10 Things To Know Before Playing Tekken 8
The Story So Far
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The story of “Tekken” has been the same old song and dance for almost thirty years. Heihachi fights his son Kazuya because he’s a demon. Kazuya fights his son Jin because he’s an angsty half-demon. And everyone takes turns throwing each other into pits, volcanoes, and launching someone into space. Well, no more. “Tekken 8” is aiming to conclude the story between Kazuya and Jin. And what of Grandaddy Heihachi? Funny you should ask.
Heihachi Mishima…is Dead
In case you skipped out or forgot about the story mode of “Tekken 7”, yes, Heihachi Mishima has finally been off’d. Kazuya finally killed his own father. Heihachi will not be appearing in “Tekken 8” which is sort of crazy to think about. The head of Mishima Zaibatsu and the founder of the King of Iron Fist Tournament has long been the series main villain and has appeared in just about every game in the series. But now, it’s just Kazuya. Does this mean we’re never going to get gaming’s best grandpa again (at least not until the reboot/remake/re-fist)? Does this mean Jin or Kazuya are going to be the face of the franchise from this point forward? So many questions.
Who Are You Fools?
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While we aren’t seeing Heihachi anymore, “Tekken 8” is bringing a lot of familiar faces. In fact, it’s almost entirely veterans. First, you have the mainstays - King, Asuka, Lars, Bryan, Xiaoyu, Marshall, Paul, Nina, Lili, Jack, and Yoshitmitsu. Then, you have a couple of returning characters who were not in “Tekken 7” like Jun Kazama, Raven, and Dragunov. Plus, you have Leroy returning from “Tekken 7’s” post-launch support. Are there any new characters at all? Well, there’s Azucena, a Peruvian MMA fighter and coffee enthusiast. The base game will come with a whopping thirty-two fighters. Smaller than T7, but still a sizable start. Even if some favorites don’t make it in the base, there’s years of support to look forward to.
Turn Up the Heat
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The biggest difference between “Tekken 8” and its predecessor is the new Heat mechanic. While T7 did evolve the Rage mechanic we had seen since T6, series producer Katsuhiro Harada and his team have noticed how defensive many players are. For T8, Heat replaces Rage and is meant to encourage more aggressive gameplay. Not only that, it also grants more moves to your character, potentially leading to more devastating combos. So, if you’re used to footsies and turtles, that ain’t gonna save you this time!
Come At Me Like Your Life Depends On It
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Chip damage is also getting a rework in T8. As with most fighting games, blocking while your rival is attacking will only chip your health away by a fraction of a fraction. However, T8 is making it so countering is rewarding. This time, if you can punish and string attacks quick enough, you can recover whatever health you lost to chip damage. Sure, it may not seem like much, but it could save your butt later on.
Get Your Cameras Ready, Folks
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Another aspect of “Tekken 8” that’s a bit more friendly to spectators is the focus on presentation. When it comes to watching competitive fighting games, it can sometimes be hard to follow the action or stale when people are using the same strategies over and over again. For T8, Bandai Namco is looking at ways to make fights more interesting no matter how often you watch tournaments. This means they are looking at ways stages can be destructible and how characters react to specific moves, both of which can possibly open up to new strategies.
I Hope Your Affairs Are in Order
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And the affairs are in order! Bandai Namco is going about “Tekken 8’s” development a bit differently. For nearly all of “Tekken 7’s” development both pre- and post-launch, Bandai Namco handled everything themselves until the very end when they handed it off to Arika. Arika has shown the quality of their work with online play across a variety of titles such as “Tetris 99”, “Fighting EX Layer”, and “Chocobo GP”. For T8, Bandai Namco is developing the base game while Arika handles online and post-launch support.
Get Ready For the Next Battle
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Online is also getting a rework for “Tekken 8”. In the past, “Tekken” has kept things simple…almost too simple. Like, just a menu and maybe a training ground to beat on a dummy while you wait for a match. T8 is expanding to reach the same level as other fighting games. You’ll now get a customizable avatar to run around as in Arcade Quest, which will teach you all about the game’s mechanics and online functionality. Of course, you’ll still earn Fight Money to purchase more customization options for characters.
Power Is Everything!
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Perhaps the biggest draw for T8’s tech geek fans is the engine it's being developed on. Though we are a few years into the ninth generation of consoles, we haven’t seen too many games utilizing the new Unreal Engine 5. Most companies have found their own proprietary engine or opted for other engines. “Tekken 8” will be the first major fighting game to utilize the engine, and damn, it looks unbelievably sexy! You can tell the development team is taking full advantage of the engine’s capabilities in visual fidelity and performance. We only hope it's as polished as it looks when it's finally out.
Launch
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So, “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat” have jumped into the next generation of gaming. When will “Tekken”? “Tekken 8” is not far away. The game will launch on January 26, 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Considering the game will be available super early in the year, expect to see it pop up at various tournaments such as EVO Japan in April 2024 as well as the main EVO event in July 2024. In other words, the King of Iron Fist Tournament is about to take over the year. Who are you going to main when “Tekken 8” launches? Is there a character you’re hoping to see return? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!
