Brutal, visceral, aggressive. Like a hype-man, Bandai Namco wants to make the right first impression with Tekken 8. But questions remain for longtime fans of the series, who adore the pomp and grandeur of its characters and story arcs, and get a kick from its irresistible mix of majestic backdrops – all that King of Iron Fist and Mishima stuff – and anarchic silliness (yes, we’re looking at you Kuma, Panda, Gon, etc).
It’s been five years since Tekken 7 arrived on home consoles, and eight since it first hit Japanese arcades. Much of that entry was gated behind paid DLC while its story and arcade mode seemed thin. In my time spent playing Tekken 8, doubts remained about the “full package” as Harada referred to what the mainstream players looked for – as opposed to the esports fighters. But despite all this, the look, feel, and sound of the combat in Tekken 8 left me feeling both satisfied and hungry for more.
Updated April 6, 2023: We've updated this article to include our own video discussion on the upcoming Tekken 8. Our Stacey Henley and Lu-Hai Liang lament missing game modes and deep dive into the potential lore.
I recently spent a day playing Tekken 8 at Bandai Namco’s European HQ, with access to 10 characters and five stages. It was a lavish event, with game designer Michael Murray and longtime game director Katsuhiro Harada in attendance. Clearly, the developer is taking great care with this eighth-numbered entry. It now runs on Unreal Engine 5 and beloved characters are set to receive complete redesigns. As the first Tekken for the current generation of consoles, Bandai Namco is introducing bold gameplay changes while retaining familiar aspects that will keep long term fans happy. It’s all about striking a balance with its ambition.
It’s not easy appealing to hardcore combo jugglers duking it out over frames in one corner, while in another sits more casual players, and let’s not forget newcomers that’ll be discovering Tekken for the first time. I almost envy those newcomers. They’re going to find an incredibly polished fighting system that’s as accessible as it is deep, and a new Rage Art mechanic that showcases how visually impressive Tekken 8 is.
We were given access to series veterans Marshall Law, Paul Phoenix, Kazuya Mishima, Nina Williams, Jun Kazama, Jin Kazama and Ling Xiaoyu; relative newcomer Lars Alexandersson; Jack 8 and whatever version of King we’re on at this point. King looked especially fantastic. Lars, meanwhile, with his sinuous and dynamic fighting style – moving fluidly between low, high, and middle attacks will likely be a favourite among new players. Characters possess a detailed yet stylised look; their taunts and story-related intros all correct and present. Jin still has an attractively brooding intensity, like the emo kid you root for despite being darkened by greater power. You just know that one day he’s gonna snap.
Bandai Namco also unveiled Xiaoyu’s reveal trailer, and it was heartening to see her levity and sweetness once again – evidence that Tekken truly succeeds when it doesn’t bury its sillier, zanier side beneath all the bravado. She’s slightly more powerful this time around too, at least that’s how I felt, while Law has been nerfed a bit. Kazuya transforms into his devil form quite readily during play, which might hint at Tekken 8’s plot. We weren’t told much, if anything, about the story during the preview. Finally, Lars, with his slicked and pointy hair, has a Rage Art reminiscent of a certain RPG made by Square Enix. Yes, Rage Art. Let’s talk about that.
Key to understanding Tekken 8 is its focus on making fights feel and look more exciting, entertaining, and visceral. The Rage System underpins this while emphasising how fights can shift and turn, with momentum moving between fighters. ‘Rage State’ is when your character’s health drops to a certain level and your attack power increases. But more than this is the ‘Rage Art’ – a one-shot reversal. Activating Rage Art was as easy as pressing R2 on PS5. This then triggers an animation as your character “powers up” to hit. If they manage to connect (and that’s key) then you’re in business. What follows is basically Tekken’s take on Final Fantasy’s Limit Breaks as characters perform attacks that look incredible and deal massive damage.
Playing against someone who seemed to have instantly mastered the Rage Art system, I was left frustrated as they kept on managing to reverse our rounds, and win. Once they connected their initial Rage Art hit, there was nothing I could do. We both had to watch the animation unfold as I suffered huge hits to my health and often lost the round. However, once I started to understand it more, this led to some very fun and flowing fights. I learned to block the initial Rage Art hit, while making sure I triggered mine when my opponent was in the middle of an attack. The momentum shifts flowed constantly. Once you manage to land a Rage Art, this can feel very satisfying. One worry is that watching the Rage Art animations unfold can be repetitive. For onlookers however, the unleashing of these cinematic animations can look very cool indeed.
Jack 8 fires missiles from a huge gun. Jin unleashes his devil form. Marshall Law goes full Bruce Lee. While Lars invokes thunder and lightning from the heavens. Rage Arts will be one of the things players look forward to when they unlock a new character.
And Tekken 8 looks incredible. One stage – Urban Square – was set in a Times Square, Manhattan-look-alike, and the neon and numerous background NPCs brought it to life. There was clutter and detail everywhere I looked. Another stage – Sanctum – recalled Uncharted, with breakable walls, huge trees, and an ancient feel, with dramatic moonlight. Another stage – Arena – looked like a UFC event with an octagon and huge screens. But most of all the particle effects and the way punches and kicks land lent Tekken 8 a thrilling feeling of destruction and power. Combat itself felt smoother, faster, crunchier, while it also sounded better. The power of the PS5 no doubt helps with all this, including the faster loading times the SSD enables.
There’s also a new mechanic known as the ‘Recoverable Gauge’, which is similar to the red gauge found in Tekken Tag, with part of the damage felt by blocking certain big moves or aerial combos remaining as a recoverable segment. The gauge does not recover over time, while players recover the health by hitting or guarding an attack.
Tekken 8’s Heat System can be activated once per round for 10 seconds, with the timer stopping when your opponent is hit or knocked down. But a skillful player can maintain their Heat state for longer. Players can trigger Heat with the Heat Burst – activated with a single button with your character performing a slamming attack – or the Heat Engager, which activates when hitting an opponent.
In play, this all felt more intuitive, and players should understand instinctively after a few hours. This has always been one of Tekken’s greatest strengths, and the fun of the Heat System is the punishing attacks it inflicts, further underlining the tidal shifts in momentum the developers want to push. There are further aspects to Heat, such as the Heat Smash – which consumes all Heat Energy for huge damage – and Heat Dash, while the different parts also either add or consume Heat Energy.
When it comes to newcomers, Tekken 8 makes a special effort to accommodate them with ‘Special Style’. The standard ‘Arcade Style’ is bread and butter for veterans. But Special Style simplifies special attacks and combos that allow newcomers to level the playing field somewhat. It works by assigning one button or pressing a single input multiple times to trigger more powerful attacks or combos. I played against someone who was losing a lot, but after switching to Special Style, things got more interesting as they could now go toe-to-toe. While “purists” will argue this Special Style is “cheating”, it will help those players coming round to a friend’s house, playing Tekken for the first time, to have a better time facing off against their more practiced friend. Harada likened this Special Style to transforming the game into an action title such as God of War, which was an interesting concept. Perhaps, we’ll get a mode like Tekken Force in 8.
Overall, Tekken 8’s combat is more cinematic and thrilling than ever, with slick animations and copious effects producing a movie-like experience. At this early stage, the aggressiveness of the gameplay seems to have paid off and Tekken 8 could be the most exciting entry in ages. For longtime fans, such as myself, however, it will still take a level of story and character development, not to mention extra gameplay modes, before Tekken 8 can match the series’ glory days of its third entry.