I guess with less than a week away, the team at the Tekken Project just decided to turn the knob all the way and flood fans with information for their upcoming title Tekken 8. Today we saw the release of the game’s opening movie, and reveal trailers for Lee Chaolan and Zafina.
Let’s face it, this might be the only time you’ll be watching the game’s intro as I’m sure a majority of you will be mashing whatever button will get you to the action fastest. It’s standard opening fair as it packs clips of the various fighters, but what took me out of my chair was the large battle sequence where the various Tekken tournament entrants take on the forces of the G-Corporation which largely consists of Jacks (Jack-8s, if we’re keeping the series’ naming convention for these robots) and it seems Paul and Law find themselves on the opposite ends of this conflict!
The clip ends with an announcement of the game’s first season pass character…the capoeira master Eddy Gordo. He sports a different hairstyle which makes him look more like Michael B. Jordan than the character we knew from Tekken 6. Apparently in addition to the new do, he’s also finally decided to showcase his skill with the berimbau, an instrument that accompanies capoeira performances. Given Eddy’s reputation as a character that “low skill” or “cheesy” players use is now gated behind an additional purchase, who will casuals or those looking to annoy their opponents will use in Tekken 8?
The other videos are in line with the character trailers that have been releasing weekly since last month. Today’s combatants are Lee Chaolan and Zafina. Lee has been a mainstay in the series since the very first Tekken and Zafina made her debut in Tekken 6. Lee is the adopted son of Heihachi Mishima, who has since been spurned by his adoptive father. He now runs Violet Corporation, a leader in robotics in the Tekken continuity. It seems in Tekken 8 he will take a hands-on approach to test a battle suit developed under his leadership. Zafina, is a member of an ancient order of warriors tasked to stop the resurrection of Azazel, an ancient being of destruction. While she was able to thwart the return of the beast, Zafina had to make a grand sacrifice…sealing the spirit of the creature into her left arm. In order to permanently silence the evil spirit she must destroy the two evil stars whose mere presence can revive the beast and they are the father and son duo of Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama.
I think we still might have some characters from Tekken 8’s 29 returning characters that have yet to receive a “Reveal & Gameplay” trailer. Will the team at Namco Bandai get them all our ahead of the game’s launch next Friday? Time will tell!
Tekken 8 will be available on PC, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S on January 26th 2024.
TEKKEN 8 – Opening Movie:
TEKKEN 8 — Lee Chaolan Reveal & Gameplay Trailer:
TEKKEN 8 — Zafina Reveal & Gameplay Trailer:
