Fighting Games Friday: An Apology to Tekken 8
I like to think that most of my posts on this blog are quality content, because I’m not sure if I could go on otherwise. But I’ll freely admit to writing a piece including not-great opinions last year, one comparing footage from the Tekken 8 “gameplay” trailer from Sony’s Tokyo Game Show-adjacent showcase to the real gameplay reveal at The Game Awards in December. Here’s a sample:
“That video was only slightly more ‘real’ than the tech demo for Tekken 6 shown supposedly running on PlayStation 3 hardware back in 2005. The real Tekken 8 has since been shown at The Game Awards and a few demonstrations afterward, which shows how the initial gameplay video was bit of a misrepresentation.”
I’m not against including a little edginess in some posts. The internet has taught me that most articles outside big-time websites and blogs won’t be read otherwise, not that this particular blog has ever garnered a massive audience at any point in time. But in the words of a famous director: I may have gone too far in a few places. Comparing it to the Tekken 6 tech demo even mildly was hyperbolic when the true Tekken 8 shown late last year wasn’t that large of a downgrade. That first trailer was, in fact, a preview for what the development team intended for the final product to resemble. They’ve made such steady progression in improving the visuals and effects over time that my aforementioned post, and other opinions like it, are looking foolish now.
This has been the partial purpose of the character trailers provided since the start of 2023, a secondary factor to merely having videos that helpfully showcase every character in the roster. The upgrades were apparent right from the first character trailer, which showed Kazuya Mishima in action. The pattern continued in subsequent trailers showing more already-revealed characters for comparisons, including Jin Kazama, Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law, King, Lars Alexandersson, Jack-8, and Jun Kazama. The Jun trailer was the most notable, as it afforded the developers the chance to showcase a character not included in the last installment.
The developers are now showcasing roster additions not previously announced in the TGA trailer. Asuka Kazama and Leroy Jenkins were the first among them. The former has been a popular mainstay since her Tekken 5 debut, a way for the developers to include a younger face capable of using the Jun techniques that Jin didn’t adopt in his standard or devil forms. (This also explains why Jun has a bunch of new techniques in this game.) Her new outfit makes her resemble a preppy academy student, though producer Katsuhiro Harada was quick to point out that her old outfit will be available. At least they’re going through the effort of making new ones. Leroy, meanwhile, became one of the more popular characters immediately after being included as a late downloadable character in Tekken 7. He was so good gameplay-wise that tournaments were dominated with players using him weeks after he arrived, but his personality, background, and coolness factor ensured that no one could hate the character despite that.
The newest character to be fully revealed is Lili, another mainstay who’s remained popular since her Tekken 5 debut, albeit in the updated Dark Resurrection version. Her move set is largely intact, with most of her new techniques being included thanks to Tekken 8’s new gameplay features. It was her outfit that stole the show, for which Bandai Namco commissioned artist Jasmin Darnell for the job. The frilly, high-class outfit fits Lili’s character. The trailer touches on her lengthy rivalry with Asuka, one previously similar to Sakura and Karin’s minor skirmish from the Street Fighter series before they became good friends. Perhaps the same will happen here when, or if, Tekken’s characters age again. Whether they’ll lean fully into the “yuri” themes implied is another question.
The character reveals have noticeably slowed down, with only three being revealed in the last month-and-a-half. Considering only eleven have been announced for what will likely be a large initial roster, and that not a single brand-new character has been shown, the chances of this game releasing by the end of 2023 have significantly diminished. It’s good that it won’t arrive too close to Street Fighter 6 and presumably the next Mortal Kombat game, arriving in June and perhaps September, respectively. But just imagine how good this game will look nearly a year from now; they might outdo that aspirational trailer.
It was gutsy on Bandai Namco’s part to reveal a trailer showing what they planned for the final product to resemble early on, given how some gamers react to misleading videos. In fairness to them, and regretfully me, a fair number of publishers have used them for promotional purposes throughout recent history, Ubisoft being a particularly grievous offender. But that didn’t apply to Bandai Namco here. I made an unfortunate mistake here, but I, uh, won’t point out any others to save the last shred of my remaining ego.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
