Tekken 8 – looks like Jun’s back to set her son straight (pic: Bandai Namco)

It still lacks a release date and unedited gameplay, but Tekken 8’s stunning new trailer teases returning characters and story details.

After its announcement at the last State Of Play, we had hoped to see more detailed gameplay for Tekken 8 during its appearance at last night’s Game Awards.

While the new trailer did treat fans to some snippets, it mostly focused on Tekken 8’s story mode (apparently titled Fist Meets Fate) which will serve as the finale to the ongoing storyline that began with the original Tekken in 1995.

On the plus side, what was shown still looked great in terms of visuals and, despite its brevity, a number of returning fighters were confirmed for the roster, including Jun Kazama of all characters.

Jun’s inclusion is significant as she’s been absent from the mainline games since Tekken 2. For those unfamiliar with Tekken lore, she’s the mother of protagonist Jin and was believed to have died before the events of Tekken 3.

She did reappear in the Tekken Tag Tournament games, where she took on a more revealing redesign and served as the final boss of the arcade mode, but those games aren’t considered canon.

Given her ties to Jin and his father Kazuya, who are both poised to take centre stage in the story, she’ll undoubtedly have a major role to play, though what that role could be remains a mystery.

Tekken 8 – the game features a new Heat System, but details are slim (pic: Bandai Namco)

Other characters making a return include Paul Phoenix (who now sports a beard and looks as haggard as Ken in Street Fighter 6), Marshall Law (who comes equipped with nunchucks), a new iteration of the Jack robot called Jack 8, leopard masked wrestler King, and Lars Alexandersson, who’s now dressed all in white.

Although the trailer doesn’t give fans much to go on, Bandai Namco says that Tekken 8’s gameplay will focus on ‘aggressive tactics’ and feature a new Heat System mechanic.

Exact details are vague, but the Heat System ‘triggers aggressive attacks with special moves and enhancements for each character’s abilities.’ Maybe that’s how Law gets his nunchucks?

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There also remains no word on a release date, although it’s said that Bandai Namco plans on having it out in either 2023 or 2024.

Considering Street Fighter 6 is now slated to launch in June 2023, Tekken 8 likely won’t release until well after, so as to not directly compete with it.

Tekken 8 will launch for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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It still lacks a release date and unedited gameplay, but Tekken 8’s stunning new trailer teases returning characters and story details.