Review — Tekken 8
Fists meet fate! Are you ready to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament for the eight time?
There are quite a few niche fighting games, with the games made by Japanese developer Arc System Works offering some notable examples, and also many 3D arena fighting games inspired by manga and anime. But when it comes to mainstream appeal, there are only three franchises that really matter today. I’m of course talking about Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and Tekken. While the first two received their outing for the current generation of consoles, we had to wait until the end of January before we could finally get our hands on the latest instalment of Tekken.
I must admit that I’m not the biggest Tekken expert in the world. I’ve dabbled a bit with Tekken 5, Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, but the last Tekken game I really played was Tekken 3 when I was barely a teenager. The franchise has evolved in a big way throughout the years, so naturally I was curious about this latest addition to the franchise. Especially considering how great it looked in the various trailers that developer and publisher Bandai Namco released. So it was time for me to once again enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament!
Devilish fun
I remember Tekken 3 as a rather straightforward, with some odd characters added to the mix. With the release of Tekken 8 I was pleasantly surprised with the evolution the series has gone through. Like in Mortal Kombat, the developers also went full in with a story mode that offers a cinematic experience. Filled with gorgeous cinematics and fights that are marked by multiple stages and fluent transitions, this story mode offers some campy and nonsensical fun. The story still revolves around the Mishima and Kazama bloodlines who’re at war with each other and where the world is still at stake. If you didn't play the previous games, the game luckily has some video’s that briefly explain the story of each previous game. But even then, you’ll still be wondering about what the heck is going on in the story of Tekken 8.
Aside from the main story, which will keep you occupied for an hour of five, you also have character episodes. These episodes consist of five fights each and tell the story of each character participating in the King of Iron Fist Tournament. One thing I did find funny about these characters, is how they each speak their own language yet are perfectly capable of understanding each other. While I think this is a noble idea to have each character speak their mother tongue and I applaud the designers for this, but it is really weird when you think about it.
If you’re done with these, their are some other fun modes you can focus on if you’re playing solo. Firstly, there’s a brand new mode called Arcade Quest. In this mode, you create an avatar and try to become a champion as a Tekken player. That’s right, this mode is pretty meta as it’s about characters playing the game you’re actually playing. It’s a neat little addition that mainly servers as a learning ground for newcomers and a charming take on the Tekken scene. Just don’t expect anything substantial.
Easy to Learn, Hard to Master
The fighting system of Tekken 8 is still as great as ever. It’s the perfect example of a game that’s easy to pick up, but hard to become really good at. You will require a lot of training in order to get a good grip on the game. This was proven to me when I ventured to the online playgrounds of the game. Here, I got my ass whooped multiple times as my opponents obliterated my with impressive combo’s. When playing online, you can chose between ranked, player and quick matches, and with the Fight Lounges you also have social spaces available where you can meet and fight against other players.
One thing I noticed, is that online play is far from perfect though. The developers implemented rollback netcode, but for some reason the implementation leaves much to be desired. Even you you say you only want opponents with a very good connection, I still experienced some fights that had a lot of issues with latency. It speaks for itself that this isn’t exactly pleasant. Secondly, you’ll also quickly notice that some characters are more popular than others, resulting in fight after fight against the same characters, such as Steve, Azucena and Reina.
At launch, the game also featured no less than 32 fighters, which isn’t that high, but I’ve also seen worse. I was curious to see which of my old favorites would still be in the game and I was happy to see that Yoshimitsu, King and Brian are still present. I was surprised that Eddy and Heihachi, two staple characters, aren’t included in the game. But considering the fact that Heihachi is dead, this is understandable (even if I hope he will pop up again as a DLC character). The game does also offer you a lot of possibilities in terms of customization, which means you can make these characters completely your own in terms of style.
Visual Feast
The minigame Tekken Ball is also present again in the game. This game combines fighting with volley bay and is honestly completely silly. It’s something fun to play with some friends after a few beers, but otherwise it wasn’t worth my time. What I did find an interesting addition, are the Super Ghost Battles. In this mode, you train your own ghost with the help of A.I. Not only is this a great way to perfect your own fighting skills by fighting your own ghost, but you can also paly against ghosts of other players. This is ideal for those that want to practice and get a taste of what you might expect when going online, without actually going online.
Yet no matter which mode you play, Tekken 8 will deliver a jaw dropping experience thanks to the stunning graphics and visual presentation. Even on my Xbox Series S, the game looks absolutely stunning and it runs buttery smooth. The visual style is further enhanced by the gameplay thanks to the Heat system. This system allows you to pull out some visually impressive moves utilizing the right trigger buttons. Either by manually activating the Heat mode or by unleashing your Rage Art when you’re almost out of life. I can understand that some pro players might find it a bit too easy to pull off these powerful moves, but for a casual player like me this makes the experience really worthwhile. I haven’t played the latest instalments yet of Street Fighter of Mortal Kombat, so I can’t say how well Tekken 8 holds up against these games. But I certainly had a great time with this stylish and slightly over the top fighting game.
4/5
Reviewed on Xbox Series S.
Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
