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Jan 26, 2024 · 2024.08.14 TEKKEN 8, the long-awaited sequel to the historic fighting game franchise, is finally out! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
- Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
- January 26, 2024
Feb 9, 2024 · Tekken 8 feels effortlessly slick and self-assured. ... which is the unbreakable promise any fighting game worth its salt needs to keep. Tekken 8 verdict: A kingly combatant ... buying new TVs at ...
- UK Computing Editor
- dave.meikleham@futurenet.com
- Fist Meets Face.
- Pick a winner
- The 10 Best Fighting Games
- Which Tekken 8 training feature do you expect to find the most useful?
- New Challengers
- What We Said About Tekken 7
- Score: 9.5
- More Than Just Heat Mode
- Ronny's Favorite Fighting Games
- Which Tekken has the best soundtrack?
By Ronny Barrier
Updated: Jan 26, 2024 11:36 pm
Posted: Jan 23, 2024 2:00 pm
The Tekken series is steeped in legacy. From the mechanical skills and knowledge needed to compete at the highest levels, to its iconic music and characters, to inside jokes spanning three decades and an ongoing story dating back just as far, each new entry has a heavy burden to bear. How do you honor that legacy without being chained down by it? That is the question Tekken 8 thoughtfully considers, and the answer it comes up with is a simple, yet profound one: you accept what’s come before, but you don’t let it stop you from moving forward. Whether it be a literal dash forward using the powerful new Heat system, impressive training tools, or the compelling story of a man trying to break generational shackles to create a brighter future, Tekken 8 is always honoring its past while striving to improve its present. And most of all, it’s just some really good-ass Tekken.
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They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and Bandai Namco smartly hasn’t tried to change the parts of Tekken’s combat mechanics that were already great. Movement, spacing, block punishing, and whiff punishing all remain as vital as ever, but two significant additions also twist those mechanics in exciting ways: recoverable health, and the Heat System.
That said, one aspect of these changes I could see eventually getting frustrating is how it gives even more offensive pressure to characters who thrive on it, like Hwoarang and the various members of the Mishima family. It’s scary enough to try and keep blocking when it seems like it’s been your opponent’s turn to attack forever, so adding in chip damage and extra tools for characters with overwhelming offense is even more to deal with. But since these tools are universal, you always have a chance to turn the tide yourself, and Heat makes execution for a lot of moves easier, such as the Mishimas’ electric attacks no longer requiring a single-frame input. Heat is both your most powerful offensive tool and a great equalizer.
On top of Heat naturally smoothing out the beginner’s on-ramp a bit, Tekken 8 also has some of the best training tools I’ve ever seen in a fighting game. The new Arcade Quest mode is a great way to slowly ramp up the difficulty of CPU opponents, and the Training Mode is incredibly full featured, with combo challenges, save states (so you can drill specific situations like wall breaks easily), punishment training, moves you can pin to the screen while practicing them, and handy notes and icons that tell you the specific properties of each attack.
Save States
Pinning Moves to the Screen
Move Demonstrations
Frame Data
Punishment Training
Replay Takeover
Joining the roster’s returning mainstays are three fighters new to the Tekken series. Victor, the French UN Agent voiced by actor Vincent Cassell, Azucena, the energetic coffee entrepreneur, and the enigmatic Reina.
Victor sports some really flashy attacks that look cool as soon as you pick him up, and his vanishing strikes have great mixup and pressure options that are, thankfully, able to be punished if abused too often. His connection to the story is a nice addition to the lore as well, framing him as a character who has been in the background training other longtime roster mainstays.
Tekken 7 truly is a hallmark, a fighting game crafted with obvious affection. It strikes a fine balance between accessibility to series newcomers and retaining much of its technical traditions. The soundtrack is an electronic treat, and while the story can at times seem a bit cliche, the fact that it never takes itself too seriously lets it bring i...
Note: Since 2020, IGN has scored on a 1-10 scale.
Read the full Tekken 7 review
Continuing an extremely welcome trend of recent fighting games, Tekken 8 has enough single player content to keep you busy for dozens of hours without ever even touching multiplayer. The cinematic story mode, subtitled The Dark Awakens, is a roughly three-to-four-hour mix of cutscenes and story battles, and while I can’t give away many details, there are a few surprises that should delight longtime Tekken fans, including multiple playable characters. It seems like a good way to showcase Special Style, too, as story weaves in and out of fights and in-game slow motion is used to punctuate big moves – I actually found using it more enjoyable than the regular controls for most of the story since I wasn’t browsing a move list every time I played as a new character. There’s plenty of time to dig deep and try hard in all the other modes, so I was glad to just be able to have fun quickly for this campaign.
Story mode has a few surprises that should delight longtime Tekken fans.
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As far as the actual story goes, I mostly enjoyed my time with it. There are some very “capital A Anime” moments, and not everyone gets a chance to shine, but Bandai Namco gives attention to important character arcs that span several games, and there are clear fan-service moments that land successfully. It’s simple enough to understand as a newcomer, too, as the relationships and stakes are laid out pretty clearly from the jump and the Gallery mode includes several summary videos of past games. One of the only negatives presentation-wise is that the real-time action looks so good that the transitions into pre-rendered cutscenes can sometimes be jarring, especially with some slightly smeary effects and different color grading layered on top of them.
These are not the "Top 10 Best Fighting Games," but games that have great personal significance to me, and ones I'll always come back to.
New to the series in Tekken 8 are two modes: Arcade Quest and Super Ghost Battle. Arcade Quest is actually my favorite of the single player options; mimicking a crawl through various arcades, your customizable avatar moves through different opponents while slowly learning Tekken 8’s mechanics. You can spend as much time as you want in each location challenging characters, all of whom sport different playstyles to test your mettle against. There’s a passable story that preaches the importance of having fun in a stressful genre, but it really works as a lengthy tutorial for those who may be a bit hesitant to immediately jump online. Arcade Quest gives you a ton of encouragement as you go, and it should provide players intimidated by Tekken’s high difficulty a reason to stick around without meeting some of the vitriol you’d see with real-life bad actors.
Jan 23, 2024 · Tekken 8 is the next installment of the nearly 30-year-old fighting game series. Its mere existence is enough to delight a lot of returning fans — myself included. I have no doubt that my cabal ...
Jan 23, 2024 · Tekken 8 feels like returning home. A bit of a cringe opener, I know, but across my 40 hours spent with this game for the review I couldn't help but feel like I was being reunited with an old ...
- Features Producer
- Mollie Taylor
Jan 23, 2024 · With a thrilling combat system and tons of engaging content for newcomers and competitive players alike, Tekken 8 is one of the best fighting games you can buy. $69 at Amazon $70 at Best Buy
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Jan 23, 2024 · Tekken 8 is nothing short of a revelation, and it’ll be hard for other fighting games to follow in its footsteps. ... so you can be sure you’re buying the best. ... it’s worth checking out ...
