Tekken 8 devs miss competition from Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive

Fighting games are riding a high right now, and Tekken 8 looks to continue that momentum when it releases on January 26 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. But while we see a lot of diversity in the 2D fighting world with series like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, Tekken pretty much stands alone these days in the 3D realm.

That wasn’t always the case. When Tekken got started in the early days of 3D gaming in the era of the original PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, it was contending with Sega’s Virtua Fighter and Tecmo’s Dead or Alive. The last original Virtua Fighter, Virtua Fighter 5, debuted in 2006. Since then, we’ve seen nothing but remasters and mobile spin-offs from the franchise. Dead or Alive isn’t quite that dormant, with Dead or Alive 6 releasing in 2019, but it received a muted response from fans. We haven’t heard much about the series since.

So, while Tekken seems healthier than ever, it doesn’t feel like it’ll get any direct competition from another 3D fighter any time soon. And that’s something that Tekken 8 game director Kohei Ikeda regrets. I got to speak with him and director Michael Murray at a recent Tekken 8 preview event.

“It’s kind of lonely,” Ikeda said to me through a translator. “I wish that there were other rivals out there to push our limits, have someone to really make you motivated to push yourself even more.” He said that the Tekken team used to have Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive competing with it in the 3D fighter genre. Then one day they looked around and it was just them.

“I feel the same way,” added Murray. “Tekken’s in a unique position.” He attributed the franchise’s ability to connect with its community for the series’ longevity.

Tekken 8 is doing more than fine anyway

Even without direct competition, Tekken 8 is looking like an impressive package. I got to spend time with multiple features in the game, including the story mode. While other franchise’s feature similarly cinematic narratives, it’s impressive how Tekken 8 adds flair between rounds of a single fight.

There’s also another single-player experience that has you creating an avatar character who is climbing up the ranks of Tekken 8’s virtual arcade scene. This also has its own narrative — a decidedly more lighthearted one. And while the normal story mode only had me playing as series protagonist Jin, this virtual arcade experience let me fight as any Tekken 8 character. It feels like a great way to familiarize yourself with a fighter before going online.

Other modes are less meaty but still fun, including the return of Tekken Ball. This is like a Tekken take on volleyball, which players attacking a ball and flinging it to each other’s side of the court. The ball accumulates damage that gets transferred to the player that either lets it hit their side or gets struck by the ball without blocking.

The base game itself looks and feels great. I spent a lot of my time with Reina, a new character who has some kind of connection to former Tekken regular, Heihachi. Even with my limited time, I was able to pick up enough combos and techniques to feel comfortable with her. The game’s practice mode helped here. It doesn’t just tell you how to do moves, but it explains why they’re useful. If an attack is especially strong against opponents who are crouch blocking, the game will let you know.

Without competition or not, the Tekken team looks to have found the drive to make an exciting fighting game with this latest entry. And if it’s a success, maybe it’ll give others encouragement to revive other 3D fighters.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz