Tekken 8 is a sensational sequel

It’s been frequently claimed that 2023 marked a renaissance for the fighting game genre, but more specifically, it was also a great year for solo fighting game players.

While the nature of the genre means that multiplayer often gets the spotlight, there are still fighting game players who prefer single-player – and you could forgive them for having felt like they were left behind in recent years. This changed with Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1, which offered hefty solo modes, and is now continuing in 2024 with the release of Tekken 8.

Tekken 8 delivers the series’ greatest single-player package since its glory days on the original PlayStation. Furthermore, it’s easily the most fun we’ve had with a Tekken game since those days, with deeply satisfying combat, welcome new mechanics, and some genuinely stunning visuals. If you’re a fan of the series – new and old – you’re sure to find something here that reminds you why you fell in love with Tekken in the first place.

Buy Tekken 8

Tekken 8 (PS5)

$29.99$49.99£37.49£45.27

Tekken 8 (Xbox)

£24.99£69.99$29.99$36.99

The latest instalment – the first in nine years – features three distinct modes specifically aimed at single-player gameplay. The most elaborate of these is its Story mode. While fairly brief – if you’re good you’ll beat it in 4-5 hours – it’s a delightfully ridiculous experience. It focuses, as ever, on the ongoing rivalry between Jin Kazama and his father Kazuya Mishima, but brings in other characters along the way (similar to how Mortal Kombat 1 does it).

What begins as a straightforward plot involving a new edition of the King of Iron Fist Tournament eventually descends (or, indeed, ascends) into pure anime-tier nonsense with mid-fight cutscenes, comically over-the-top action and moments of genuine punch-the-air awesomeness.

It even, without spoiling anything, throws in a curveball halfway through and completely changes the way the game is played for a while, which is a great touch.

Before taking on Story mode, it may be wiser to start with the Arcade Quest mode. This is another single-player storyline in which players create an avatar character (which look more like Xbox 360 Kinect avatars than the more realistic ones in Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode).

This mode serves as part story, part training, as it gives players a series of lessons on various Tekken techniques. The aim is to travel around a series of arcades, playing Tekken 8 against each building’s regular patrons, rising up the rankings along the way.

This is a fun way to learn the new mechanics in Tekken 8, though it does tend to jump to more advanced techniques a little early so complete beginners may want to mess around in the standard Training mode or, even better, take on the standard Arcade mode.

Which brings us to the final new single-player offering, the Character Episodes. All 32 fighters in the game have their own single-player ‘episode’ which consists of a short intro, a series of five fights then a CG ending.

“What begins as a straightforward plot involving a new edition of the King of Iron Fist Tournament eventually descends (or, indeed, ascends) into pure anime-tier nonsense”

Anyone familiar with the older Tekken games will remember the joy of unlocking every character’s ending, but this is a trend that has died out in recent years – Tekken 7 didn’t have individual ending movies for each character. By bringing them back, and ensuring some of them are as bonkers as they were in the past (Law’s is particularly entertaining), it provides a further outlet for single-player fans, requiring a total of 160 fights to unlock every ending.

All this would be for naught if the actual fighting mechanics pulled their punches, but Tekken 8 is the most fun we’ve had with the series since the days of the original PlayStation, mixing smooth combat with jaw-dropping visuals.

The main new addition to the gameplay is the Heat system, which is represented by a blue bar which is completely full at the start of every round. At any point in the round, you can hit R1/RB to activate Heat (which also acts as a counter, so it’s best to trigger it as an opponent attacks you).

Once you do this, the blue bar will start emptying, and you have until it runs out to hit R1/RB again to execute a very powerful multi-hit attack called a Heat Smash. Before this, however, as the bar is going down you have access to a new set of moves and combos that can only be performed during Heat, plus any time your hit is blocked it will do chip damage to a blocking enemy (something that doesn’t usually happen in a Tekken game).

The Heat system adds a brilliant risk/reward strategy to the game and forces less defensive play. Once Heat is triggered it’s in a player’s best interests to go on the offensive and try to chip away their opponent’s health, but this also increases the risk that their opponent will counter them and punish them accordingly. The fact you can trigger Heat in every round also means there’s no need to save it, further increasing the chances of these interesting match-ups.

With the returning Rage feature (which lets you pull off an extremely powerful attack with R2/RT when your energy is low to try and turn the tables) combined with Heat, Tekken 8 has plenty of opportunities for each round to consist of spectacular set-pieces.

“The main new addition to the gameplay is the Heat system… which adds a brilliant risk/reward strategy to the game and forces less defensive play”

What’s more, the fact both can be pulled off with a single button instead of some sort of elaborate command means their execution is down to strategy and finding the right window of attack rather than being able to memorise and pull off a lengthy series of button presses.

This concept extends to the game’s other main new addition, which is called Simple Style. By hitting L1/LB at any point during a fight you can bring up a new simplified control method in which holding any direction and pressing a face button can perform a specialty move, a Power Crush move, a low attack or an air combo. Simple Style can be toggled on and off at will in every mode, including Ranked online.

We have no doubt some will be annoyed at this – we admittedly were at first when we played a Ranked match and our opponent spammed air combos over and over by just hitting the triangle button (you can see when they have Simple Style on because their overlay is visible). However, this is very much a ‘git gud’ situation and Tekken players looking to succeed online will have to learn to avoid lengthy combos anyway.

Buy Tekken 8

Tekken 8 (PS5)

$29.99$49.99£37.49£45.27

Tekken 8 (Xbox)

£24.99£69.99$29.99$36.99

It’s tough to pinpoint many areas of Tekken 8 that don’t feel at the top of their game. The combat is deeply satisfying, and its new mechanics – in particular the Heat system – make for faster, more offensive fights, while the variety of modes ensures that not only is the game typically multiplayer-focused, but it also has plenty to offer for solo players.

It looks magnificent, feels great to play, has plenty to do and is generally one of the best, most thorough packages the series has offered to date. Tekken fans will love it anyway, but if you’re a lapsed fan or, like us, you still believe the glory days of Tekken date back to the likes of Tekken 3 on the original PlayStation, this is the game that finally recaptures that feeling.