Tekken 8 | Heihachi Gameplay Trailer

[Moonface]

Because Heihachi uses blue lightning and Lars being his illegitimate son, he inherited that and is now using that..."power" differently to the rest of the Mishima line. He already did use it differently before anyway like his choke move.

Oh I understand why he has lightning effects on his moves; I just think his finisher looking like he literally becomes lightning and moves at the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog to be a bit much? I know Tekken isn't meant to be entirely grounded, but moving at high speeds like that would make more sense on characters that have a design to explain it, such as Alisa because she could have rocket feet or whatever. Lars just becoming The Flash bugs me if there's no explanation for it and it just is I guess.


Welp, King just went to join his deceased predecessor courtesy of a bloody rail gun! XD
Probably the most interesting gameplay video for me compared to the others so far, since I always associated Jack as a very slow character but he seems to move pretty decently fast here. The focus on fist moves over kicks also makes me wonder if he's always been intended to be played as primarily a puncher, sorta like Steve, and the reason I've found Jack to always be utter trash is because I tend to prefer kicks over punches.

I guess now we wait and see if Jun actually comes next, we get something else, or we just get nothing at all for a while. I hope we just get a weekly or bi-weekly gameplay video with each one revealing a new character addition because I would enjoy getting to speculate who would be coming up next knowing when the next video would roughly be released, plus I think it's a good way to keep the game actively present rather than the usual come-and-go advertising/trailers that games usually do.

[Mr EliteL]

Tekken 8 | Jun Kazama Gameplay Trailer



Here's the last of the currently known characters so far to get their gameplay trailer, Jun is really back as playable character!

She has her Tag 2 stance and moves, plus new ones that include a few taken from Tag 2 Unknown (as she was Unknown then but not canon I think), but those particular ones are changed so are not the purple...things this time. I saw birds fly out when she did some attacks too. We also got to see a special intro between Kazuya and Jun so hope there's a lot more than what Tekken 7 had.  

Welp, King just went to join his deceased predecessor courtesy of a bloody rail gun! XD
Probably the most interesting gameplay video for me compared to the others so far, since I always associated Jack as a very slow character but he seems to move pretty decently fast here. The focus on fist moves over kicks also makes me wonder if he's always been intended to be played as primarily a puncher, sorta like Steve, and the reason I've found Jack to always be utter trash is because I tend to prefer kicks over punches.

Yeah, Jack does use his arms more but has better leg moves now like the big stomp he does, lifting his leg up high then does a stomp which slightly pushes back the opponent so not to leave himself open too much if they block. I didn't really use his leg moves in earlier games except for the standard circle kick everyone used to have, so I usually just used two punch buttons or both together instead of any other. Only other notable kicks I remember him having are that cossack like dance move he does (which he still has I think), but was too slow to come out or just useless. The Gigas kick he's inherited could be good for him too as that has some range even with the shorter legs.

[Moonface]

Jun fighting against both Jin and Kazuya in her video was funny to me when I viewed it as her handing out beatings for the shit they've been up to, kinda like if Sakura were putting Naruto and Sasuke in their places for the stuff they'd get up to back in the day. XD
Interesting to note that the birds flying out during her attacks are black ravens, and although it at first seemed odd to me since we see her with a white dove at the start of the video, it actually ties in with one of her outfits from TTT2: https://tekken.fandom.com/wiki/Jun_Kazam..._Front.png

@Mr EliteL: Man I forgot about that stupid Cossack dance kick Jack has. I swear the AI would use it all the time in T2 and then I never really saw it used by a Jack after that game to the point I didn't even realize it was carrying over in each game. Does he still have that arm attack where he swings his arm around in a circle at his side or did that one go away at some point?

[Mr EliteL]

Tekken 8 | Ling Xiaoyu Gameplay Trailer



Suddenly out of nowhere, Ling Xiaoyu is confirmed and shown here with gameplay like the others we've had in the past month. Fighting against Nina in the city stage then King in the forest stage that was revealed in Jun's trailer. Another good design, liking the top, she seems to still have a variant of her T7 lower clothing but still fits in here. She was pretty much a given to be included anyway what with trying to find Jin in T6 & T7. I used her a lot in Tag 2 and T7, so am happy with how she is. Perhaps another trailer incoming tomorrow seeing how Jun's was yesterday?

Also, @Moonface: Yeah he still has that Gigaton Punch, I've seen it even used in tournament but not a lot obviously, probably just to try and throw off the opponent not expecting it, making them have to avoid, not fully charged of course because that just leaves the player open for too long.

[Moonface]

Definitely didn't expect a character reveal and trailer the day after Jun's trailer yesterday, but maybe it was this quick to indicate that Jun's trailer was not the end of the constant feed of character trailers we've been getting rather than leave everyone waiting for a week wondering, of which some people would just stop feeling anticipation to avoid potential disappointment if nothing came after a week.
As for Xiaoyu's look, I dig it. I'll always like the design she had with those illuminated wrist bands the most because it made her moves look really cool, but I'm sure everyone has some particular old look that sits as their top per character that this game won't manage to beat.

After watching her trailer I also got this recommendation for IGN's hands-on preview of the game, and it was an interesting watch. Unless I missed them I think it covers some new mechanics and features that weren't detailed yet, such as a new control scheme and some of the character-specific perks that are triggered with the new heat system:

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah, I'm also seeing other videos come out recently as well, there was a beta test ahead of Evo Japan that some notable players got their hands on like content creators TheMainManSWE, Arsenalty and tournament announcers SpaghettiRip and Rip for example (those two are different people, Spag is the one who wears sunglasses all the time ), there's an interview with journalists with Harada and Murray too which I'll link. The alpha testers couldn't record anything they were doing though, they just got supplied gameplay from Namco shown in their videos talking about their experience. There's a lot that's come out so I won't link them all, they're likely mostly going to be similar info anyway.

Anyway what I've seen, well heard, from them is gameplay and the alpha presentation, like wall combos are nerfed from T7 which is good. Also at the moment the character screen, which isn't final, but the alpha has the 3D models posing when you select them, I guess similar to Tag 1 did but hopefully not what T6 did including the customs, but can't tell yet as it's not finalised. Hope they avoid customisation appearing for that in the release version and just have either just the initial default costume or allow the usual default Player 2 costume to be included as well with selecting a character.

The new simplified control scheme was detailed in the 30-minute video before, it's fine for beginners and such, I'll always stick to the normal control scheme though. Disliked the T7 version of the simplified controls, but probably will have to check the T8 version out just to know what kind of attacks will be set in them.

[Mr EliteL]

Tekken 8 | Leroy & Asuka Gameplay Trailers

At Evo Japan '23, Harada and Murray walked up to the stage then proceeded to reveal two more returning characters to Tekken 8, now sitting at 12 so far. Leroy Smith, who was teased with a statue in the Urban Square stage and back with his dog Sugar and cane. Asuka Kazama, playable since T5 and a relative to Jun and Jin.






Feel like both were also a given, Leroy being featured in the Netflix show even though he was introduced so late in the actual games, then getting that statue. Asuka may have been seen as iffy because of Jun, but she's definitely not a clone anymore but needs to be in the main story more. With Jun in as well, we might actually get to learn much more about the Kazama side, if she has any more relevance to what's going on even though she's been outside of it. Both Leroy and Asuka look great too, although kinda meh with Asuka's outfit still having a school uniform motif, I can live with it though.

Don't mind if it's a bit quiet until another event, tournament or whatever for a while as we got so much recently. If Asuka is in it's a good chance for Lili to appear as well which I'll like as I use her the second most after Lee who, darn, I'm kinda itching for him but I'll be patient.  I also want Team Battle so freakin' much but that won't get announced much later if there are any more modes than Story, Arcade, Versus and online Versus, which there needs to be.

[Moonface]

Not familiar with Leroy Jenkins due to him being introduced in T7, but his fighting style looks really neat. I was expecting something rather lackluster at first though because the way he's "training" with that wooden whatever-it's-called at the start of the trailer was so pitiful and looked like he was afraid it would hit him back if he smacked it properly.

I really dig Asuka entering the match on her bike as a callback to the cinematic opening of T5. Her "bonehead" remark and the follow-up fist attack reminded me of Sakura from Naruto when she calls him a knucklehead and smacks him. XD

I was curious what Asuka's position is within the Kazama family tree, only to see they still haven't bothered to remotely cover it. Hopefully it gets delved into a bit in this game since Harada suggested her family relation is complicated, and with the return of Jun it feels like a good opportunity to explore her background a bit more as I'd expect Jun to be curious about meeting a new Kazama family member. If not for the lack of age difference it'd be hilarious if Asuka just bullshitted her with "Oh I'm Jin's daughter" just to see what Jun's reaction would be to thinking she's a grandmother.

Lili has to be in since she became the focal joint-character for Asuka after the developers completely ditched her story of pursuing Feng (for what seems to be no good reason). For characters that I think won't return or have a very slim chance to, these are my pitches:

• Claudio - He seemed very shoehorned in to T7 in the first place, and only got involved at all because of Heihachi. I can't see him having a motivation to return in T8 when he didn't really have one to get involved off his own back in T7.
  
• Katarina - I'm on the fence with this, since she could come back for revenge against Kazuya for what G-Corp did to her father, but like Claudio she seems to just not have really made a notable impact to me so I won't be surprised if the devs don't bring her back.
  
• Gigas - Since you said some of his moves have been given to Jack @Mr EliteL, I doubt he's coming back. Going by what little story he has there's little reason for him to return either I feel.
  
• Master Raven - Kick her out, bring back OG Raven. He's cooler than she is and I can't find a single good reason why he was even replaced in the first place. Even the canon reasoning of "retraining" feels shallow.
  
• Ganryu - Surprised he came back as a DLC character honestly, and I doubt he'd be missed if he went away again.
  
• Lidia - Considering Heihachi forced her to enter T7 I doubt she'll get a reason to enter T8. I'd also wonder if Namco would even want to have a character who's back story is their country got invaded and they're entering the tournament to get the Tekken Force to leave given the continued situation with Russia and Ukraine.
  

[Mr EliteL]

About those potential removals I agree with Katarina/Gigas and Ganryu, there's some I disagree with and others I'd also think have low chances or just gone. I do refer to this S4 Character Usage data, composed by a player and know character usage, perhaps not that particular data, helps determine character chances.

• Bob - Is just pointless, has nothing going for him other than "lol large guy can flip and acrobatics and sh*t"
  
• Shaheen (mostly)/Miguel/Leo - Shaheen is basically a mix of Leo and Miguel's motivations (Leo revenge after Kazuya, Miguel after Jin), what's the point of having another character like them? I liked his design but that's it. Miguel could also end up getting removed, doesn't really have connections to any of the other characters, but I'm not sure so he could be back. Leo has a connection with Steve as Emma Kliesen was a part of his past, plus Steve has a very good chance anyway so Leo, although less so in chance individually, has that going for them.
  
• Lei - An iconic character, but the crap players pulled hounding Harada about him not in the base roster and first DLC wave was ridiculous, then him being one of the least used characters in T7 (plus apparently other games too) does not bode well for him, except trying avoid that scenario again.
  
• Josie/Fahkumram - Them being a sort of Muay Thai/Kickboxing replacement for Bruce that just wasn't needed, Bruce had more significance anyway but in a way I wouldn't mind seeing any of the three but would prefer Bruce.
  
• Kuma/Panda - Although a Kuma's been in every game they may go back to Kuma and Panda sharing a slot or....remove both entirely. My bets are on at least one of them staying though
  
• Master Raven/Raven - Poor usage again, but they may get the Kuma/Panda treatment they used to have between T3-T6 if a Raven manages to get back in. Mokujin also used to have a female version as a costume swap.
  
• Christie (return?) - Could also be a swap for Eddy like he used to be for her in T4? Eddy himself should be back anyway, him possibly getting the special treatment despite low usage, being an influencer for/popularising Capoeira...for gamers or anyone stumbling across Tekken anyway.
  
• Anna - She wasn't in the initial roster in T7, though she's usually been an unlockable, though her and Nina's dispute is far from over and she could still be working with Kazuya, but I'm just unsure of her chances really.
  
• Eliza - Yeah, nah.
  

Out of those I'll be very surprised to see Bob, Shaheen, Katarina or Lei return and convinced myself Gigas, Ganryu and Eliza have zero chance.

Anyway, I think Claudio and Lidia are likely to return.

Claudio was easily underused in T7, feel like it's good to have a character come from an organisation that's after the Devil Gene hosts especially after events of T6. The problem in T7 is he ran into Heihachi (rather Heihachi found him), but he isn't a Devil Gene holder but could hold his own against Devil Kazuya even in his advanced age. As they were both after Kazuya mainly it was easy to just shove him with working with Heihachi for a while, but as Claudio lost against Heihachi the latter didn't think much of him. I'd want to see Claudio be pushed more if he had to fight Jin/Kazuya and as he was after Jin in his own and Xiaoyu's Character Chapter, that could've taken place after Heihachi got rid of him. It's one of the Character Chapters that seemed good and related to the main arc.

Lidia, the real world being a problem was I thing I thought about, but they can easily just change that for a previous DLC new character, integrate her more into the plot like Leroy has been getting, plus she's a more proper martial artist than other female characters in Tekken. She can still be a President or leader of some kind, just remove whatever her country was facing, have her be included in the battle for the safety of the world in Tekken 8.

Out of the new T7 characters I place Claudio with the highest chances followed by Lidia, Lucky Chloe being the T7 token new girl fighter along with T8's token girl (there will be one if not, I'll be gob-smacked), Kazumi (as DLC), all of whom I think will make it. As the roster can't be so huge, surely not as big as T7/Tag 2, closer to T6's perhaps, some of the rest are for the chopping block to make space for a few brand new characters.

Also, prior to this I already made myself a "tier" list of my personal takes on the chances of characters making it in: Here, although there's one I may swap which is Heihachi unless we see a young Heihachi again but him doing new moves we can just take his older self couldn't do or something.

[Moonface]

I heard that some elements of Anna have creeped their way into Nina which has made some players think that they're just going to only have Nina, similar to how Jack-8 has some of Gigas' moves which makes it likely for Gigas to be out.

As for character usage issues such as with Lei, it has to come down to their moveset not being viable for competitive play. I like Lei but I've always had a hard time learning his moveset and even when I did at one point get a lot of moves memorized it felt like it took more effort for the same output I could get from other characters who don't ask as much of me.

Kuma I could see staying in because it could possibly make a good story (not in the canonical part but the character part like how most Tekken games have done it) with him being upset over the loss of Heihachi and vowing vengeance on Kazuya. Especially after he reunited with Heihachi in T7.

I doubt Kazumi will be in T8. I don't see what involvement with the story she would have since most of her character history is with Heihachi, so she isn't going to appear in flashbacks for Kazuya or Jin to have a reason to be in the roster. I can't even see Heihachi getting in with flashback scenes because again, everything between him and Kazuya was explored already. It's probably a big reason why Jun is returning because she's the only one with any history with Kazuya and Jin, since neither of them have really interacted with each other prior to what we've seen of them in the previous games because Kazuya was a piece of shit absent father.

[Mr EliteL]

Kazumi could become a DLC character later down the line if she's not likely to have any place within the story mode, but I wouldn't count her out, I place in "Possibly" because of that chance, as she was a more well received out of the T7 new characters.

Anyway;

Tekken 8 | Lili De Rochefort Gameplay Trailer



Courtesy of the Mix Up tournament held this weekend Lili makes her return in elegant style, with a pet coming along with her just like Leroy.

Liking that we get to see intros of a fight here in trailers after they were confirmed, as Lili vs Asuka was going to be just as I'd expect it to be. Don't mind Lili's outfit is similar to her T6, I can make my custom costume similar to what I did in T7 for her. She is my second most used character since T6 so I am happy she'll be in. Didn't blow me away but the trailer was good regardless and well, the kitty definitely makes up for it. 

Combo Breaker is next month, I think it is a Master event, might have another T8 trailer coming then. Murray was there today to reveal Lili for Mix Up but no Harada this time, they don't both have to be there anyway.

[Moonface]

The cat at the end has such a look of "Why did I come back to her? O_O ".
I think Lili's "finisher" is possibly the weakest of all the ones shown so far; the initial three moves being whatever is expected, but the last move being a backflip kick doesn't really feel like a big deal hit when for characters like Law and Lee that type of move is part of their regular move set.

Interesting to learn Lili is a character you use a lot @Mr EliteL; I didn't know you had picked her up and connected with her to that degree since her name isn't one you mention much. I'm curious what your outfit for her in T7 is now too.

[Mr EliteL]

Lili does have plenty of moves similar to that final move she does in her moveset, well a lot of flying double kicks, some shown in the trailer, but there's one when she's getting up from a crouch and using her arms to lift herself up is similar to that flip, just this rage art is in a standing up position. Yes, not particularly special but she's more a standard human compared to the rest of the cast.

Well, also interesting to know you just learned that I use Lili when I mentioned her multiple times in my first post here. I've made many costumes (for multiple characters too), but the one I used the most with her in T7 was a combination of two of her original outfits. The top of the white frilled dress coloured in a dark-ish/gold-ish yellow instead of white, and the bottom of her other original outfit coloured black. Can't remember what colour I did for the sneakers, that was an after thought.

[Moonface]

Lili does have plenty of moves similar to that final move she does in her moveset, well a lot of flying double kicks, some shown in the trailer, but there's one when she's getting up from a crouch and using her arms to lift herself up is similar to that flip, just this rage art is in a standing up position. Yes, not particularly special but she's more a standard human compared to the rest of the cast.

Besides the Mishima bloodline and anyone who is blatantly non-human I always took everyone else to be a standard human. Unless by standard you mean someone who isn't portrayed with exaggerated strength like Paul punching a brick wall down.

Well, also interesting to know you just learned that I use Lili when I mentioned her multiple times in my first post here.  I've made many costumes (for multiple characters too), but the one I used the most with her in T7 was a combination of two of her original outfits. The top of the white frilled dress coloured in a dark-ish/gold-ish yellow instead of white, and the bottom of her other original outfit coloured black. Can't remember what colour I did for the sneakers, that was an after thought.

I guess I either never noticed it properly or didn't take the information in enough or just simply forgot. XD

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah more grounded in their fighting ability than say Paul, Feng and a few others who are portrayed closer to an everyday human.