Fighting Games Friday: The Specific Threads of Tekken 8

It would have been a surprise if Tekken 8 didn’t have alternate outfits for each face on the roster. The franchise’s characters have come with at least one since the original Tekken game, in addition to their default threads. That’s not getting into the extensive and sometimes gaudy customization options the franchise has included since Tekken 5.

Franchise producer Katsuhiro Harada alluded to the inclusion of them on Twitter back in April, after some fans criticized Asuka’s odd-looking out fit for her age in the series now. (Tekken characters barely age between installments, but she’s not that young.) But it was still an open question regarding whether those older threads could simply be chosen as options, or if they’d have to be created (and, yikes, unlocked) through costume customization.

Not to mention the chance of the outfits being downloadable and preorder DLC, if they didn’t have to be earned through playing a bunch of single-player and multiplayer content. You never know with new games these days. Look what happened in Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode.

Tekken fortunately continues to be a difference maker, by having a notable three alternate outfits for each character. Some choices are more interesting than others. But several threads are notably absent.

My favorites in the bunch belong to Jun Kazama, the supposedly-mature woman whose divinity apparently prevents her from aging. Her threads represent a good mixture of old and new. One is simply an alternate color of her default outfit for this game, but another gives her a kimono-style outfit reminiscent of Kazumi’s from Tekken 7. It’s not like Kazumi be returning anytime soon, if at all, so they might as well give those threads to someone. Another is her default outfit from the non-canonical Tekken Tag Tournament 2, while the third is her Tekken 2 threads. Harada mentioned in so many words that some outfits won’t return from older installments because circa-1990s threads won’t look good on modern character models, which I don’t agree with agree with. But Jun’s main Tekken 2 outfit shows how some outfits have aged gracefully. She doesn’t have her alternate from Tekken 2, but I was never a big fan of that one.

I also like Paul Phoenix’s choices, if only to show how well his older look is rendered in Unreal Engine 5. It’s nice that he has a look that isn’t a malformed mess like his default one. The only excuse I’ll buy for his main outfit is if poor Paul is going through a midlife crisis in the game’s story. It’s okay, buddy; it might get better.

Several other characters are missing at least one notable outfit. Harada wasn’t lying about Asuka retaining her old outfits, but her circa-2000s sleek jacket (of the silver and black varieties) and shorts are curious in their absence. The same goes for Marshall Law’s (and, of course, Bruce Lee’s by extension) iconic yellow jumpsuit. Kazuya’s also missing that iconic purple suit, while Lili is missing her casual clothes (though I do like the one she has). Jin’s classic Tekken 4 hoodie is similarly MIA.

But Nina Williams gets shortchanged the most. None of her older and more popular outfits are here, including the purple bodysuit and the biker threads. She does retain the wedding outfit from Tekken 7 that few fans liked. New character Azucena isn’t much better, with one of her outfits being a basic and boring swimsuit. Her first alternate is good, however.

I say all this knowing damn well what it means: If these outfits won’t be available through costume customization pieces, they will be DLC. It’s possible Harada still has some goodwill left over from the TTT2 era, for which post-release content including characters, stages, and outfits, were provided for free. But we’re living in a new and more frightening age now, and it will be a bigger surprise if this isn’t all paid content. Perhaps the prices won’t be so bad.

There’s another closed beta for Tekken 8 happening right now, well ahead of the January 26th release. But I can’t play it thanks to lacking a platform to play it on; not to mention how limited the codes were. Have fun if you got in, though. I’m not jealous or feeling vindictive or anything. Honest.

Meanwhile: The final DLC character for The King of Fighters XV was confirmed to be Hinako. This wasn’t a surprise after the datamining exposed the remaining character identities. It’s Hinako herself who’s the bigger story. I always enjoyed how unique of a character she was for the King of Fighters series and fighting games overall by being a young girl who uses sumo techniques. But her design was never the most inspiring. The team at SNK fortunately agreed, and provided several touch-ups to have her stand out this time. This is the best she’s ever looked, and it’s not even close.

SNK has yet to show her in action, likely because she isn’t quite finished yet. Allow me to make an educated and extremely well-informed guess that she’ll presumably keep all the techniques she used in previous games. Yes, I know that’s mind-blowing to think about.

Once she’s ready, SNK will provide a release date. After this, there’s a good chance SNK will turn their promotional attention to Garou/Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.