Tekken 8 - Ultimate Edition [Xbox]
The latest in the iconic fighting series, Tekken 8, sees Jin Kazama and his father, Kazuya Mishima, going to war with each other - a pretty familiar tension that has been around since the series began. Shortly after unveiling his devil form to the public, Kazuya announces a new King of Iron Fist Tournament, pitting countries top fighters against each other with the threat of their country’s destruction if they lose. It’s up to Jin and friends to stop Kazuya from causing total chaos, and put an end to his plans once and for all. Here you’ve got a decent sized roster of characters - three of whom are brand new entrants to the series: Azucena, a Peruvian MMA fighter who loves her coffee; Victor, a very suave super-spy; and Reina, yet another member of the Mishima bloodline. More characters are set to be added over time - with the return of Eddy Gordo being first in line; not to mention all of the other fan favourites fleshing out the roster at present.
Now, I’m gonna be totally honest with you; it’s been a while since I’ve played a Tekken game. So naturally I felt a little concerned about just how I’d fare whilst playing not only the story chapters, but the online side of things too. Fighting games typically have a lot of complex combos to learn - and while button mashing can sometimes get the job done, it can feel frustrating to not have the vast library of moves and combos tucked away inside your brain. Thankfully, Tekken 8 feels more welcoming than I could ever have expected.
There’s Gallery content that allows you to view a short movie-style recap of each of the previous mainline games, done in an interesting smudgy ink art style; this works really well regardless of whether you’re new to the franchise, or a long-time fan looking to jog their memory. Once you’ve got yourself up to speed on the story so far, it’s time to play - and Tekken 8 doesn’t drop the ball here, either. As well as the main Story Mode: The Dark Awakens, which has 15 chapters to play through (and can be done on any difficulty option without worry of it affecting anything other than one of the rewards you receive) with a Practise Mode to give you a rundown of the basics; there’s an Arcade Quest game mode that allows you to play Arcade game styled tournaments whilst learning about the Tekken 8 story - teaching you each of the mechanics as well as allowing you to familiarise yourself with everything in an easily digestible way.
If you still feel that you’re struggling to learn everything Tekken 8 has to offer, then Special Style has your back. This is an optional control scheme that can be activated at any time, breaking down complex moves from requiring particular combos to be input, to just a simple button mash (or two). This allows newer players, people looking for improved accessibility, or people just looking for a less intensive control scheme in general, to pull off cool and impressive moves a little bit easier. It does reduce the available move-set to some degree, but thankfully, a simple button tap will allow you to toggle this mode on and off with ease, if you want to test it out for a bit - plus it’s still a tonne of fun using Special Style, so there’s nothing to worry about on that front.
A new mechanic known as Heat utilises a Heat gauge (represented by a new bar underneath your health bar) that allows you to trigger Heat Burst with RB. Able to be activated once per round, Heat increases your strength for a limited time, enabling you to deal massive amounts of damage with your attacks, but also causing chip damage; chipping away at an opponent’s health, even if they are blocking. Special moves such as Heat Smash will become available whilst in Heat, again giving you ample opportunity to blast through your opponent’s health - always useful when things are getting tough. In addition to utilising Heat, Rage Arts have made a return - giving you a last ditch attempt to wipe out an enemy once your health drops below 25%, using massively powerful moves that are unique to each character.
Additional game modes give you plenty to do - particularly if you want to improve your skills and maybe even increase your chances of success when delving into online battles. There’s Character Episodes, where you’ll play in a round of battles as one particular character, unlocking their own unique cutscene once complete, with each one taking less than 15 minutes to work through - the only downside to this is that it all takes place during the tournament, so you don’t get the luxury of seeing a variety of stages as you progress. You’ve also got the Tekken Fight Lounge which has online fighting and communication; it’s a little hub world where you can gather with other players from around the world and fight, as well as hang out in a variety of different Arcade-designed areas such as the main Arcade, a Shop, and even a Beach area as your own custom little avatar character. There’s a decent range of options when creating your own avatar too; since they will be the main character of your mini world (and Arcade Quest), you can craft them to represent you - or you can make them look however you like.
Done in Unreal Engine 5, Tekken 8 is gloriously gorgeous throughout. From the Story mode itself, and its many cutscenes interspersed through gameplay, often seamlessly transitioning from one to the other; to the alternate game modes which are essentially more cutesy, chibi-style sections of the game, everything looks great. Characters have received updated costume designs, with alternate skins available if you want to switch to some of their more classic looks. There’s even a Character Customization section where you can customise each of the characters on the actual roster, choosing new outfits, hit effects, aura, etc. - though I must admit I prefer to stick with their pre-set wardrobe options. There’s a wide selection of music on offer here too, with a Jukebox including music from all of the games, which you can play in the preset order or on shuffle; fantastic if you’ve got some favourites from past entries in the series.
One of my favourite, more-casual elements is Tekken Ball, a returning game mode where you play a volleyball-styled game against other players or AI. Instead of a more traditional fight, both players are separated onto each side of the court, only able to damage each other through hitting them with the ball, or by hitting the ball onto their court. If an opponent comes too close to the center line, you can deck them, if you must - but note that this won’t actually hurt them in any way (aside from their pride). It might however get you an opening to lob the ball over their head onto their side of the court, or even just to net you a couple of seconds to get a swift kick of the ball to hit them or build up some speed.
An in-depth Play Data section has plenty of information about all of your stats, ranging from the basics such as Play Time and Total Battles, through to Online Battle stats to show you your highest ranked character, winning streaks, Tekken Ball stats and more. If you want to get even more technical, there’s a Performance Stats section, breaking down Attack, Defense, Technique, Spirit and Appeal; this also shows you win rates (as well as separate PERFECT and GREAT win rates). You can even check to see your win rate on each specific stage, so all of this information combined can help to show you where your weaknesses lie, so you know what things to focus on when trying to improve.
Playing online is a lot of fun, and you can even train up a ghost version of yourself to play against friends when you’re offline - and play against theirs, too. Cross-platform play has been available since Day 1, giving players the ability to play with friends, regardless of platform - and I haven’t seemed to have any connection issues at all, with everything playing smoothly. Whilst I’m still getting fully to grips with everything, I’ve not stuck around the online modes too much (lest I get my arse handed to me any more), instead preferring to go with the offline VS modes with everyone in the house having a go at beating each other - though I swear, if I see Marshall Law’s flip kick spammed one more time…
Sadly, there is also a newly implemented ‘Fight Pass’ using a battle-pass styled micro transaction mechanic, paywalling a variety of items. For those who don’t wish to pay extra for this, there are some free items available through the Fight Pass, but as with many other Battle Pass based titles, the vast majority of good stuff is locked away unless you pay - which does sour things somewhat, especially when the game is already pretty expensive to begin with. Priced at £69.99 for the base game, £94.99 for the Deluxe Edition which includes the Year 1 Character Pass and a Gold Suit pack; and £104.99 for the Ultimate Edition, which contains everything previously mentioned as well as a Classic T-shirt pack and some Avatar Skins; it’s safe to say that the days of forty quid fighting games are gone (unless you want to wait around for a sale). Overall, Tekken 8 has proved to be another fun entry in the series, and one that I do think I’ll come back to often.
In the end, we decided to give Tekken 8 the Collecting Asylum rating of 8.5/10.
Are you interested in Tekken 8? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Bandai Namco for the Tekken 8 - Ultimate Edition Xbox review code!
