TEKKEN 8 is the next main installment for the famous Japanese fighting game franchise, set to be released on 26 January 2024. The game’s initial roster is now complete with the announcement of “Purple Lightning” Reina and “Refined Violence” Victor Chevalier, thus finalizing the identities of all the 32 launch characters.
Reina is presented as a mysterious character whose only known identity is as a student at the Mishima Polytechnical School. She seems to have a very particular interest in the main protagonist, Jin Kazama, whom she calls “Jin Senpai” in her announcement trailer. According to an official PlayStation.Blog article, “She plays a vital role in Tekken 8’s story, The Dark Awakens”.
Dualities exist in both Reina’s personality and fighting style. While her design portrays a fashionable charm, her motives also contain a sense of evil. She uses the Japanese martial art form called Taidō and imbues it with lightning to deliver swift and brutal attacks on her opponents.
Reina has also somehow acquired techniques from Mishima-style karate like Wind God Fist and Spinning Demon, and she displays her immense strength through Heaven’s Wrath, an attack reversal technique once used by late Heihachi Mishima.
Victor Chevalier is introduced as a living legend in the French military who is driven by his aspiration to save people. With the growing evil influence of the G Corporation led by the antagonist and Jin’s father, Kazuya Mishima, the founder of the Union of Nations’ armed forces, Victor makes his debut to return to the balance of power.
Victor uses dual-wielding weapons like combat knives and karambits to defeat his opponents in super spy-styled close-quarters combat. By combining military techniques with battōjutsu, he can also attack from a distance with his firearms and his beloved sword, Takemikazuchi.
Everything about Tekken 8
TEKKEN 8 is an upcoming Japanese fighting game co-developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Arika, which is set to be released on 26 January 2024 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X and Series S.
It continues the story of protagonist Jin Kazama and his main motivation for ending the Mishima Bloodline to save the world from the Devil Gene. His father and antagonist, Kazuya Mishima, after defeating his grandfather Heihachi, has embarked on a journey for world domination through G Corporation’s military forces. Jin, now reunited with his long-lost mother, Jun Kazama, learns to control his Devil Form, and the game follows his goal of stopping his father’s reign of terror.
Director Katsuhiro Harada has also announced that TEKKEN 8 will reward aggressiveness over defensive or patient play and will focus more on stage destruction and character reactions to make the gameplay more enjoyable. The new “Heat” gauge system will not only grant chip damage and additional move sets like Heat Smash but will also change the properties of certain move sets.
The game’s launch roster has 32 playable characters, including fan-favorites like Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, and Lars Alexandersson, returning characters such as Jun Kazama and Raven, the 8th upgraded version of Jack and three brand-new additions: Azucena, Victor, and Reina.
In contrast to its predecessor, which was powered by Unreal Engine 4, Tekken 8 will be the first major fighting game to utilize the latest Unreal Engine 5 game engine. Thus, all characters’ models have been completely remade and improved from the previous games by making the most of the latest generation of hardware.
The Tekken Franchise
Tekken, translated as “Iron Fist,” is a Japanese fighting and arcade video game franchise developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The video game developer, then known as Namco, began the series in 1994, and by 2023, it had sold over 55 million copies, thus becoming the third-best-selling fighting game franchise of all time.
Similar to games like Mortal Kombat and Injustice, the gameplay focuses on hand-to-hand combat with several key mechanics like blocks, throws, escapes, combos, and special moves. The series also has a huge cast of characters whose stories are narrated through full voice-acted dialogues and meticulously designed battle arenas, some of which can even be broken during fights.
