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My first ever Playstation fighting game was Tekken 2, way back in 1997. Sky borrowed me his Playstation console and a couple of games (Beyond the Beyond, Suikoden, Resident Evil and Tekken) and gave me a taste of 32-bit gaming. While I never got into Tekken as I did the SoulCalibur series, I had a load of anticipation for Tekken 8.
Not because of its graphics. Not because of the new characters. It’s not even because of the plot. Nope, it’s all down to one thing; Jun Kazama.
You see, Jun’s been my main ever since Tekken 2. Sky was the one who used Jun and kicked my ass the first few times I played the game, so I decided to pick her up too and kick his ass with his own favourite character. While I main Asuka now (which is why most of the screenshots in the game have her in them), Jun’s return is what made me anticipate Tekken 8 more than any past Tekken game.
So now that it’s here…was it worth it?
What is Tekken 8?
Tekken 8 is a 3D fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco. It’s the 8th entry in the Tekken series, though it’s the 10 game in the Tekken series (I’m counting the Tekken Tag Tournament games, but not the Dark Resurrection expansion).
Our review copy was kindly provided by Bandai Namco! Thanks so much guys!
Since its announcement, Tekken 8 has been hyped as the finale to the Mishima saga. Tekken fans who pay attention to the plot know all too well that past games have always been a power struggle between Heihachi Mishima, his son, Kazuya Mishima and Kazuya’s son, Jin Kazama.
After Kazuya killed Heihachi (he’ll be back though, I guarantee it), Tekken 8 details the power struggle between Jin and Kazuya, with the world hanging in the balance. In theory, it should make for a wild ride.
In practice though…
While the last few Tekken games have tried to beef up the series’ story, the plot is still a jumbled mess. That doesn’t change at all with Tekken 8. It doesn’t even attempt to ease in new fans.
Just dipping your toes with Tekken 8 and want to know what’s happened before? Tough. Better read a wiki or watch a Youtube video to catch up on the history. Apart from some minor exposition about Tekken 7, Tekken 8 doesn’t really care if you’re current to what’s happened in the series.
Unfortunately, despite not pandering to newcomers, Tekken 8’s plot is still hackneyed, super cringey and predictable. Worse still, there’s barely any fanservice to those of us who do try to keep up.
The main plot is two-dimensional, with Kazuya’s ascension to power and Jin wanting to be strong enough to take his father down. Every other character is relegated to second fiddle, to the point that they might as well not be in the story.
Even Reina (who’s set to be a major player in future games) is barely a footnote in the story.
It’s Jin and Kazuya, from Chapter 1 to the end. I love the focus, but it’s handled in such a way that character and plot development are non-existent and most times, completely illogical.
In fact, the last few chapters are hilariously over the top…and not in a good way.
Tekken never was that grounded in reality, but the hokum factor in the finale made me gag and cringe. It’s like a bad episode of Dragon Ball or One Punch Man. I can see how it was supposed to be all epic and awesome…except it didn’t come off that way at all.
Worse still, Jun (despite being featured so heavily in promotional materials) is barely a factor in the plot.
Hell, the game doesn’t even definitively say whether she’s even truly alive…though it’s strongly hinted that she is, due to the Kazama shrine’s magic.
Story mode also forces you to fight as predetermined choices. There’s no way to choose.
Thankfully, Tekken 8 allows you to toggle an easy mode (where each buttons does preassigned moves and combos. by just hitting L1 so even newbies can pull off devastating moves with simple button mashing.
Most of the story mode stages are fine. They’re your generic 1v1 matches. It’s only in the later chapters that the game tries to do the Tekken Force style of gameplay (where it’s more of a beat’em up) that the game’s flow grinds to a halt.
I played on the hardest difficulty (which isn’t that hard at all) and these stages kicked my ass.
They’re terrible unbalanced and frustrating. I only made it through with much gnashing of teeth, copious retries and a boatload of luck. I really hope this is the last we’ll see of this type of gameplay because it honestly sucks.
Story mode aside, the game does offer other options for your enjoyment.
One of them’s the Character Episodes.
Every playable character has their own mini-story mode available from the start (except for Reina and Jun, whose episodes need to be unlocked by completing the Story mode). These are much more interesting and fun, despite the majority of them probably turning out to be non-canon in the future.
Most of them are pretty lighthearted (or at the very least, not full of gloom and doom like the canon Story mode) and I chucked at quite a few of the endings.
At least it’s something, right?
If you’re tired of fighting, you can also play the absurd Tekken Ball mode (which Tekken 3 veterans will remember). In this mode, you do attacks to hit a beach ball to hit your opponent. It’s like a combination of volleyball and…Tekken, I guess.
It’s a rather fun diversion, but nothing to write home about. I would’ve preferred Tekken Bowl to return instead in all honesty.
Thankfully, the meat of Tekken 8 is still brilliantly tasty.
The fighting is still as awesome as ever, with new Heat mechanics added to the fray.
These are awesomely explained and shown off via the game’s new Arcade Quest mode, which has you creating your own avatar and challenging AI players in various in-game arcade.
Arcade Quest is honestly awesome, but unfortunately, doesn’t realize its full potential.
The game tries to dole out tutorials on Tekken’s fighting mechanics are a steady pace, which is good so beginners don’t get overwhelmed.
Unfortunately, the flipside is that it feels too much like a glorified tutorial rather than what it should’ve been; a simulation of what it’s like to challenge people in arcades.
It’s also where the game shows one of its most glaring issues; AI opponents in the game are simply too easy to beat.
I’m not tooting my own horn because I’m nowhere near super in the game, but I had zero issues trouncing even the hardest Ghost AI, which is Harada_Tekken (Tekken God rank).
I lost only ONCE in the entirety of Arcade Quest (and that was because I was trying out new combos with Asuka). That’s just a sad statement for the AI opponents! Even my own Ghost AI (which learns from your fights and incorporates your mannerisms into its own fighting style) can’t beat me.
Again, I’m not saying I’m good.
I’m saying the AI needs tweaking to be better because even the top ranked AI are failing to block moves that they should’ve seen coming a mile off.
Apart from customizing your own AI, you can now customize your Arcade Quest avatar and of course, all the playable characters.
Unfortunately, like past games, not all characters are equal in this aspect.
Male characters get much better gear to use, while the females only have access to a couple of options. Some of the generic male options (like muscle tees and tank tops) are weirdly absent for the females, who have access to frilly dresses and skirts. Also, where are the sexy and revealing clothing options?
Come on…I’m not advocating woke culture, but I’d love to dress Kazuya up in a dress or bikini in the name of fun! Why aren’t the generic clothing options available for all characters?!
It’s a shame honestly because the visuals for the game are out of this world!
Bandai Namco’s done some voodoo to get the graphics to be this damn good. The character models are a clear step up from Tekken 7 and the cinematics breathtaking. Environments are incredibly detailed too. With everything maxed out, Tekken 8 is a visual tour de force.
The loading times are much better too, with matches loading in just a few seconds. Loads are much shorter than in Tekken 7, which is great news. The frame rate is also super stable too, with drops only visible during Story mode.
Since the game is streaming in the next fight while the cinematics play, the game’s FPS takes a visible hit from the 60 FPS it usually is to mid-20s and 30s. It’s an annoyance, but considering most people will just play the Story mode once, it’s not that big an issue.
Regular fights have no FPS drops, no matter how intense the action or the stage is and if you need them, Tekken 8 also supports FSR and DLSS. On our rig, I was able to get 60FPS for pretty much everything (apart from the Story mode hitches), with everything on the highest setting at 4K without resorting to DLSS.
Fighting online is fine too, if you have the hardware for it and know friends.
If you’re hoping for massive brawls against strangers…don’t.
Bandai Namco’s made a cool virtual space to hang out with other people but connecting to them is a whole different story.
I tried the game for hours on launch day (on the regional Asia-2 server) and only had a handful of games played. My setting was for matches with a 4-bar and above connection (which I think is a reasonable criteria for good, smooth gameplay).
I went for a long time in between matches. My record was about 47 minutes, give or take.
Every single time, the game would pop up a message saying match has been found and is checking connection quality. Then it would say the quality is crap and find another match. Apparently, nobody in SEA is playing the game? Even with crossplay enabled, I had a ton of trouble getting a match, and I’m on a wired connection!
So long story short…get friends or pray you get lucky online.
The Bottom Line.
Tekken 8’s story is a massive disappointment…but honestly, that’s just secondary to the whole thing.
The most important thing is that Tekken 8 is a great fighting game.
It’s fun, it’s fluid and it looks killer! There’s a ton of depth to the fighting and while not all characters return (where are old school fighters like Lei Wulong, Ganryu or Kunimitsu?), the cast is varied enough to cater to most players.
It’s a bit of a disappointment that the Arcade Quest mode isn’t as fully fleshed out as it could be and the AI Ghosts are pushovers. In the grand scheme of things though, those aren’t big issues at all because the best way to get good is still to hop online and just fight.
TLDR:
Story is forgettable but fighting is still top notch.
The Good:
- The graphics.
- The fighting.
- The loading.
- The roster.
- The online lobby.
The Bad:
- Story mode is nonsensical and cringey.
- Arcade Quest mode could be better.
- AI Ghosts are too easy.
- Customization options could be better.
- Matching with another player online.
Salehuddin Husin, EIC
Sal's been in the industry since the early 2000s. He's written for a ton of gaming and tech publications including Playworks, Hardwarezone, HWM and GameAxis. Recently, Sal served as a juror for the Indie Game Awards at Taipei Game Show 2020. A geek and hardcore gamer, Sal will play everything, on any platform.
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