During today’s Opening Night Live show at gamescom 2023, Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada showcased a brand-new trailer for Tekken 8. Unlike the past several trailers, which tended to focus on a single character, this one unveils a whole slew of veteran fighters at once as well as a new single-player mode for fans and newcomers to enjoy. We also now finally know Tekken 8’s release date, which is January 26 of next year.
The characters who appear in the trailer seem to further confirm the roster leak that surfaced online several days ago. If you don’t care about spoiling Tekken 8’s full roster, you can click on this Reddit link to see it.
As for the specific characters that the Tekken 8 trailer featured, they include Dragunov, Steve Fox, Shaheen, Leo, Yoshimitsu, and Kuma. Most of these characters appear to look and fight pretty much how you’d expect, but Kuma does seem to have a new Rage Art that sees him bringing out a transforming fish missile to blast opponents with. It’s certainly goofy and absurd, but you won’t find me complaining.
What about the new mode?
When it comes to the new single-player mode, it’s separate from the main story mode that, according to Harada, will deliver on the expected continuation of the Mishima storyline. The new mode, dubbed Arcade Quest, will boast a more player-focused storyline that centers around the arcade scene. It will allow for the usual character customization options that have remained in the series since Tekken 5, and it will also incorporate some “AI-infused learning” into its gameplay progression.
Additionally, the Tekken 8 trailer shows that the Arcade Quest mode will boast avatar customization for the first time in series history. Unlike Street Fighter 6’s avatars, however, these ones sport a cartoony, Nintendo Mii-esque appearance that looks decidedly un-Tekken. Personally, I can’t say I’m a fan of this, but it nonetheless seems like a feature that many players will be more than willing to get into.
