a single thought in their brain, or they're quietly plotting your murder.
It does help to teach fundamentals though, in a way that may be more appealing than sweating it out in the lab for a few hours. There are designated tutorials for the core fighting mechanics, as well as using super moves like Rage Art and Heat. You can also battle various NPCs for additional customisation, like a shirtless variation for every male fighter, for whatever reason. It's also where you'll find one of Tekken 8's most interesting features: the ability to battle yourself and CPU versions of your pals.
Super Ghost Battle takes data from the way you play across a variety of modes and begins to construct a little robot you, mimicking your offensive and defensive tendencies. Drop a combo? Robot You will also drop the combo. Backdash a lot? Yep, your robot self will do the same. It's super interesting to battle yourself and expose the flaws in your own game plan, though there's something especially humiliating about getting beaten by an AI version of yourself.
It's all a learning experience though, and Tekken 8 has truly stepped up its game in giving players a path to getting better. Its replay takeover feature is especially interesting, allowing players to dive into a replay for a recent match and, with the hit of a button, take over either character right in the moment. It's a great way to practise punishment or blocking without having to head over to training and set up the specific scenario, and something I'm definitely going to be making use of once the full game is out.
I do have a gripe with the game right now, though. I had high hopes for Tekken 8's customisation, but it falls a little flat in its current state. Trying things on is an absolute pain, requiring a button press into a loading screen before I could preview the item. Once I wanted to scroll onto something else, I had to sit in another loading screen to remove the item before a small input delay, after which my cursor would shoot off in the direction I pressed.
It makes trying unowned items on a total ballache, and it's something I hope Bandai Namco fixes before the game hits release. There are also some ported items that are looking a little worse for wear, like some of the female Tekken 7 hairstyles that have made their way over. It's a little rough right now for sure, and not quite the huge improvement on Tekken 7 I was hoping for.
But if my biggest complaint is just customisation, that's probably a good sign, , and Tekken 8 is looking set to launch in a really good state. It's easily the most gorgeous fighter I've played in recent years. All 32 characters on the roster look stunning graphically—yes, even Steve Fox—with the lighting of each stage being beautifully balanced between cinematic elegance and visual clarity.
Those stage are a joy to play on—from the apocalyptic torrential downpour of Fallen Destiny, the level we saw all the way back in the first trailer, to my absolute favourite Into the Stratosphere. It's basically Fallen Destiny except in space, with the final round causing the volcanic ground to crack and rupture under the players' feet. I'm almost certain it's going to be a stage we'll see play a big part in the story, and I can't wait to see how our main boys somehow make it out to freakin' space.
Where other 3D fighters have faltered, Tekken is holding strong. I'm so glad it's continuing the trend of fighting games becoming more approachable too, with its abundance of singleplayer modes and better onboarding in teaching fundamentals. The next 45 days until release are going to feel mighty long, and I absolutely cannot wait until I'm reunited with Tekken 8 once more.
