One line review: Tekken8 is amazing.

Slightly expanded review: Probably the biggest leap in quality since Tekken2->3, 8 refines the mechanics from T7, adds modern controls a la SF6, hugely improves the graphics and sound, adds cross play and PvP rematches and makes the game much more accessible to boot. It also adds a real money shop, which, well, is not popular, but is also entirely ignorable.

The sound in particular is great - a blocked quick jab might sound a bit mid, but most hits sound like a damn gunshot and add a heck of a lot to the atmosphere.

The cast of characters is also diverse and fascinating, from giant hugely hard hitting war robots to a hyperfast peruvean coffee-saleswoman who likes nothing more than doging your attacks to hit you from the back, literal devils and demons, a chavvy kind of boxer, a hotheaded taekwando expert, happy shopper bruce lee, a giant championship wrestler who think he's a cat, two kinds of bear, knock-off magic Blade, a gun-toting cyro-frozen irish assassin, a french spymaster who thinks karambit knives are somehow acceptable in a fist fight, a space alien octopus robin hood ninja thing, an egyptian lady who has the literal god of war stuck in her hand somehow and a good two dozen more. More will come with DLC, ofc, but there are plenty to choose from and lots to experiment with.

The really great thing about tekken is that it has an almost abyssal level of depth, with so many mechanics, both new and old. Now this might seem like it would make the game hard to learn, especially if you're new to the series, but it's also really intuitive. You have four buttons, left and right kicks, and left and right punches. That's it! If you want to do a quick right left combo, you press right punch, then left punch. Easy.

If you have good timing, are patient and understand distancing even a little bit, you really don't even need a tutorial, it's that welcoming.

Now, all the above is really only about the PvP mode(s). SP has always been a bit thin in tekken games, but fwiw, I think it's probably at it's best here; there's the campaign which to its credit has tried to mix things up a bit, character episodes which also focus on the non-mainstream characters a bit more, arcade and arcade quest mode and also ghost battles. I guess it's alright? Tekken ball makes a return from 3, which is great, but you can't play it online for no good reason I can think of (e: you can, im just a big dummy, see comments), but the SP definitely takes a back-seat to the PvP modes.

There's also a bunch of nice touches, like how you can play as Tekken3 Jin, how the characters have rivalries and neat fight intros with their nemeses, replays which have advice when you watch them, kazuya's tits are FINALLY splashed all over the main menu*, there is the customary Tekken silliness, weirdness and ott anime moves and also Heihachi Mishima, possibly literally the most terrible person in the world, and easily the worst parent ever has died**. And then reincarnated as his own illegitimate daughter who is, if anything, even more horrifying to fight against. And she also has the devil gene that is basically the reason for everyone fighting in the first place, because of course she does.

One of my most favourite things is hwoarang mirror matches, which usually devolve into showing off, doing the flashiest moves you can and then get to the point where you are just improvising and re-interpreting each others combos in a sort of synchronised dance-off. It's just amazing to be a part of.

Edit: ok im going to write a bunch more about hwoarang and how his depiction in this game is just amazing. See taekwando, as a practiced olympic/ competitive sport, is quite a lot different than it was originally. Now, its about scoring points by, ideally, a spin kick to the head which counts for the most. So, in this game, hwo has a LOT of flashy high kicks which do a lot of damage, while smaller jabs and kicks serve to put the opponent in a place where high kicks count. It's kinda wonderful, really. Even better is that he had a tutor, Baek Doo San, who exemplifed the older more traditional style and now he has some of Baek's moves, rounding out his repertoire and showing he leant from his tutor.

*: Now you can choose which character you see

**: He's alive now, ofc

If you want an example of how silly it can get, here's Panda winning the tournament and then failing to deal with a chair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dOp9YUJ_ow

I like it. I think it's great and i'm going to play some more right now. But I'm still terrible at it.