Tekken 8: A Look at The Demo! A Dive into The Modes of Bandai Namco’s Fighting Game

Last weekend, thanks to a free demo, we all managed to get our hands on Tekken 8. Let’s go and see together, pad in hand, how this historic fighting game fares. Tekken 8 offers content that will keep new players and series veterans entertained as they try to learn the new mechanics of the game introduced with this episode. Starting a conversation about Tekken 8 by thinking about Street Fighter 6 would be inglorious and unfair for a fighting game that managed to shatter the collective imagination of that 90s generation that grew up on bread and PlayStation, but it is clear that – in this 2023 – the work done by Capcom with what was also elected as best fighting game at the TGA, it is the new reference for the genre. Bandai Namco also knows this well, and in some of its experiments has seemed to want to emulate what its eternal rival has achieved, but at the same time it is inevitable to focus on those aspects that make Tekken, and now its new iteration, unique and with a great identity. Beyond the steroids, beyond what has passed since the announcement of September 2022 and will still pass while awaiting the release set for January 26, we tell you how our 3 hours went in the company of the Mishima clan and everything that the King of Iron Fist Tournament entails.

Normally, in the always hyperactive world of video games, carrying forward a historic and much-loved series without displeasing at least part of the community is a sort of “mission impossible”. In situations of this type, developers are almost always forced to walk the thin line that separates the more expert players – often eager for significant evolutions, as long as they do not betray the core of the original experience – and the masses of nostalgics who all too often they would like an almost identical revival of what they have learned to love over the years, worrying very little about the possible damage caused by excessive immutability. With fighting games this situation becomes even more unmanageable: not only do fans tend to be markedly more hardcore than average, but it often happens that the discussion around the various series veers aggressively towards past glories, not to mention those times in which potentially useful is “poisoned” from the stress linked to the competitive element and the frustrations of individual players.

What Did We See with the Tekken 8 Demo?

• STORY: Chapter 1 “The Dark Awakens”
• Chapter 1 ARCADE MISSION (content adapted to the demo version)
• SUPER GHOST BATTLE
• VERSUS mode with Jin, and Kazuya, as playable characters. The available levels are URBAN SQUARE (evening), YAKUSHIMA, and SANCTUM Nina and Paul
• Gallery, with some highlighted footage from Tekken to Tekken 7

A Roster that Continues to Grow1

32 characters at our disposal, in a more than complete roster: the recurring characters have almost all been confirmed, from Nina Williams to the inevitable Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama, with their respective demonic versions. Marshall Law, Paul Phoenix, King, Lars Alexandersson, Jack-8, and so on complete the range of fighters that we have continued to chase and love for years. There is also Lee Chaolan, Hwoarang, Bryan Fury, and the new entry Claudio Serafino, and alongside them, there are also Azucena Milagos Otiz Castillo, a Peruvian fighter, together with Victor Chevalier and Reina, on the need to place the fighters in a ring and give them the unprecedented opportunity to compete. Persevere on the focus dedicated to the spectacle of which the first was dubbed by Vincent Cassel. Everyone was at our disposal in the ways that we were able to test which we will talk about shortly, but first, let’s focus on the differences we found compared to the previous chapter.

If the fundamentals have not changed, there have been some measures carried out at the Heat that make the challenges more dynamic and spectacular: after all, the watchword of Tekken 8 is to The Heat System, at this point, comes to our aid by giving us a bar placed immediately under the health: by activating it you will have boosts to your skills, starting from the fact that you can manage to inflict damage even if the opponent is parrying, as well as offering other extra attacks. Let’s go in order and try to clarify how it works, having already found ourselves in a position to be able to try it in depth, even if not with all the characters available. The fighters can activate the Heat thanks to a group of moves that exploit the charge and rely on a certain duration, during which the advice is to go and attack without brakes, without ever moving back, not even an inch, to be able to make the most of the offensive and – as we said before – take advantage of the fact that even if the opponent is on parade we will continue to inflict an amount of damage proportionate to the opponent’s conditions. The charges available to the Heat are consumable both to cancel attacks and to close combos by triggering a sort of finisher.

You will find in your hands a power-up that can change the fate of the match and help you in case you find yourself at a disadvantage, but which will have to be measured: in case you have to use the Heat Smash, for example, you’ll end up running out of power right away, despite unleashing a powerful move. Tekken 8 then confirmed the presence of Rage and Rage Arts: the first is a state of fury and rescue that active when you find yourself with a low amount of life and would like to experience a sort of comeback, which is thus granted by increasing the value of the damage inflicted; the second, however, sees several skills that can be used during a certain condition. What we noticed, also challenging some other colleagues present at the test, is that it is enough to string together the right combo, the activation of the Heat System in a rhythmic manner to our needs and the opponent will not have any kind of possibility of trying to replicate or protect yourself, given that even in the second case he will continue to suffer damage. In the same way, we realized that, in case of a disadvantage, the possibility of trying to overturn the challenge is granted to us thanks to the wise use of Rage Arts, to at least try to have our say. In short, punitive in some ways, but not even in a unique way.

Story Mode and Tekken Ball!

Beyond these gameplay aspects, what we were able to experience in these 3 hours with Tekken 8 was entrusted to the different modes at our disposal. We from Story Mode, with the first four chapters at our disposal to understand what is happening in the Tekken storyline, are always quite picturesque and eager to give a narrative context to the basis of the blows that these big men on steroids give each other. We start again where our story left off, that is, with Jin pushing more and more towards Kazuya’s murder, especially after learning of Hehaichi’s death, or at least presumed death.

Over the course of these four chapters, maintaining ourselves at macroscopic levels and without going into the details of what will happen, we have been able to see how Jin is tested by everything that has happened to him and is called to a new great test of strength, while around him new dangers arise, starting with the arrival of Reina, which suggests some shady references to the Mishima clan. Through a series of fights that will put us in a position to challenge a good number of fighters from the cast, all intertwined for some reason and by the necessity of Kazuya and his tournament, we will end up living another adventure which – we will judge after the fact – will still have something to tell us. Hopefully.

Beyond this, Tekken 8 allowed us to test the ever-present Tekken Ball mode, volleyball according to Bandai Namco, which returns here with always-appreciated sports variants. If in Tekken 7 we had to wait for a DLC to be able to have fun with the Bowl, this time we were immediately satisfied with a minigame that also nostalgically recalls the past. In addition to spending a few minutes of fun and distraction from the fights, Tekken Ball tells us something important about the aims of the eighth chapter: the single-player contents are more than the previous chapter, a symptom of the fact that Namco almost wants to make amends something from its community. Having Tekken Force also among the possibilities would be the icing on the cake, we admit it, but perhaps we are dreaming too much.

Arcade Mode, Heading for Free Roaming?

On the other hand, Tekken 8 offers us its Arcade Mode, a single-player mode that allows novices to delve into the initial mechanics of the game to start practicing and at the same time detach themselves from the main roads of the Tournament. The Arcade Mode will allow you to create your avatar, ready to immerse yourself in a real world that emulates arcades: after all, fighting games are born and grow in such environments and we are sure that Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray, the producers of the game, know the environment well. It is clear right from the start that the intention is to give life to a parallel slice of life capable of placing us in a context outside the current generation. At the base, there will be a story that will see your avatar called to make your way among great Tekken players and other novices, with the dream of being able to become a professional in the esports scene and demonstrate to everyone that you can compete at high levels.

Our mentor, Max, will explain to us the basics for learning the best approach to the game and from that moment on all we have to do is challenge anyone who comes across the arcade room. We were able to test the first two locations, located on a map that includes the United States and which does not have free roaming on its side (so it would be quite ungenerous to make comparisons with Street Fighter 6). If at Capcom we worked to ensure that the player could have a real RPG mode, with exploration, interaction, learning, training, and real challenges, here we are talking more about a metal-game path, which places the video game in its real dimension, that is, an experience to be had with a cabinet. The proposal is poorer, but the intent is geared to different needs.

The teachings provided by Max are well sampled, which made us understand how strongly the team intends to teach novices the mechanics introduced, but also to allow experts to brush up on some key concepts. Additionally, your mentor will appear on screen with reviews of how your activities are going. Each victory will allow you to rise in rank so that you can proceed with the adventure and also acquire in-game currency, which you can spend to improve your aesthetic appearance. Nothing more than cosmetics. Furthermore, if you are looking for a social link à la Persona, you can spend time talking to many of the guys you meet in the arcade room, so you can also obtain additional rewards or challenges. There is no lore to discover, just lines of dialogue fleeting enough to digest.

We cannot know how long this mode will last, although Harada spoke of a few hours: we do not think it is necessary, in our opinion, to extend it beyond 5/6 hours, especially because it would end up becoming monotonous quite quickly, faced with the fact that beyond the challenges and interaction with other players, it won’t be possible to do much. Once you have learned the basics and put yourself to the test, Arcade Mode ends up being an end in itself, until you manage to concentrate your attention on ghosts. You will be able to challenge those of Harada and Murray, try to string together victories or defeats against the Super Ghosts, and take home any rewards that will increase your sense of satisfaction. The ghosts will come to seem like real players, precisely because they end up emulating your moves: initially, there will be some problems, such as not seeing them get up immediately from the ground, but in the long run, they will understand the needs of the fight and will provide you with excellent training scheme, to satisfy the most refined palates.

It is not our intention to dwell morbidly on the technical aspect, especially because there will be time to do so during the review, but it is clear that Tekken 8 arrives with very different intentions compared to its predecessor. Let’s start by saying that Tekken 7 experienced the transition to Unreal Engine 4, therefore for the first time Bandai worked on a non-proprietary engine, but now the transition to Unreal Engine 5 was more natural and streamlined. This also allowed for more effective processing in the reproduction of some scenic elements, as happens in some scenarios. For example, the one in New York offers a daytime and a nighttime version, with different visual varieties, as well as interactions that can be obtained with the surrounding environment itself: we are not faced with the use of scenic elements typical of Mortal Kombat, but in the case, if a fighter hits something, the reaction of that object or person will be evident. In doing so, Tekken 8 offers the player the opportunity to immerse themselves in the gaming context in the best possible way and not leave the selection of the arena to a mere aesthetic factor.

It Will Be a Pleasure to Fight Against You?

We tried the demo and the impact the game leaves is impressive: we are immediately catapulted into the story in the role of Jin, which allows less skilled players to access the entire range of character moves in simplified mode and we have the opportunity to try out the combat system. We find we face Kazuya. Each fight is made spectacularly by bright and captivating graphics, with spectacular effects during special moves, and when we use Heat, a sort of timed enhancement of the character that makes him able to inflict more damage and unleash spectacular combos. Unfortunately, the story present in this demo of Tekken 8 lasts very little, but we can continue to have fun in the Versus mode or in a particular mode, which sees us as frequenters of arcades where we can challenge other “participants” in a sort of tournament.

Of particular value, as we said above, for those approaching the franchise for the first time is the possibility of viewing the summaries of all 7 chapters of the saga in the gallery. Tekken 8 will be available from January 26, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series spectacular battle.

Have you also tried this fantastic fighting game? Let us know as always below in the comments space and continue to follow us on Filmyhype.com!