It’s been nearly 3 years since the seventh mainline installment to one of the biggest fighting game franchises of all time saw the light of day. Although not being perceived as impactful as some of its earlier installments, Tekken 7 managed to deliver a solid, well-polished, button-mashing fighting experience, along with an extended character roster and a couple of added mechanics to make it accessible to both newcomers and veterans alike.
Upon the initial critical acclaim, however, a small but significant portion of fans expressed disapproval of Bandai Namco’s lack of imagination and innovation considering Tekken 7’s underwhelming story and the series becoming somewhat stale over the past two console generations.
Truth be told, no major game franchise is without its faults or immune to stagnation. Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Call of Duty, Assassins’s Creed, Metal Gear… All of these legendary long-running game series have two things in common: rigidity and resilience.
A majority of these franchises have got more clunkers under their belts than their developers would dare mention. What separates them from the rest, however, is their willingness to improve and adapt while masterfully keeping in line with their respective series’ tradition, which especially holds true in the case of Tekken.
With that said, the arrival of a brand spanking new console generation seems like the right time to turn the tide and breathe new life into a genre-defining game series that it needs and rightfully deserves!
Eighth time’s the charm!
Tekken 8: Everything We Know
To be perfectly frank, the more appropriate title would’ve been ‘Tekken 8: Just Rumors, Basically’, but we’re all about that clickbait, you know what’ I’m sayin’?
Much to our dismay, so far Namco Bandai has been awfully silent on the topic of Tekken 8, so all we have to go by are rumors and speculations roaming the internet forums. While some would be left discouraged by this challenge, here at Game Gavel we’ve decided to put on our detective hats and sniff out the answers for ourselves. In short: take everything with a grain of salt.
Tekken 8 Trailer
If you were to scour the internet in search of a trailer for Tekken’s next installment, you’d only stumble upon thousands upon thousands of fan-made trailers – a testament to the ever-growing restlessness of Tekken fans worldwide.
The closest thing we’ve got to a trailer so far is Tekken 7’s secret ending, which can be seen by beating chapter 14 of the main story mode. Stick around until the end credits wrap up and you’ll be greeted with a cutscene featuring Alisa, Leo, and Lars standing on top of a ruined building, lamenting the world’s fate upon Heihachi’s demise at the hands of Kazuya.
Suddenly, they’re joined by Jin, who reveals his intention to kill Kazuya and thereby bring a stop to the destructive conflict between the Mishima Zaibatsu and the infamous G Corporation.
Tekken 8 Story: The Fate of the Mishima Bloodline
Judging from Tekken 7’s epilogue described above, it’s evident that the next game’s story will be centered around the final generational battle of the Mishimas: Jin Kazama vs. Kazuya Mishima. With Heihachi having been eliminated for good, and both Kazuya and Jin finally gaining full control over the Devil Gene, the stage is set for one of the fiercest battles the Tekken universe is yet to witness.
The conflict within the Mishima clan has always been the main hook of Tekken games, ever since its first installment back in 1994 on the legendary Playstation. At the same time, Namco Bandai has managed to strike a balance between following the main plotline while simultaneously giving some of the spotlight to Tekken’s secondary characters, many of whom have become the series’ staple fighters over the course of 20+ years.
In that regard, it seems as if the rest of the roster has taken the back seat in favor of focusing on the core Mishima quarrel, much to the fans’ disappointment. Many fan favourites, including Eddy, Paul, and even Jin to name a few, were almost completely sidelined as if the game was simply trying to get the story mode – and subsequently the Mishima saga – over and done with.
The story assist option included in Tekken 7 speaks in favor of these bold claims, and while many hardcore Tekken story fanatics would find it of immense help, others have seen it as more of an unnecessary safety precaution, giving the players an easy way out of sorts.
It is unknown whether Namco Bandai plans on replicating the same chapter-driven story mode seen in Tekken 7, or will they choose to return to the series’ roots and serve us a classic arcade mode campaign. The latter would certainly be very helpful in terms of fleshing out the characters and giving every inclusion a chance to shine on their own terms.
Overall, there’s a lot of cards on the table, and Namco Bandai has a set destination to which they wish to take the story. The means of reaching it, however, remain open for interpretation…
Tekken 8 Characters: The More – The Merrier?
Game after game, Tekken has always strived towards progressively enriching its character roster with fighters of various combat styles and abilities, while carefully threading the needle and keeping the newly-formed fighter index as well-balanced as possible.
In spite of Namco Bandai’s efforts, the ever-expansive list of playable fighters has made it increasingly more and more difficult for the developers to maintain the aforementioned balance.
To add fuel to the fire, the characters introduced in Tekken 6 and 7 have been met with a generally lukewarm reception, with Bob Richards and Alisa Bosconovitch standing as the rare diamonds in the rough…
… and boy, is it rough!
Many fans share the sentiment that the newly-incorporated characters bring nothing extraordinary to the table, which can be attributed to their lack of originality, wit, or personality. Akuma’s and Negan’s bizarre and out-of-the-blue guest appearances in Tekken 7 has been met with mixed reception, and any subsequent attempts to patch up their errors have resulted in further character imbalances.
These attempts, however, speak volumes about Namco Bandai’s willingness to listen to their fans, make improvements and strive towards improving the series in any way possible. Such an attitude gives hope that Tekken 8 will offer a more polished character roster than ever before, and we certainly hope that Namco Bandai will favor quality over quantity.
Veteran staple characters such as Paul, Hwoarang, Jin, and Yoshimitsu among others are bound to make a return in Tekken 8, so we should expect no surprises on that front. The rest of the names on the list, however, remain expendable and replaceable. Looking at you, Master Raven!
#notmyraven
Heihachi’s inclusion hangs in the balance and remains a topic of discussion among fans, some of whom secretly hope that they haven’t seen the last of the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu. A canonical death of a character has rarely stopped game developers from including them in their subsequent games (Joker in Injustice 2 comes to mind), meaning there’s a high chance that papa Heihachi will remain one of the staple characters added to Tekken 8, at least as a selectable fighter in single player or online modes.
Devil Heihachi, perhaps? 🤔🤔🤔
Tekken 8 Gameplay: Re-reinventing The Wheel
Long-running franchises almost inevitably fall victim to staleness. Over time, once revolutionary game mechanics lauded for its innovation tend to grow more and more obsolete, and thus require mild to severe revamps in order to keep the core fanbase satisfied. Simultaneously, a game franchise must remain engaging and approachable to enthusiastic novices, which makes this race against time all the more challenging.
The challenges mentioned above plague our favourite fighting game series as well. Fighting games, in general, offer very little wiggle room due to the limitations of its core mechanics, and the question of ‘what next?’ hovers over the minds of both Tekken fans and developers at Namco Bandai alike.
Ever since its fifth installment, Tekken has been doing its best to keep up with the trends of the gaming industry by embellishing its central aspects with new game modes, character customization options, and gameplay systems that further enrich the overall experience.
The intricate Rage System, a welcome addition introduced back in Tekken 6 and expanded upon in Tekken 8, is expected to make a return in the sequel to come.
So far, it has shown to be a fantastic method of evening the odds and giving the pinned opponent a chance to retaliate and strike back, thus making battles that much more intense and riveting.
As far as game modes are concerned, we truly hope that Namco Bandai would answer our prayers and reinstate team battle, a mode whose absence in Tekken 7 stuck out like a sore thumb and really spoke volumes about Namco Bandai’s online-oriented approach.
Speaking of online, it’s become apparent that esports is pretty much the name of the game as far as Namco Bandai is concerned. A sharp surge in Tekken’s online multiplayer scene has caused an understandable shift in the developers’ focus, and Tekken 8’s online modes will most likely be on top of their priority list.
Ranked, player, and tournament matches will most likely be part of Tekken 8’s online offerings. Some fans are keeping their fingers crossed in hopes of seeing an online variant of Tekken Force included in Tekken 8, but we assume those fans would be perfectly satisfied with the good old single-player version as well.
Yes, we’re ‘some fans’, you cracked the case, well done Sherlock!
Tekken 8 Release Date: A Question of Time
Now that we’ve managed to successfully give vague and indefinite guesses to the previous three questions (you’re welcome), it’s time to tackle the one question that’s caused more head scratches than a kindergarten lice infestation – when is Tekken 8 coming out?
As is the case with any other forms of information, Namco Bandai has given us nothing but cricket sounds on the topic of Tekken 8, so this question as well remains open for interpretation.
All things considered, it wouldn’t be out of line to suggest that the next Tekken game will likely be part of the first and second waves of PlayStation 5 exclusives, meaning that we might expect the game to hit store shelves somewhere between Christmas 2020 and mid-to-late 2021, along with another Sony exclusive, Gran Turismo 7.
Going from previous entries’ console release patterns gives little clues to go from. Though the series started strong by releasing Tekken 1 to Tekken 5 with 2-4 years between their releases, things quickly went south starting from Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Nowadays, Namco Bandai seems adamant to make the most out of Tekken 7’s esports scene, which comes as no surprise with Tekken World Tour and EVO attracting millions of esports fans and Tekken fans around the globe. Nevertheless, we’re certain that Namco Bandai learned from its mistakes, and are doing their best to create a Tekken game that’s aiming to become a fan favourite entry.
Slow and steady wins the race!
Conclusion
The veil of mystery covering the case of Tekken 8 piques our interest to unhealthy levels, and we’re sure to keep our eyes and ears open for any information regarding the next entry to one of the greats among fighting games. If there’s anything you reckon we missed out on during our gossip hunt, be sure to let us know in the comments below!