I'll be mostly talking about the offline components, because I'm not currently subbed to PS+.

Tekken 8 is probably the most complete fighting game package I've seen in a while. I can see myself playing this for a long time, unlike most fighting games, which usually won't last more than a month for me.

The story mode is pretty incredible. It's only 3-4 hours long but it has a ton of production value, and the story of Jin seeking redemption for his past actions is surprisingly engrossing. A lot of it is because of how well the story sets the stakes, but also because of how entertaining the character interactions are. For example, Leroy giving Jin epic life lessons while fighting against each other in a tournament. Not to mention the occasional fun fan service moments too, Tekken has a long history to pull from and this story mode did it so well. If you're a life-long Tekken fan like myself, I can almost guarantee that you'll love this. It definitely pushes the bar for fighting game story modes.

There's also the Arcade Quest mode, which is basically a 1-2 hour long tutorial, packaged in a wholesome, cartoonish world where everybody's obsessed with Tekken. The tutorials themselves are quite informative and succinct, and the approachable structure of the mode eases you in for whenever you want to start your online battles journey, since it basically emulates that classic fighting game player zero-to-hero story.

And around those main two modes, the core and accessory gameplay features are well-realized.
- The Heat System is pretty awesome, it's all about encouraging aggressiveness while also rewarding smart plays, and so far it's working as intended.
- The Special Mode is definitely appreciated, I had my friend use it so he can just start playing against me without too much trouble, and it works great for that.
- Having the OSTs of all the Tekken games is amazing. I've been playing with the Tekken 4 OST (my personal favorite), and I can't tell you how satisfying it is to hear that OST being tied with infinitely better gameplay.
- The character customization is definitely a step up from Tekken 7, especially with how much nicer the graphics are, but it still could be improved IMO. I hope they add more options and clothes and stuff in the future.
- The quality of life training additions are very forward thinking. I love that the move list has a set of recommended moves now. And the new stuff you can do with the replays is so useful, like being able to take control of your character mid-replay so you can fix dropped combos and such. It will be hard to go back to other fighting games now.
- The new characters are great. I see Reina becoming another Tekken icon in the near future.

Tekken 8 is definitely a new peak for the franchise. I haven't felt this energized about Tekken since maybe Tekken 5. I hope they can keep the momentum up in the future updates and DLCs.

same game, its my new favorite fighting game. i will put hundreds of hours into this game.....

( Edit, i genuinely dislike this game and play it very rarely, only because i want a reason to go to events for fun and have friends who play it, it is worse then tekken 7, and i didnt even like tekken 7 that much. the worst parts of tekken 7 have been more then doubled with Counter throws that track perfectly, heat engage armor moves that are safe on block and only activate if they hit, your heat smash that is armored and tracking and beats regular armored moves and spikes characters out of the air, tracking works on sidestep too well and so many mid hitting strings arent launch punishable if they are punishable at all, character balence is worse then ive ever experienced it tekken, and heat moves that do a quarter of your health on hit arent punishable and even set up another mix up if they are blocked. all of those bonuses are added on top of the terrible rage arts that do nearly half of your health meaning a person can have a 75% health comback on 2 button presses that are overpowered moves with nearly no risk, even the rage arts require perfect connection to punish at 14 frames of end lag that means if your launch doesnt come out perfectly they can block it. this makes for an uninteresting game where matches are wildly swayed by multiple once per round super moves rather then set ups and skill. and that doesnt even cover the online modes being worse then in 7 as well, with more unfair ranking system that makes you lose more to people higher ranked then you and gain less then beating someone lower ranked then you. less ranks means much more varied skill level per rank and the extended time you spend in any given rank is more because of the slower ranking system. in one match even this long after the game comes out it feels like ranks are full of people that dont know what they are doing and some that do even as high as the top red ranks and mid purple ranks. i hate this game as one of, if not the worst fighting game ive ever been forced to pretend is good. fuck this game )

I'm gonna play this game so much my 9 month old baby is gonna think Bryan Fury is his uncle.

Review Chapter 1:
Baldy's Basics

Yes, I play as Bryan (and I am NOT good at taunt cancelling yet) but you play as Reina so stfu. I do have some legacy skill since I've played Bryan before; he really became my guy when his beautiful bald head graced the voice-synthesized schoolyards of Tekken Tag Tournament. But I'm only here writing because I just went on a truly legendary losing-streak, dwarfed only by that time I lost one trillion SF6 player matches in a row against (fellow-backloggder) Maradona.

I beat both campaigns of Tekken 8 (The Dark Awakens and Arcade Quest) two days ago, and I meant to review it then but I've been so busy getting demolished in ranked matches to remember. Okay and taking care of a baby. Conbaby plays Eddie Gordo so 1. Scrub 2. Has to wait for the DLC.

Review Chapter 2:
Devil Inside, the Devil Inside, Every Single One of Us, The Devil Inside

The Dark Awakens is one of the best fighting game campaigns ever. Mostly focusing on formerly-likable character Jin Kazama trying to forget about the story of Tekken 6. He's just like me fr. Tekken 8 goes the balls-to-the-wall anime approach, and as someone who has been playing these games casually since I was a wee babe, it's hype.

The dialogue is certainly expressive, with characters yelling or gruffly whispering platitudes non-stop, but it manages to ride that line between corny and cool quite well. No spoilers, but there's also more gameplay variety than I expected. The overall Jin focus keeps everything from going off the rails (in terms of story cohesion) and there are plenty of major moments with the rest of the cast. Most of them. The one big Netherrealm style plot convenience was Azucena's; they came up with a fun coffee heiress character but had no idea how to get her into the story.

Review Chapter 3:
Pokkén Tournament

Arcade Quest is a way stripped-down version of SF6 world tour, serving as a tutorial for the basics of Tekken. The plot is straightforward and the dialogue is skippable. It's an inoffensive little mode if not for the fact that you play as those ugly Xbox Live Mii knockoffs, but there’s an online lobby where you chat and run around. It’s kinda fun.

Review Chapter 4:
The AI Version of Myself is Better than Me at Tekken

The practice stuff in this game is crazy; I thought Street Fighter 6's training was bananas, but this is next-level. Aside from the normal suite of training-mode options, you can train an AI of yourself (or any other player) to fight against, and you can pause any of your replays and drop into it (as either fighter) to see what you (or your opponent) could have done better. The amount of options new and old are almost overwhelming, but you're gonna need to utilize at least some of them to get anywhere online.

Review Chapter 5:
Reina and Kazuya

As for the multiplayer, it's great. The netcode is way better than Tekken 7's- still not to SF6 levels but much appreciated. I haven't had any issues, but I do use a wired connection so your mileage may vary.

Playing Tekken online is like getting beaten-up in real life. "I almost had her." Reina and Kazuya seem like the Kens or Scorpions of this game right now, at least in the lower ranks. More Victors as I’ve gone higher. I've played a couple hundred matches and have not fought a single Raven, Lars, Lee, Jun, or Bryan in Ranked (I don't know if it tries to filter out mirror matches.) I don't think Reina and Kaz are overpowered or anything, but they're obviously popular. It doesn't have a huge impact on the enjoyment, as it's good practice. I say practice but it's just me losing ranked matches.

One week post-launch edit: Reina, Victor, King, Dragunov. Kazuya has faded into obscurity.

Review Chapter 6:
I'm Dragging this out to 8 Chapters

I know we're not very far past release, and some of that excitement is sure to wear off, but the amount of fun I'm having is undeniable.

Review Chapter 7:
Sight & Sound

This game looks stunning. Tekken 7 probably looked good too but I wouldn't know because the Xbox version looked like beer goggles.

The music for Tekken 8 is fine, but you can put any Tekken song from any Tekken game on any stage, as well as the different menus. One major omission is "Black Winter Night Sky", the Tekken 2 console opening cutscene song. Where is it Harada? Why is it never included in anything? It's not on iTunes with the rest of the soundtracks, best they've got are stinky cover versions.

Review Chapter 8:
Tekken Ball

TEKKEN BALL BABY! WE'RE SO BACK! GON DLC WHEN?? TEKKEN BALLLLLLLLL!!!! PS TEKKEN BALLIN!!!! Tekken Ball Tekken Ball gonna go play some Tekken Ball to the beach music from Tekken 4

"Review Epilogue" DLC coming soon