3.5/5 ★ – TalonJedi's review of Tekken 8.

I know most fighting games you don’t come for the story but I have been with the Tekken series on and off since its inception, meaning even though I may not have all the Tekken games still in my collection I’ve played every game to date including the story chapters. It has been quite the roller coaster ride over the last 30 years indeed, with the Mishima storylines going from grounded to severely wacky and over the top as seen in Tekken 5 with Jinpachi and beyond. Tekken 8’s story is just as daft, bringing and leaning more into angels and demons, but what I enjoyed about it most was probably the final fight between Jin and Kazuya. Sure it started off over the top and wacky but the way it ended had it feel like the older Tekken games, which came more from a grounded standpoint which I appreciated. Also I want to make it known that the one pet peeve I have always had with Tekken games is that everyone no matter what race, can understand one another even when speaking to each other in their respective native tongues. Either each member in Tekken is well versed in most languages on Earth or the characters just love spatting out nonsense in hopes the other folks around will get the gist of what they’re saying. In regards to the gameplay, Tekken 8 is as crisp as ever before. I can see why it got such praise when it came out. In regards to the fighting mechanics it’s a no nonsense balls to the wall brawler, retaining it’s iron fist like fighting style of breaking your opponent’s guard and utilizing a combination of well timed attacks to keep the string of combos going juggling them until they fall. There’s also a more streamlined option for pulling off easier combos as seen in other modern fighting games like Street Fighter VI, allowing players who aren’t too savvy with pulling off 12 button consecutive combos like myself, to maneuver them in a few button presses. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this one. Tekken 8 is a great entry into the long running fighting series and if you happen to experience the story like I did just know it’s going to be insanely over the top, not make much sense, and may have you lost in translation but that will all go away once you start punching things into oblivion.