Yeah, you’ve got your Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter games, but many PlayStation players would argue that Tekken is the true fighting king out there. With excellent games such as Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection in the franchise’s library, we’re always eager to throw hands with Marshall Law and the boys. The latest entry, Tekken 8, is almost here and the first wave of reviews are already positioning it as the greatest instalment yet.
Tekken 8 is shaping up to be a strong initial contender for the best fighting game of the year, no matter whether you’re playing on PS5 or Xbox. Kicking off our review roundup, we’ve got PCGamesN awarding Tekken 8 a sturdy 9/10 score. In Christian Vaz’s review, he details that developer “Bandai Namco has spent the majority of its time perfecting the core combat mechanics to make this the best version of Tekken yet.”
The new PS5 game might not boast loads of innovation, according to Vaz, but it sets a fresh “gold standard” by implementing “a complete graphics overhaul […] and a robust base game package featuring 32 characters and 16 stages.”
VGC’s Chris Scullion gives Tekken 8 full marks, with a whopping 5/5 review. Scullion says that “it’s tough to pinpoint many areas of Tekken 8 that don’t feel at the top of their game […] it looks magnificent, feels great to play, has plenty to do and is generally one of the best, most thorough packages the series has offered to date.”
Elsewhere, Push Square join PCGamesN with another 9/10 write up. While Push Square’s Robert Ramsey notes the distinct lack of Team Battle and a particularly short duration for the game’s Arcade Quest, Ramsey writes “Tekken 8 is a modern fighting game masterclass […] there’s no fighting game series quite like Tekken, and Tekken 8 is the franchise at its bombastic best.”
GGRecon are another outlet to join the perfect score club, as Dave McAdam gives Tekken 8 a 5/5 rating. Listing zero cons in their analysis of the game, McAdams attests that “it gives you more of everything, bigger, louder, and better.”
Tekken 8 will be available on PS5 and Xbox from Friday, January 26, 2024. There are plenty of new Xbox games to dive into and free PS Plus games to download in the meantime. We’re looking beyond Tekken 8, though, as we predict what will appear at Sony’s next State of Play presentation.