If you haven’t noticed yet, Tekken 8 is due in just over a couple of weeks. There have been twenty-seven character reveal trailers, a handful of story trailers, two betas and a demo.
But how did we get here?
How has a rough-looking, stiff-to-control at times fighting game from the PlayStation 1 and arcades in the 90s managed to keep in the public consciousness of video games? The answer is the story.
Since the console editions from the very beginning, every character in Tekken had some form of cinematic story to watch unfold. You got this as a reward for making your way to the end of the arcade gauntlet and becoming King of Iron Fist.
Every character has a story and that story, believe it or not, has continued all these years, each installment adding a new chapter to the rosters catalogue of life events. From all these stories throughout the years, one story stands out from the rest, the story that each game revolves around and is the anchor point for all events that surround it.
The family feud of Heihachi Mashima, his son Kazuya Mashima and his son Jin Kazama.
I could go on and explain this to you at length. However, Tekken 8 developers Bandai Namco know how important it is to get up to speed with the lore. So in their infinite wisdom, they have hired award-winning actor Brian Cox. He knows something about dysfunctional families. Also, he provided the antagonistic voice of ‘The Director’ in Rockstar Games’ 2003 title “Manhunt”. In this video, he delivers an electrifying monologue that covers the Mishima tale. From Tekken to the penultimate showdown about to unfold in the upcoming Tekken 8.
This video alone is enough to spark interest in the series, reignite that old fighting game flame or just say to yourself “Hey, that’s your man off the tele talking about parents and kids launching each other off the side of cliffs. That’s mad.”
Watch the video, download the demo, get your muscle memory unlocked, learn the ‘buttons’ and get yourself ready for the full release of Tekken 8 on January 25th.
Words were provided by the King of the Iron Fist fan club, Lewis Magee.
Stay tuned to GamEir. Come talk with us on Twitter (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir).
I promise we’re nice! Keep up with our streams over on Twitch (GamEir) and our videos on YouTube (GamEir) and we’ll give you all the latest content.
Leave a Reply