Tekken 8 review – I can Xiaoyu the world

2023 was a hell of a great year for fighting game fans, as between Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1, there was plenty to feast on. But one name was missing from the list, one franchise conspicuously absent from digital fisticuffs. Tekken has always been the final part of the fighting game trinity, and with a fashionably late arrival to the scene in the form of Tekken 8, the franchise is back and ready to rock with one of the best entries in the series. In short, this new chapter in the storied Mishima saga comes out swinging with some of the best single-player content on the block and a multiplayer mode that packs a punch.

It’s hard to believe that it has been nine years between mainline entries, but Tekken 8 shows no signs of ring rust with its arrival on PC and current-gen console platforms. Picking up where the previous game left off–imagine Succession with more family members being hurled into volcanos–Tekken 8 goes all in on the sheer ridiculousness of its story. Why pretend otherwise, when you can watch a titanic clash between a father and son as they wield demonic might and entire cities are destroyed in the midst of their feud?

Tekken has always been absurd, but to see it embrace the silliness while proving ample opportunity for other characters to arrive and slug it out with one another is a recipe for success. The story mode isn’t too long either, clocking in at a comfortable 3-4 hours in length, and it goes all in on anime-level brawls and plot twists. The massively stacked roster also gets a chance to shine, as with 32 characters in total, you’re able to experience each of their endings once you’ve run through a gauntlet of competitors. And yes, things do get very silly.

Mechanically, Tekken 8 embodies an arcade spirit of aggressiveness that pulls no punches. While the Rage feature will feel familiar to Tekken veterans–think of this as a powerful one-time comeback attack you can pull off when your health gets low–it’s the Heat System where things start to get interesting. This functions best as a counter that can be triggered at any point in a round, and once you do, you’ll have a brief window of opportunity to follow through with a Heat Smash to rain down a few more damaging blows on the face of your adversary.

Importantly, during this assault, you’ll have access to new moves and combos, shaking up your offensive options. Another beneficial side-effect when your character is in Heat–that sounded better in my head, I swear–is that you’ll also do chip damage to anyone blocking your attacks, as opposed to them taking zero damage from regular attacks. But wait, there’s more! Players can recover health–something we haven’t seen since the Tekken Tag games–by absorbing big attacks with a Power Crush move. That leaves your health bar in a Schrodinger’s Cat state, as you’ll have a grey segment that you’ll either gain back if you can land a successful blow or lose if you’re on the receiving end of one.

The end result is a new push to aggressively close the gap and throw defense to the wind, making matches more interesting in the process. Sure, there’s a strategy to consider around when to active your Heat attacks, but it’s also thrilling to go on the offensive with this new bag of tricks.

The simplicity of activating Heat also ties into Tekken 8’s new Simple Style of optional controls. Similar to Street Fighter 6’s modern controls, Simple Style maps face buttons to specific moves, allowing anyone to bust out advanced combos and juggle-attacks. The mode can be toggled on or off inside a match, just in case you want to really annoy your purist arcade friends when you start busting out easy combos. Hi, Geoff!

These new mechanics gel effortlessly with the more tried-and-trusted franchise gameplay on display in Tekken 8. The wide roster of boxers, brawlers, and, uh, bears have all retained their individual fighting styles, but they’re facing some new challengers this time around. Standout character additions include Victor, France’s answer to James Bond but somehow cooler, and Azucena, a specialist who is so effective at counters that there’s already a call to nerf her.

In addition to the story mode and character episodes, Tekken 8 also offers Arcade Quest and Super Ghost Battle modes. Arcade Quest pits your customizable avatar against different opponents as you learn the Tekken ropes, while also asking you to take things easy and remember that it’s just a game. Super Ghost Battle allows you to challenge the CPU to a bout, but the twist here is that your opponent has gathered data on your fighting style and will mimic it. This allows you to see firsthand your own fighting game inadequacies–not that I have any because I’m perfect–and see where you can improve.

You can even download the ghosts of other players and send yours out into the great digital yonder, just in case you want to fight a friend but they can’t make time for you currently. There are several other extras available in the single-player part of Tekken. Think recaps and jukebox selections that offer an embarrassing amount of additional content, so Tekken historians will be in their element here.

It’s also worth mentioning that Tekken 8 is downright gorgeous to look at. I don’t know how many souls Bandai Namco used to make a deal with the video game devil, but the game crackles with energy and barely skips a frame on Xbox Series X|S. Characters designs are cool–Reina is my personal favorite–muscles pop with the delivery of punches designed to loosen teeth, and stages look wonderfully dynamic. The soundtrack isn’t bad either, as each percussive beat syncs up perfectly with the onslaught of one-two punches and high-kicks you dish out.

If Tekken 8 is a single-player triumph on multiple levels, what of the multiplayer then? This is where fighting games live and breathe, and in the case of Tekken 8, the online offerings are far superior when compared to Tekken 7’s infamous setup. From my week with the game, I can say the netcode feels solid and improved, even when I’m smashing in someone’s face on the other side of the globe. Several rollback settings can be adjusted to dial in how your inputs behave, and cross-play only adds to the magic.

With that being said, I still feel like Street Fighter 6 is the king of the online connectivity space, as Tekken 8 does have several technical issues to deal with. Your matches will still be perfectly playable, but it can be better! And sticking with the Street Fighter 6 comparisons, Tekken 8 has its own hub for you to run around in. The Tekken Fight Lounge is a cool little social space, one where you can quickly hop into casual matches and ranked brawls when you’re not busy popping emotes and gazing at some of the nightmare-fuel avatars present.

As a complete package, Tekken 8 feels like a game that never forgets its roots. At the same time, though, it’s also not beholden to the past as it delivers knockout visuals and killer combos of exciting new gameplay mechanics.

Tekken 8 is out now for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC, having released on 26 January.