TEKKEN 8 Review | The Pinnacle of Fighting Games

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.

Tekken 8 Review Overview

Tekken 8 Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Visually Amazing Amazing Character Variety and Customization New Mechanics Change the Game Made Learning the Game Easier Story is Actually Pretty Good	Effects Can Be Super Distracting Some Missing Functions In Online Lobbies Online is Broken at the Moment

Tekken 8 Overall - 90/100

Tekken 8 has cemented itself as one of this generation’s best fighting games. The game is a visual marvel while being in its best form in the series in every possible way. It improves on everything the previous games had and offers new mechanics to learn and have fun with as well. It’s a must-play fighting game, and it’s time for everyone to play some good-a** Tekken.

Tekken 8 Story - 8/10

Admittedly, the entirety of Tekken’s story is full of holes, and will need you to watch the recap to get a grasp of what happened. However, I will give Namco their flowers for being able to make a story coherent back in 1994 as well as making it make sense. This and the added Character Episodes are just direct upgrades from the old game, and I applaud them for putting in the effort to make these better.

Tekken 8 Gameplay - 10/10

This is the best Tekken game to date and all of the added mechanics add so much flavor to the gameplay it's already established all these years. With a base roster of 34 characters, there are a lot of characters to learn and play with. There are also brand new game modes that Tekken 8 offers that ease new players into the game and arguably the best "tutorial story" there is for a fighting game.

Tekken 8 Visuals - 10/10

The game is a visual treat to look at even if you’re just a spectator. There are times when the effects become too overwhelming, but they give the option to tone the effects down which I immediately did. Tekken has always had the reputation of having great graphics for its time, and it’s good to see it live up to that reputation. Like I said earlier, it’s the best-looking fighting game out there right now. From the character designs, the animations, and the rest, what’s more to say?

Tekken 8 Audio - 8/10

While the Tekken soundtrack has had a lot of hits and misses throughout its tenure, I’m glad to say that this iteration has more hits than misses in its current state. Plus, the game even has a Jukebox mode so if you don’t like the music of the current stages, you can change it to bangers from the older games. It’s important to highlight the different sound effects and character voices that the game has now, and they changed it quite a lot. I’m not a fan of the new sound effects, but they’re serviceable enough to let me know what’s happening in the game and how they function.

Tekken 8 Value for Money - 9/10

To set it straight, the game is expensive. It’s a premium AAA offering of a fighting game that offers quite a lot of things in its initial state. There are a lot of characters to learn and a lot of game modes to keep you busy, and I think it’s worth that investment. There’s an argument to be had about the game’s DLC prices and it could go both ways, but I think it’s worth the additional price if you’re looking to take the game seriously.

Tekken 8 Review: The Pinnacle of Fighting Games

With all the hype and expectations that players around the world have been waiting for, I daresay Tekken 8 met and surpassed those expectations. I’ve been playing Tekken 7 since its console release back in 2017 and even got to the point where I started playing in local tournaments and learning more about the intricacies of the game itself. I had high hopes for Tekken 8 as I always put the franchise on a pedestal when it comes to which fighting game series is best.

I already talked about the new mechanics in depth in my older featured article talking about my experience with the Closed Network and Beta Test (which you should totally read by the way), so I won’t bore you too much with more of that nonsense. To sum up the new mechanics, they changed how general moves like throws and parries work in accordance with Power Crushes. There’s more of the rock-paper-scissors in the offensive structure of the game, as opposed to just blocking mid or low. With Heat, they were able to incorporate a character’s identity more into their gameplay and have their own exclusive moves when powered up by Heat. Tekken has been able to innovate itself in every release, but this time around it feels like the shift and the change of the game is massive and in a great way.

With the new mechanics, it feels as if you have to address situations immediately as opposed to before, where blocking will get you out of a sticky situation more than 80% of the time. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t block, but it puts more emphasis on knowing how to fight back in moments where your back is against the wall or something of the sort. The changes in the game make it feel like a fresh new experience even for players like myself, who have been playing the previous game for about half a decade.

Aside from the gameplay, the game’s visuals are still top-notch. I think that it has the best graphics for all the offered fighting games now. The game uses Unreal Engine 5 and the difference from the past iteration is night and day. Additionally, the new character designs for all of the characters are also welcome. As a Yoshimitsu main, I daresay this might be his best character design throughout the series and I’m glad that he looks more like the badass swordsman that he is than his squid-like version in the previous game.

The biggest and most welcome surprise for me would be how good the story was for a fighting game. Tekken’s story focuses on the Mishima family’s feud dating back to its inception back in 1994. It’s a lot of anime tropes throughout the story, but I was genuinely surprised by how well all the characters interacted with each other. More to this, the story was able to pick up and make connections from its previous games as well as the Netflix series which was a retelling of the original Tekken 3 story.

It’s been a long time coming for Tekken 8 to come out, and boy am I glad this game delivered. The story, the music, the visuals, and most importantly, the gameplay, all come together for this amazing fighting game. As of writing this, the online mode is still pretty much busted, so I will hold off on saying that this game was a home run. However, I firmly believe that Tekken 8 is the best fighting game right now and I honestly think that everyone should give it a shot.

Pros of Tekken 8

Things Tekken 8 Got Right
Visually Amazing Amazing Character Variety and Customization New Mechanics Change the Game Made Learning the Game Easier Story is Actually Pretty Good

New Mechanics Change the Game

The new Heat mechanic adds so much more nuance to the game. High-level Tekken gameplay has always been more defensive with how punishes, spacing and movement are used. Heat changes all of that by giving your characters exclusive moves and changes some of these moves to deal more damage, make them safer, or even more advantageous on a block. It's a system that can be used both offensively and defensively, which is a great thing to have in a fighting game.

Visually Amazing

It’s no secret that Tekken has been one of the better-looking fighting games out there, and for this iteration, it's no different. The devs even changed some of the dated animations in the game for certain characters and made them look way better than before. With the game using Unreal Engine 5, the game looks absolutely stunning both to play and spectate.

The game also improved on its customization from Tekken 7. While the bar to beat the customization wasn’t high to begin with from the previous game, Tekken 8 is closer to its best Character Customization with multiple sections for colors, more accessories, and even more options to dress your characters than before. It’s not Tekken 6 levels of customization, but it’s definitely getting to that point where you can let more of your creativity out.

Amazing Character Variety

The base roster of Tekken 8 amounts to 34 total characters. On average, there are about 50-60 moves per character. I don’t want to do the math on that, so we’ll leave it by saying that the game has a staggering amount of unique moves and characters and you’ll need a lot of time to see all of them. Each character has their own unique moveset and all of them have their own unique Heat mechanics as well. The variety of characters to choose from is massive, and I for one think that there’s a character in the roster for everyone.

Made Learning the Game Easier

With the new Practice Mode options as well as the new Arcade Quest, Tekken 8 now has the best tutorial system in any of their previous releases. It’s even arguable that the new tutorials are way better than every other game now, as they teach important skills and concepts in the game that are easy to understand. Frame data is now available for free as opposed to Tekken 7’s old $10 tax, which means that all players now have access to being able to know the specific frames of all the moves.

Story is Actually Pretty Good

Without spoiling too much and sounding like a broken record, the story is pretty great! I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been to tie a lot of the characters together as the series has been going on since 1994. While it has its fair share of anime tropes, the story was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. It had great moments spread throughout it and seeing most of the characters interact with each other is awesome fan service.

Cons of Tekken 8

Things That Tekken 8 Can Improve
Effects Can Be Super Distracting Some Missing Functions In Online Lobbies Online is Broken at the Moment

Effects Can Be Super Distracting

With the new graphical updates the game has, the new visual effects can be very distracting. Thankfully, there’s an option to lessen the hit effects in the settings. However, there are still certain stages with distracting water effects, background visuals, and the like which may still impede your vision at times. It may be an effect of how far of a visual leap the series has gotten, but you'll have to get used to how many explosions there are on the screen.

Some Missing Functions In Online Lobbies

There are key features that are missing in the game’s online lobbies which are present in other fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Guilty Gear. One of which is being able to wait on standby in Practice Mode while waiting for a match. It’s good to be able to warm up before play and I think it should be a feature in fighting games with online lobbies. The other key missing feature is not being able to spectate matches in your private lobbies, which is probably a consequence of the next con I’m gonna be listing down.

Online is Broken at the Moment

Currently, the online functionalities of the game are not in great shape. After one match, be it in the online lobby, ranked, player match, or fight lounge, the game crashes due to not being able to connect to the other player. The devs are already aware of the issues and have already confirmed that a hotfix is on the way as soon as it’s available.

Update as of January 26, 2024 3:08 AM PT
The online is now fully functioning as the servers were hotfixed hours after release. Now you can enjoy playing the online functionalities without crashing the game!

Is Tekken 8 Worth It?

Absolutely, It’s the Best Fighting Game Out Right Now.

I’ve always said that Tekken 7 was one of the better fighting games way back in 2017. The game has a lot of things to offer, from the spectacular story mode, amazing tutorial and practice mode options, and visually stunning graphics and character customization. Tekken 8 is THE BEST fighting game available now, and I for one am already getting ready for the next battle. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to play some good a** Tekken.

Steam			PlayStation			Xbox
$69.99

Tekken 8 Overview & Premise

Tekken 8’s plot will continue the saga of the Mishima bloodline and its cycle of father-and-son showdowns, as this time it will be Jin Kazama facing off against Kazuya Mishima. Jin must accept his inner demon to be able to end his father’s reign of terror. In the Story So Far trailer, they summarize and recap the events of all the previous mainline Tekken games that lead up to Tekken 8's story.

Tekken 8 FAQ

How do I turn off Special Style in Tekken 8?

Head to Settings > Controller Setup and simply unbind the button from your control scheme.

Is Tekken 8 on Xbox Game Pass?

No, at least not right now. The previous iteration included years after its initial release and might follow suit as well. For more information, please refer to our Release Date and Time article.

Tekken 8 Product Information

Title	TEKKEN 8
Release Date	January 26, 2024
Developer	Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
Publisher	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Supported Platforms	PC(Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre	3D Fighting Game
Number of Players	1-2
ESRB Rating	PEGI 16
Official Website	Tekken 8 Website

Michael Gerra-Clarin

Resident fighting game nerd, avid FFXIV fan, and enjoyer of mostly anything gaming. He is currently trying to get farther in the Tekken ranks while waiting for Dawntrail.