Tekken 8 (PS5) Hands-On Preview – Bring the Heat

wccftech.com:

Fighting game enthusiasts have much to look forward to in 2023, between a new Street Fighter, the possible release of Riot Games’ Project L, and even an indie sword fighter called Varvarion. However, none of them can match the passion and excitement for a new King of Iron Fist Tournament to look forward to. While the worldwide release of Tekken 8 is still far out on the horizon, we spent some time at Bandai Namco getting our first hands on the game alongside other media influencers from the Tekken sphere, such as Avoidingthepuddle’s Aris and Maximilian. For an afternoon, I took part in an all-you-can-eat buffet of electric wind god fists and Xiaoyu’s fortune cookie. 

The session opened up with a brief introduction to the mechanics and changes presented by Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray, both longtime producers of the fighting franchise. This was presented to the media group as a Guinness World Record holder for the longest running 3D fighting video game franchise as well as longest running video game storyline. If you’re been playing each and every entry to follow the Mishima arc, you’re probably well versed in more than just Heihachi throwing his son Kazuya into a volcano.

Typically a Tekken release is first introduced into arcades with a later release for consoles; by comparison, Tekken 7 was launched in 2015 in arcades, then consoles two years later. However, this will be the first entry in more than two decades that will see a release straight to consoles. Another figure that Michael Murray touted was that the series had released more than 10 million units worldwide, with 80% of the sales coming from the Western market.

Another focus that Harada and Murray wanted to showcase was the evolution of bringing