Tekken 8 Was teased for a short film at EVO 2022 back in early August, sending viewers back to Kazuya’s original ending cutscene Iron Fist. You know, this is where we learn about his favorite hobby… throwing people he’s related to into an active volcano. This new trailer has long-time fans of the series getting excited about getting ready again for the next fight, and it also got me thinking what I’d like to see from the series as it moves towards the current generation of consoles to what.
Before we go any further, I should let you know that I’m a Tekken fan, and I’ve been playing the series since I first got my hands on Tekken 2 on the original PlayStation. Everything I’m going to say comes from the love of the Tekken series, and a little bit of envy that the bloodier games bring to viewers. Once I was knocked out by a partner because I was juggling her as Lei Wulong, and she didn’t find it very funny. I’m still playing Tekken. I love Tekken as much as you do. I just think it needs improvement in its demo – the developers at Bandai Namco could learn a thing or two from NetherRealm.
As a fighting game, Tekken 7 has proven it has everything it takes to be a massively multiplayer powerhouse. New mechanics like Rage Art and Screw Strike are welcome additions to the Warrior formula, and after several DLC releases, the roster now h as a dedicated player for nearly every Tekken character that players might want to see, even including some spooky guests. Fighting game fans now know that Tekken 7 is a solid, good time, which is why it’s the best-selling entry in the series. But if Bandai Namco wants to sell more copies next time — even faster — how does it recruit new competitors to fight us online?
The obvious answer for me was to upgrade the story mode to put it on the same level as the best competitors. Tekken 5, Tekken 6, and Tekken 7 all have stories to tell about Mishima’s bloodline (similar to that new, excellent Tekken anime), but those stories are basically never the main event — Although they are merchandising and advertising the brand for the duration of each entry on store shelves.
The demonic interior from Tekken 5 and the episodic campaign from Tekken 6 both feel like half-step evolutions from Tekken 3’s 2.5D Streets of Rage-style Tekken power mini-games. Meanwhile, Tekken 7 offers players a decidedly low-budget story mode that divides their attention between “The Legend of the Mishima” and a series of character vignettes. Every attempt at the campaign ended up feeling pointless, and none of them made me want to go back and try again, even now that we know the next Tekken game is on the way.
Not that I wasn’t invested in the lore, even if I had to do some work to absorb it, pretty much whatever the game actually wanted. Tekken has never been shy about releasing media in other, more narrative formats, and I enjoy it there every time. I was there the day Netflix’s new anime show, Tekken: Bloodlines, came out, and I was there a few years ago when Titan Comics released the Tekken comic series. Back in 1997, I watched (and quite liked) the anime film Tekken: The Movie, and I even managed to find a way to enjoy the live-action Tekken film adaptation released in 2009. I know, I have a problem, right?
I love the story enough to know that Mishima characters like Tekken 5 big bad, Jinpachi, and Tekken 6 upstart Lars Alexandersson should be a huge revelation to rock the series and its dynamics. But I know from having played Tekken that, due to the low-key nature of the campaign mode, they end up feeling a little bland and useless because they’re not at the top of the tournament meta. And they are not Jin, Heihachi, or Kazuya.
As with most successful fighting games, there are storylines and icons to care about – but Tekken right now just buries them.This is very different from modern Void Realm
If modern Mortal Kombat could make you really care about the fate of “he beat them into balls” and “come here!” Those guys from the Mega Drive and the SNES, then it’s clear now that a good storyteller can make you care about anyone. That’s where NetherRealm is at, and that’s what Tekken 8 still needs to master. Tekken needs to bring its extensive knowledge front and center in a similar fashion if it wants to reach a wider public. Not only does it need to be cinematic, but it needs to really appeal to anyone who picks it up and plays it. Everyone who plays Tekken should care about Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law in the same way.
The series can do that without betraying Iron Fist and changing its essence. Take Devil May Cry 5, for example: it doesn’t shy away from reintroducing characters and plot points from previous games, or its anime-inspired demon boys and their ongoing family drama, it fills the void for players and focuses on so far The emotion that the story so far will evoke. It’s between the familiar high-speed action games players expect, but intertwined with good writing and high production values to elevate the entire game to near-masterpiece levels. I know games like Mortal Kombat 11 and Devil May Cry 5 are probably bigger budgets than Tekken 7, but I also think these development costs might be worth it in the long run? Especially when you’re selling around 9 million copies per game right now.
Arcade ladders, wacky ending cutscenes, bowling fan games, or integrated adversarial modes don’t have to go anywhere either. They are definitely part of what I love about Tekken. But I believe Bandai Namco Studios needs to catch up in terms of entertaining casual gamers if they want Tekken to continue to grow. I know casual can be a dirty word for gamers sometimes, but every Tekken pro is just someone who has dabbled in gaming at some point. As the TV and film industry say, it’s about letting the homeless in the seat.
Perhaps Iron Fist is sticking to its tried-and-true arcade formula roots because it’s not as close to the franchise’s death as it was when Midway shut down in 2010, so it never had to force people to focus on itself to justify its own existence. Maybe Bandai Namco really just believes it can keep pushing top arcade fighting action, and it’s good enough to keep going. However, I still think it’s a risk. Many malls around the world are closing as hardships and crises continue to slow rates of attachment to in-person entertainment.
With options becoming more limited and wallets tighter, video games have become more expensive than ever. If Tekken 8 is going to be $70 next year, the developers need to make sure the experience is worth it for the average fan, because for someone like me who beats their friends online for hours. The answer is a powerful story mode. Oh, and cross-play… no Leiwulong character is part of the DLC this time around. good lord. never.
