Videogame Review: Tekken 8

Was not expecting furyo Heihachi to work this well but I’m here for it

I am not as much into Tekken as I am Street Fighter, so this one will be short and sweet. If you’re looking for deep technical analysis of the fighting system you’ll have to look elsewhere. While I have enjoyed Tekken games since the very first back in the PSX days, I have never gone too deep into competitive play. The combat just isn’t as enjoyable for me as other fighting games, 3D and 2D alike.

Nevertheless I appreciate the achievement that is Tekken 8. It is one of the only triple A fighting games in recent years that feels like a complete package. I love that it launched with 32 playable characters, way more than Mortal Kombat 1 or Street Fighter 6. I love that it has both a fully fleshed out story mode and individual character endings in arcade mode. The online is varied and consistently performs well. There are neat training features such as the AI ghost battles and lots of helpful tutorials and tools. The game really is a complete package in terms of content. Music and graphics are also solid.

For me, the Tekken combat formula is the biggest weakness. There are so many super long combos that fights feel like two or three guesses and then that’s it — you just get juggled the entire fight waiting for your turn. I prefer fighting games with more back and forth and solid reversal mechanics. This issue combined with the cinematic rage art attacks, which charge up every round, makes the pace of fights less fun. In SF6 you have to make a strategic decision to charge up and gamble on a level 3 super that takes 35% of your opponent’s health. Tekken 8 defaults to best of five matches; that means a lot of time fishing for supers and watching the same cutscenes again and again.

These complaints are of course very subjective. I would say if you are a longtime Tekken fan you’ll enjoy this game a lot. I like Reina and the other new characters. The customization and online are also really good as is the single player. It’s not exactly my cup of tea but I’m having fun with it and you probably will too.

Grade: B