When you’re not fighting friends or strangers in Tekken 8, you’re likely going through one of the most absurd and over-the-top stories the fighting genre has ever seen. Tekken has long embraced the weird and wacky, but bringing the iconic Heihachi Mishima back to the franchise might take the cake. At an extended preview, we had the chance to go hands-on with Heihachi for a couple of hours and play through the entire new “The Dark Awakens” storyline that he’ll add to the game.
Few video game characters are as well-known, and notorious, as Heihachi, and it should come as no surprise that he feels like a natural addition to the roster. If you’ve played Tekken 8 you’ll know this entry has a much bigger emphasis on offense and aggression, and Heihachi plays into that idea perfectly—genuinely making him one of the most dynamic characters in the game. Heihachi’s explosive moveset has been perfectly integrated into the updated system of Tekken 8, letting you unleash furious combos with ease, due to Tekken 8’s more approachable combat.
Producer Michael Murray notes that post-launch the team has had more time to create unique movesets for the DLC characters due to their low number—versus the main game having to have 32 characters ready to go.
“We wanted to make him [Heihachi] aggressive and more powerful than past iterations, like less poking. So we focused on his mid and high attacks, which were a lot of strong options to begin with, but make them even stronger in this iteration,” Murray notes in a group interview.
After playing nearly two-dozen matches it’s abundantly clear that Heihachi is more powerful than ever—he hits like a truck and can string together lengthy combos and air juggles. But on top of that he has two different stances, Thunder God and Wind God, letting you swap between two special attacks on the fly. But Heihachi has an extra unique mechanic layered on top of that, called “Warrior’s Instinct.”
“Just like past games, Heihachi has a lot of depth you’ll need to learn, but he’s a blast to just pick up and play too.”
Whenever Heihachi enters Heat mode he gains one charge of Warrior’s Instinct, and these charges don’t go away at the end of a round. At three charges you can activate the ability and give Heihachi a slight buff to his attacks, which can also alter some of his moves. This basically lets you give Heihachi a power-up once per match, another way to turn the tides quickly.
Just like past games, Heihachi has a lot of depth you’ll need to learn, but he’s a blast to just pick up and play too. Whether you’re a Tekken expert or someone playing for the very first time, his destructive power is a tour de force. While simply adding Heihachi to the game gives you quite a bit to experience, the other major highlight is Tekken 8’s new story content.
Tekken’s story has always been a roller-coaster ride where you just need to buy into the absurdity, but The Dark Awakens ups the ante. It’s not a particularly long affair, only lasting around an hour and a half, but it sets the stage with Heihachi’s grand return and hints at some future developments.
“…the Heihachi DLC also adds a new stage, the gorgeous Genmaji Temple, and a new option to customize your home screen with your favorite character.”
More than that, though, it’s 90 minutes of breakneck-paced weirdness. Smartly, this DLC story has you playing as both Eddie and Lydia, the two previous DLC characters, whether you own them or not. This gives you a chance to test them out, as the duo works with the Tekken Force to investigate the potential return of Heihachi Mishima. While I can’t say exactly how it all comes together—you get to see a hilarious new side of one of gaming’s most iconic villains, and I loved every second of it.
The Dark Awakens is a great time, but definitely feels like more of an addendum to Tekken 8, rather than its own standalone thing. Of course, the Heihachi DLC also adds a new stage, the gorgeous Genmaji Temple, and a new option to customize your home screen with your favorite character.
It’s fair to say Tekken 8 is one of the best fighting games of the last decade, and it feels like Heihachi’s DLC is simply leaning into everything the game has done right. It’s certainly not revolutionary, but it’s more than enough reason to jump back into the year’s best fighter.
