Tekken 8 Review (PS5)

When the arcade cabinets still roamed the Earth, most youngsters were queuing up to spend quite a lot of tokens to beat the pixels out of each other in virtual arenas. The popularity of fighting games faded considerably since then, but three franchises managed to survive and became household names. After successful recent entries in the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter series, this time around it is up to Tekken to unleash its roster of over-the-top characters.

And Tekken 8 does not disappoint, the developers did not hold back at all. We have rich and detailed visuals thanks to Unreal 5 Engine, a truly comprehensive story and a tuned-up fighting system that punishes heavily button smashing. But is it enough to make up for the seven long years fans had to wait to once again experience the thrill of the Iron Fist Tournament?

The new story feels the most comprehensive and detailed in the history of the franchise, but it acts very friendly towards the new players as well. Of course, longtime fans can hardly wait to see a new chapter in the feud between Mishima and Kazama, and they will not be disappointed. But Tekken 8 is full of leisurely strolls down memory lane that present the key moments of the journey so far and make it pretty easy to figure out the roles and the relationships between the characters.

Jin Kazama is now the epicenter of the events, the fighter whom players will control most of the time. If you need to brush up your memories about him, you can watch some black and white summaries about his tormented path. These do a decent job of setting the stage and presenting the history of the character, and how we ended up with the events of the eighth episode, but they are noticeably less polished than the rest of the game.

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The main story arc is about redemption and turning the eternal conflict among good and evil, light and shadow into literal combat. Without giving spoilers about the events that players will experience we can say that what is lacked in narrative complexity is heavily compensated by spectacular eye candy. The rhythm is pretty alert throughout the single player campaign, with a few memorable moments and an ending that reserves some surprises, not all good.

Even before the story new players are advised to start with the joys of the Arcade Quest mode. This not only challenges you to roam around the arcade dens and test your abilities against the reigning champions, but it also contains the tutorial that presents the combat mechanics. It lasts the same 4-5 hours as the main story. As a side note I have to mention, that although enjoyable, there is a weird propaganda element to it, that places Tekken games as the universal glue that holds together humanity and is the secret recipe to achieve worldwide friendship.

The design of the avatars roaming around in the arcade clubs is in sharp contrast with the character design and serious note of the fights themselves. The chibi like characters hanging out in front of the cabinets feel a bit too cute and cuddly to play a game in which the main goal is to mop up the floor with your adversary. Nonetheless, overall, it is an enjoyable experience that rewards you with some pieces of concept art as well.

Tekken 8 brings back the character arcs which consist of fighting sequences tailored to each fighter. Although they do not add as much to the story as you would expect, watching the cutscenes that accompany these fights is engaging and have quite a few fun moments. Moreover, together with the other single player modes they help you master the fighting style of each combatant. Because as said earlier, button mashing will not bring you victory in Tekken 8.

We can’t complain about the roster, that at launch includes no less than 32 playable fighters. Most of them are familiar faces, including some characters that were thought lost, but we also have 4 new martial artists as well. Each of them has their own fighting style, and the differences in their approach to combat are different enough in order to accommodate the varied preferences of players. Fans will also have access to more characters if they are willing to pay extra for the DLCs.

After you feel like you mastered your favorite fighter you can take on online battles. The ranked and unranked matches can be chosen from a menu, but they can also be stumbled upon while exploring a central hub, that also serves as means to befriend other players. You can wander around, explore and by sitting down at a front of a cabinet you can participate in Ranked matches, Player Battles or Group Combat.

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The biggest and weirdest novelty is the Tekken-ball game mode that fuses fighting games and beachball into an unexpected experience. Although it takes place on a beach and reminds us somehow of Dead or Alive, it is more of a humorous break from the regular matches that need all your focus and the best use of your skills. Here the scope is to hit your opponent using the provided beach ball – the only way to cause damage.

So, what about fighting mechanics? Essentially, Tekken 8 follows the core mechanics of the franchise with spectacular combos that send your opponents flying through the air or pins them to the ground. With enough experience you can pull-off extremely fluid and long combos that can stun lock your enemies. It needs a lot of practice and knowing inside out all the moves of your character. It can be really difficult to figure out how to best chain the moves together, but the payoff is the most spectacular and deadly ballet I have seen.

In order to keep things accessible, the developers did not forget about the Easy Combo and Assist functions as well, that are going to be the new players best friends. Especially the Special Style will prove useful that associates not just a specific move, but a range of moves for each button. As such with the press of a single button you can interrupt the attack flow of your opponent, the game choosing the best move to stop that annoying combo. You still need to block, and to time your actions carefully, but it makes the combat easier.

And of course, once again we have the Rage Art moves that pull off brutal moves once your character suffered too much punishment and their health bar is dangerously low. These moves are not just visually stunning but if they are not parried, they will consume roughly a big chunk of your opponent’s hit points. Somewhat similar to this mechanic is the Heat system that is not conditioned by your health, but helps you pull off either more powerful attacks or special moves. Of course, these can also be parried, and their success is not guaranteed.

While the gap between Tekken 7 and Tekken 8 is not as big as you would expect, Unreal Engine 5 is a clear step forward, the new episode having beautiful graphics that fit with the current expectations. Especially the character models and the visual effects are more detailed than ever before, and while the combats are spectacular, the cut-scenes are where Tekken 8 really shines. There is an obvious difference between the pre-rendered and the in-game ones. All characters still speak in their native language, leading to some funny dialogues and with the exception of some odd choices the soundtrack is a perfect fit for the fast gameplay and builds the atmosphere that really envelopes you in the spirit of the fights.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion