Just yesterday, Bandai Namco posted the Jun Kazama trailer for Tekken 8, easily the most significant character showcase so far. With this in mind, it would make sense for Bandai Namco to take a break from releasing more character trailers for the time being. But as it turns out, the company has shown no signs of slowing down, as it just released a new trailer highlighting series veteran Ling Xiaoyu. Unlike most prior character trailers, this one specifically reveals a character that we had not seen in pre-release material up to this point. Previously, only the Nina Williams trailer held that distinction.
For those unfamiliar, Ling Xiaoyu incorporates various forms of Chinese martial arts into her fighting style, including Baguazhang and Piguaquan. Her playstyle involves a lot of stances and other unique states that seamlessly transition into specific moves and even other stances, making her quite the tricky character for opponents to deal with. Judging by the trailer, not much appears to have changed from her previous appearances in terms of gameplay. However, the new mechanics of Tekken 8 nonetheless manage to give her moves an extra sense of style and flair.
Anything else about the character?
Xiaoyu first appeared in 1997’s Tekken 3, a game that generally saw the absence of several established characters in favor of fresh new fighters. Since then, Xiaoyu has become one of the faces of the Tekken series, appearing in every subsequent game without fail. She even served as the lead character in 2011’s Tekken: Blood Vengeance, a tie-in film written by series director Katsuhiro Harada himself.
Although her return was never in doubt, fans of Ling Xiaoyu are no doubt excited to play as her once again in Tekken 8 now that this trailer has surfaced. Interestingly, Bandai Namco has still refrained from unveiling any outright newcomers, even at this stage. The next batch of character trailers could change that, but we won’t know until we see them.
