We’re so dang close to Tekken 8 coming out that it’s hard to contain excitement as we enter into an all-new era of the King of Iron Fists Tournament. Family rivalries will boil over, vendettas will be settled, and a whole lot of new fighting competition will be had.
It just so happens we had a chance to play a near-complete version of the game, which you can read about in our lengthy preview feature, but we also had another chance to sit down with Game Director Kohei “Nakatsu” Ikeda and Lead Producer Michael Murray to talk about some final burning questions leading up to the game’s release. From finally having the full roster revealed to including legacy costumes, it was a fun conversation you’ll want to check out below whether you’re a Tekken diehard or a casual fan.
Shacknews: How much of a relief is it to finally have the full roster out there? The characters are all confirmed. We know who's going to be there on Day One. How does it feel to get over that hump to a place where everybody knows what’s coming at this point?
Murray: It feels great to be relieved of leaks. My favorite game series recently saw a leak. So, I'm glad to not have to worry about that anymore.
Nakatsu: I’ve actually been making some of the character trailers we've been revealing and it feels good to be done with the revealing the whole cast. However, we still have a few trailers up our sleeve that we haven’t shown yet, so we can’t sit back and relax quite yet.
Shacknews: Let’s talk about one of the newest of the bunch, Reina. At first when I saw this character I was like, “Oh, another Mishima.” And then having had a chance to play her today, it was refreshing and eye-opening. She definitely has some things that set her apart. Can you speak a little bit to the making of this character that uses that Mishima style but also breaks off from it in such an interesting way?
Nakatsu: It was quite entertaining to create her because around Tekken 7 or so was when we decided we were going to do a female character that uses Mishima-style fighting, but later on during Tekken 8’s development is when we came about adding the Japanese martial arts of Taido to her design. It was so contrasting to the very powerful attacks in the Mishima style. We have the Taido style that’s more nimble and acrobatic, which really suits Reina a lot. And so, it was really great to be able to create that mix of styles and add a twist to it.
Murray: Yeah, it was awesome making her. The team has talked about having a female Mishima for quite some time, so I was really looking forward to that. But I was quite surprised when they added that twist of the Taido to it. And you could tell she has moves like Electric Wind God Fist, my favorite move of the game, but she has a lot of other stuff that sets her apart from the Mishimas. I really like the look of that purple/black aesthetic she has.
Shacknews: This game is so far different from what we've had in the Tekken series before. You have so many mechanics that make even the characters that we've been playing since the beginning feel vastly different in some regards. To that end, what’s your preference between designing a returning character in the new systems that players have expectations about versus a character like Reina or Victor that are kind of a blank slate that you have just been able to get to create as you will?
Nakatsu: It’s quite interesting to bring back the older characters in this game. Obviously, to build a brand-new character, it gives you a lot of freedom on how to create them. Even then, for the older characters, it was a lot of fun because we really changed up their looks visually. We have to keep some elements that make any character what they are, but we really focused on making the character concepts clearer for each of them. So whether that's Marshall Law, where it's Jeet Kune Do and the nunchucks, or if it's Nina, where people typically think of her as the Death by Degrees assassin with her pistols, making those concepts clearer makes them feel almost brand-new in some regards while also stressing the authentic identity of those characters. It’s a fun balance of these new features while also answering fans’ expectations at the same time.
Shacknews: In regards to capturing that authenticity while also innovating, can I ask you, Murray, about Devil Jin? We finally got to play him today and I’d love to hear your thoughts on him now that we’ve finally had a chance to play one of your favorite characters. How do you feel about how he turned out?
Murray: I was often asked earlier on in the campaign like, “Hey, what's your favorite character and are they announced?” And I had a really hard time because Jin, as you've noticed, had elements of the Devil powers that he could use in his normal form. So, many people assumed that Devil Jin wasn't going to make it back to the franchise. I was glad to see that we were finally able to announce him. He was just amazing from the start. I walked past a meeting with Nakatsu and the dev team where they were showing off the Rage Art for the first time and I stopped and I was like, “Oh my god, that’s awesome!” and Nakatsu’s like, “Okay, approved.” The game designers directly working on him and the battle devs who were designing his playstyle just really did an excellent job. Like Nakatsu said, they really boiled down the concept of each character and I think Devil Jin ended up much stronger this time as a result. At the same time, one of the newer designers streamlined the character a bit, as well. Some of his inputs were a bit complex before, but he made the character more approachable without decreasing the things he can do. I’m really excited about how he turned out.
Shacknews: Talking a bit about the lobbies you’ve designed for Tekken 8, it looks a bit like a twist on what Capcom assembled with the Battle Hub in Street Fighter 6. Did that influence your designs at all when it came to creating new online lobbies for Tekken 8?
Nakatsu: Some people might assume we followed their lead on the Battle Hub since we were coming later than Street Fighter 6, but the truth is we never really even took notice of that. The start of our lobby system came from the fact that Tekken was kind of born in the arcades. We wanted to recreate that atmosphere where you would go to the arcade and that’s where you’d become part of the community, learn the ins and outs of the game, et cetera. We especially wanted that since, maybe 20 years ago, in the West, you didn’t really have a lot of arcades. Even now in Japan, we’re starting to see a heavy decline in them. So, we thought now was a good time to try to provide that area where people can gather and share the love of the game.
Murray: That design is also what helped inspire the Arcade Quest story mode, to give players an idea of what that arcade culture was like. It gives you stories from these NPCs about what real people might have talked to you about in the arcades, while also teaching you the basics of the game and fighting games in general so that when you make the jump to online play and join the community, you might begin to love the game even more. Another reason for the arcade-inspired lobby is that this is the first time we’ve ever released the game straight to console and PC and not had an arcade installment first. Ultimately, we thought the lobbies and Arcade Quest would provide a different way for people to gather and enjoy the game.
Shacknews: As I was sitting there and checking out the roster today, couldn't help but notice when I looked at the outfits that a lot of that stuff is from previous Tekken games. It's really cool to see. I saw Jin Kazama has his Tekken 4 hoodie outfit, Nina has her classic bride outfit, and Yoshimitsu had his Tekken 7 tentacles. How did this come together? Was it difficult to take so many parts of Tekken history on these characters we know and love and mix these classic looks into their new designs in the new engine?
Murray: It was fun, but at the same time, it was really hard. Because of the new engine, it’s not just taking those outfits from Tekken 4 or 7 and throwing them into Tekken 8. We had to make the character models from scratch, so all of those outfits had to be redone as well. The artists and designers were like, “We’re going to make something new. Are you sure you want that costume from Tekken 4 or 7?” or whatever. They didn’t quite get it as much, but Nakatsu and I knew this was something the players would want. We needed to have Tekken 4 Jin and Bride Nina. And to see it in the brand-new game with the high-quality graphics we’re using in the current generation, we thought it would motivate fans to jump in and see how much love for the game is here.
With one last preview in the books, Tekken 8 is pretty much set for launch next month, but we’ve got plenty to share from this event. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel for a wealth of gameplay and head over to the Tekken 8 topic to see more coverage and updates.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Tekken 8 leads talk complete roster, designing Reina & Devil Jin & legacy costumes
