You’ve probably heard me, and everybody else at this point, mention that2023 was a good year for video games. But in a way, wasn’t it a little too good? Not that I’m complaining, but the popularity ofPalworldand the embrace of bad, janky,artistically bankrupt game designhot on the heels of 2023’s critical acclaim feels like a reminder that we like it when our video games suck, just a little bit. Maybe that’s why, despite the slew of hits in 2023, all I could think when I started playingTekken 8was ‘video games are back, baby!’.
That’s not to say Tekken 8 is bad. You can readour four and a half star review here, and I broadly agree with every point it makes, and the overall score. There’s just something undeniably goofy about Tekken and its charms that make it feel like a video game in all the ways no other medium comes close to. I was moved by the stories ofBaldur’s Gate 3, impressed by the technical proficiencies ofTears of the Kingdom, enraptured by the layered themes ofAlan Wake 2. But there’s something in Tekken 8 that makes me smile just a little differently from all those games. Something that feels like Video Games, proper noun and all.
The first chapter of Tekken 8’s story mode is a fight, which shouldn’t be surprising as it’s a fighting game. It doesn’t experiment with the Tekken formula much, sticking to one-on-one bouts rather than mixing it up as previous Tekken modes have. But it does a great job of interspersing this fight with cinematics, which is what first locked me into Tekken 8. These cinematics see Jin and Kazuya whaling on each other in the midst of a smouldering city, slamming each other through concrete foundations or brick walls to wreak even more destruction.
When Tekken ups the violence, it doesn’t lean into gore asMortal Kombatdoes, but instead explosions and crumbling structures, making everything a much bigger spectacle. Add to that the fact both characters use their devil gene to summon demonic wings and laser eyes, and Tekken 8 kicks off 2024 with a colourful, bombastic roundhouse to the throat. Video games, baby.
I would love another year like 2023,minus the layoffs(althoughJanuary doesn’t bode well). I think we all would. It was a boundary pushing 12 months that had some groundbreaking titles that will define their generations forever. But it did have the side effect of giving us so many huge, must-play games that they choked the oxygen in the room for smaller titles. 2024’s first breakout, Palworld, is something of a rebellion against the high bar set in 2023 with a generic, shallow, andvery possibly stolen gamethat has taken the world by storm.
Studios spend millions to avoid being labelled as janky, but sometimes, that’s what we love the most. Tekken 8 is too polished to be janky, but what it is mostly is an embrace of what makes video games great, ridiculousness and all. That city block the pair spar in is only destroyed in the first place because Jin rode his motorcycle up a building and launched it at a helicopter. How did he do that? You already know the answer: video games.
Not every game can get away with that answer, and no game can get away with it for very long. Leaning on the ridiculousness can become a cop out when it’s overused, making a mockery of the audience, and leaving it impossible for the game to form any kind of connection. But when used just right, the idea of ‘video games’ is something magical. Tekken 8’s opening is the perfect conduit for that magic.
Tekken 8
WHERE TO PLAY
Tekken 8 is the next-gen evolution of the long-running fighting game series from Bandai Namco. It brings back several popular characters and adds new, while it also introduces the new ‘Heat’ mechanic.
