Tekken 8 review

What is it? A thrilling 3D fighter with bears, devils and giant robots.
Release date January 26, 2024
Expect to pay $60 / £55
Developer Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment
Reviewed on Nvidia GeForce RTX3070, AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, 32GB RAM
Steam Deck TBA
Link Official site 

Tekken 8 feels like returning home. A bit of a cringe opener, I know, but across my 40 hours spent with this game for the review I couldn't help but feel like I was being reunited with an old friend; a series I adore so dearly. Tekken is freakin' back, baby, and I couldn't be happier. 

It's a game so rife with nostalgia-inducing moments yet manages to bundle them together into this incredibly approachable, newbie-friendly package. It's a far cry from the barebones experience that was its predecessor—Tekken 8 is truly the next generation of fighters, a bombastic showdown that you should absolutely witness now matter how long it's been since you last peeped a King of Iron Fist Tournament.

Tekken 8 feels like returning home.

Tekken 8's nostalgic vibes feel deliberate. It's going all-in on its story—called The Dark Awakens—building up to a dramatic conclusion to the ongoing war between the very loving father-and-son duo Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima. A story that's been going on for bloody years, mind you.

It's such a fitting culmination, one that genuinely shocked me at how good it actually is. The story mode is fantastically paced, seamlessly transitioning from cinematics to fights across its numerous chapters. The cutscenes are beautifully animated, going for some huge-ass anime-scale fights, which were rad to watch. Some chapters even diverge from the standard 'cinematic into fight' formula—like one that turns things into an oldschool Tekken Force-style brawler—which made sure things never got too monotonous. I clocked in at just under four hours to finish it, which I did in one sitting because I was hooked. 

Dialogue and translations can be a bit shaky and stiff at times, but