Demo Talk: Tekken 8
by William Hernandez
It's hard to believe that it has been almost 9 years since the last entry in the Tekken series. I suppose it hasn't stung too much for fans of the franchise as Tekken 7 is still a regular mainstay at major fighting game tournaments; nevertheless, Tekken's major competitors in Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat have both made the big jump to the newest graphical generation of games and it just made sense for Tekken to finally do the same.
Tekken 8 promises updated visuals, an updated roster, and even updated gameplay. Although there were open beta tests sprinkled throughout late 2023, the demo released in mid-December is the first taste that the general public has had of the game. With Tekken 8 coming out quite soon on January 26, 2024, there's just enough time for the demo to leave a strong enough impression to get people to cave in and get that pre-order ready in anticipation. And leave an impression it does. Tekken 8 feels really good. It plays really good. It looks super good. While the demo isn't exactly all that extensive, it shows off enough to make it clear that there's a lot of quality in this game. Here, we're going to briefly discuss some of the biggest highlights from the demo.
Top-Of-The-Line Presentation
No doubt, the biggest standout from the Tekken 8 demo is its visual design. From the UI to the models to the lighting, Tekken 8 is one of the most visually striking games out there with its ultra-modern style. It is legitimately impressive how good the game looks in the middle of fights and it only stands out even more in victory animations. From what we've seen in the demo, though, I'm not sure if all this will hold true for the main story's cutscenes...which is hard to wrap one's head around. Indeed, the in-game models look better than some of the pre-rendered cutscenes from the first chapter of the story that was available in the demo. Not something you see every day. In fact, there isn't a whole lot of consistency between how those cutscenes look so that might be a tell that it's still an area that is being reworked. That minor thing aside, Tekken 8 has stellar presentation and the great soundtrack on top of that really makes for a strong atmosphere. I'd dedicate an entire section to talk about the game's music if I could, but my feelings basically boil down to one thought - it's really, really good. Tekken 8 clearly knew what it wanted to be and it does it well. The game's not just eye candy, though; the gameplay is also plenty satisfying.
Why's the Move List So Long?
Tekken isn't for everyone, but it's not exactly uninviting either despite how long the character move lists can get. The gameplay is actually pretty easy to learn at a steady pace with just a bit of practice and experience. The skill ceiling is very high, though, and actually mastering all the mechanics is an entirely different endeavor. But still, it doesn't take much to really start having fun. And once you get the hang of things, it actually starts to feel rewarding as well. Learning leads to more winning and winning leads to wanting to learn more. It's a natural, positive spiral.
The new mechanic introduced in Tekken 8 is the Heat system which allows players to temporarily use character-specific Heat Dashes and Smashes on top of other passive boosts such as always dealing chip damage. While it is hard to say how exactly this mechanic will best be exploited at the highest level, I can say for sure that it will be a game-definer. It's ready to be activated from the beginning of every single round; it's unavoidable and that's an intentional decision from the developers' end. Is it balanced? Does it make the game feel too predictable? We'll have to see how it plays out. Certainly, it seems like something designed to be visually entertaining more than anything, but the flow of combat doesn't feel drastically affected. The mechanic isn't necessarily a huge draw to the game in terms of gameplay, but maybe we just need more time with the game to really see its benefits put into action.
Rich Characters (No, I Don't Mean Lili)
Okay, the demo only has 4 playable characters so maybe it's a bit unfair to make an assessment about the series' cast as a whole, but a majority of the characters are full of life. They feel as if they could stand on their own, separate from the series. It helps that a lot of them are fairly fleshed out in terms of story purposes, but others such as King are just cool to have on the roster. They have actual personality to them and don't just feel like charicatures. The relationship between these characters is also something of intrigue and the game actually does a good job in terms of interactions. You can feel the weight of the story even if the demo only gives a brief glimpse as for what's to come. In terms of gameplay, they also feel pretty unique so no doubt there's some fun to be had in finding a main. And again, they all just look really good so that helps, too. A solid character roster doesn't make a fighting game good, but it does make a good fighting game even better. Let's hope it ends up being the latter.
While there isn't any practice mode available in the Tekken 8 demo, there's enough available to start learning. The gameplay will definitely seem nonsensical at first if you're not familiar with the series, but the execution standards are doable for pretty much everyone. Give the demo an hour or two of your time. There's enough available to get there no problem. If the game clicks with you, it'll be pretty apparent. If it doesn't, that's also fine. I think this demo is a valuable resource to determine if Tekken is right for you so make good use of it. Personally, I'm excited and I think the full game has a lot of potential. The wait won't be too long now. It's practically just around the corner.
