Fighting games are awesome. It’s just you and your friend punching each other’s digital selves while bonding over a bevvy. They’re the ultimate multiplayer game because you can get very intense about being the best, or you can just leave it on in the background of a party for people to jump on when they need an activity instead of raking over their childhood trauma (or whatever your friends talk about at parties). Tekken 8 is perfect as part of this time-honoured tradition.
But I think we also need to talk about what’s going on in the story mode of Tekken 8. Yes, I realise that going to a fighting game for the story mode is like going to a 70s porno to find out if the sink was fixed properly after the plumber visited, but the Tekken 8 story mode is a masterpiece. It’s amazing what some people will create instead of going to therapy.
The story of Tekken 8 is weirdly religious
Catholic art has a lot of recurring themes: good vs evil, angels, demons, struggling with feelings of having something fundamentally wrong with you, mummy issues, daddy issues, repression, a guy speaking Italian while wearing white robes, a man in his 30s with a tight friendship group, and a significant dose of homoeroticism. While I don’t want to give any spoilers for the story, I think an argument could be made that the Tekken 8 story mode is as much of a Catholic work of art as the Sistine Chapel, and it may also be gayer.
Now, if your response to that description was “…what?” then that’s ok. I also did not remember that the story of the Tekken franchise had taken such a celestial turn because I immediately forget the story of fighting games after playing them. Again: very few people go to fighting games for the plot. I understand that these characters need a thinly veiled excuse to become incredibly violent with people from a range of backgrounds, body shapes, and species (I still love Panda), and that’s really all you need to have a good time. However, you need this fighting game story.
The good news is that if you’re confused about how Tekken ended up going from being just an MMA tournament to fighting for the fate of the world, then there are a series of “and here’s what you missed on Tekken” movies that condense the plots of previous story modes into a couple of minutes. They don’t make much sense, but they give you enough of a gist that you understand why Jin is so angsty all the time.
While fighting game story modes generally lack depth, you shouldn’t write this one off. The Tekken 8 writers clearly worked out a lot of personal demons in what appears to have been an extremely satisfying and earnest way. Short of maintext romance, this story had everything you could possibly want in an epic tale.
Would it have been better if the voice actors didn’t all sound so constipated, and if there were more gameplay options than “and then they fought, and the enemy’s health bar refilled multiple times, and they fought again (repeat)”? Yes, absolutely. But this piece of surrealist art was made better because of the high production value visuals and angsty teenager level of writing. It was, at times, raw and honest, and the three hours I spent with it were largely enjoyable.
Does Tekken 8 have the greatest story mode of any game ever? Absolutely not. But there is so much in there that fans will love, and casual players will love to “What? What??” about. If you’re getting Tekken 8 for the multiplayer, you should still absolutely check out the single-player mode.
In addition to the main story, there are also a bunch of Character Episodes to keep single players entertained. Most of these episodes are much less “life and death” stakes than the main campaign, ranging from cute to “is that a bit sexist?” and “if only his father had hugged him as a child”. And, if you want a game mode with character models that wouldn’t make Tom of Finland blush, there’s always Arcade Quest, which has cutesy animated characters celebrating arcade culture. So, there’s something for everyone.
OK, but what about the fighting?
The good news is that Tekken 8 works overtime to atone for Tekken 7’s sins. I’ve never been a hardcore fighting game player by any means, but from my casual perspective, Tekken 8 is the most satisfying Tekken game I’ve played in a long time. Most of the gripes I have with actual fighting appear to be skill issues rather than problems with the game (no matter how tempted I am to blame my inability to block on others).
The movement is fluid, the hits look like they land, and the character models and arenas look absolutely gorgeous. It’s as much of a pleasure to watch as it is to play. The fur movement on Panda is glorious.
In terms of new mechanics, Heat Mode is a nice middle ground between using your special, and going into a more aggressive, punchier mode. Landing hits appears to slow the burn of the timer, and it encourages you to be aggressive and get right in there, rather than hang back and be strategic, which I really enjoy. If you’re into the lore, the way Heat mode slightly changes for each character is another nice touch that tells you more about who they are as a character.
If you’re not wanting to jump straight into being competitive, practice mode is better equipped this time around to set players up for success. If there are specific things you want to train, you can place your opponent where you need them. It’s not the best practice mode I’ve ever seen, but it’s good enough that most newer players will get something of value out of it.
Another great feature for newer players is the ability to change control schemes mid fight at the touch of a button, switching between “classic” controls and “special” controls, which simplify the fighting experience a little. Under the special control scheme, your move options are more limited, but you can also compete with other players slightly above your level. You can stick with the simpler controls, see an opportunity to do something cool, switch back to the other mode to do the cool thing, and then go back to the more simple version. It seems like both a handy learning tool, and also something that will be used to interesting strategic effect.
Tekken 8 verdict
Tekken 8 is great. Whether you’re already a Tekken fan, enjoy fighting games, or just want to see an utterly bizarre Catholic-inspired film, there really is something for everyone here. Plus there is so much more stuff that I couldn’t get to in this review (because it’s getting a bit long): Tekken Ball is back! and it’s awesome. Customisation sucks, but it exists.
Review conducted on PlayStation 5 with a pre-release code provided by the publisher.
Image: Bandai Namco Entertainment
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