A month after the game launched, Bandai introduced an in-game mtx shop that was never discussed prior to the game's release. None who paid 70€, for the amazing game that Tekken 8 is, knew about this before the feature was mentioned in a patch note. Truly disgusting behavior, and something many people seemed okay with, which wasn't surprising given how soft the gaming community has become regarding this type of stuff. I asked Valve to refund my purchase, because this was not something I wanted to support, and I was denied due to "more than 2 hours played and 14 days passed since purchase." Let's just ignore the publisher knowingly misleading their players, and changing the ESRB rating later to include those succulent words we all crave to hear, "In-game purchases."

But Bandai is a double G—greedy and glutenous. It wasn't enough that they were selling stupid skins for 5€ anymore, they also want to exploit the player's FOMO with a Battle Pass now. So, here we are, 2 months after the game released, and the game is now infested with all the hip predatory money-grabbing microtransactions without this being discussed prior to the game's release. Like before, I again sent Valve a refund request, in hopes that they accept it this time. But you know, "more than 2 hours and 14 days passed", and all that jazz. Can't give consumers a way to fight back against these sleazy practices big publishers are resorting to nowadays, by introducing predatory microtransactions in their game sometime after launch to get around negative PR. No, no, no, that would be bad, because of reasons.

What a time to be alive when my 29-year-old slav-ass can say, "Back in my day, games didn't try to bend me over and ♥♥♥♥ me for all my money's worth." I wonder if my grandkids will believe the tales this old Slav will tell them. Or will it just be "Ok grandpa, time to take the yummy pills, you're leaking again." We truly live in a society.

So, while everything I said below in my original review still stands, when looking at Tekken 8 as just a game, my stupid ass is again reminded of how ridiculous this way of perceiving AAA games from 90% of publishers nowadays is. This isn't just a game—it's a product meant to extract as much money from my pocket as possible.

Fool me once, shame on me, Bandai.

For the past few years, I've genuinely struggled to get excited to play any game I own or could buy. My passion for gaming reached an all-time low near the end of 2023. And 2024 brought more of the same—a new year, same old burnout plagued me. Things weren't looking good, bruv.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147207996
I was legit thinking of calling it quits, but only after publishing my cute little flipbook project I worked on for the past 6+ months. Plus, I was once again (still am) tormented by (I assume) RAM issues, despite already getting a brand new kit from G.Skill on the 3rd of January after going through their RMA process.

But that's a story for another day.
Back to Tekken 8.

On (Orthodox) Christmas Eve, I was scrolling through my YouTube feed, and Tekken 8's teaser popped up. I already watched it back when it was first shown—I did not care! Yet, now I did!? After that, I watched the story trailer for the first time. My tummy felt weird—'twas butterflies! I was giddy with excitement. I was looking forward to a game for the first time in forever! And it was a game from a franchise I did not care for and from a genre I don't even like. It was an (Orthodox) Christmas miracle! Then and there, I decided—I must play it day 1! As fate would have it, I had just enough TF2 keys sitting in my inventory to fund this desire of mine. So, I did.

To pass the time until it fully came, I played the demo, loving every second of my 23 hours spent with it. Sure, its content offering was small: only 4 (out of 32) playable characters, the first battle of the story mode, the intro section of the Arcade Quest mode, and a few Super Ghosts fights that let me reach only the Warrior rank. But it's the motion of the ocean that counts! And, oh boy, did it rock my boat! The 26th just couldn't come soon enough.

The gameplay shocked me by how easily I jelled with it. Fast, flashy, and furious, yet it was welcoming to a complete noob like myself. I was loving the learning process, and it didn't feel overwhelming. I even managed to get gud at doing some simple combos and air juggling, so that's nice. And I love the new gameplay addition—the Heat system. Being able to stop my opponent's attack flow by using the Heat Burst attack, which is uninterruptible, is music to my ears. Sure, you can easily block it, but this is where the fun begins—trying to time it, just right! Plus, the Heat Engager and Heat Smash (I do be engaging in smashing) attacks can be used to extend combos and deal even more damage in the process. Simply majestic. The trade-off is that Heat only lasts 15 seconds. But do you really need more than that? Sometimes less is more, you know.

Speaking of cool attacks, Rage Art is present once again. This is essentially a super funky high-damage special move you can only do when your health is low. I can't count the number of times using it saved my noob behind from dying. And I gotta say, they are always a treat to watch. This superbly animated sequence, combined with the game's insane visuals, sparks joy each and every time I watch one play out.

And all the fighting is extra spiced up by the crazy amount of special effects on the screen each punch, kick, grab, or flying leg kick thrown produces. I can't explain why, but I love the sight of them. It makes watching the punch land that much more oh-so-satisfying. The animations are also fantastic, further adding to the amazing feel of the combat.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147260998
The visuals are simply insane. Unreal Engine 5 shines, and so do daddy Kazuya's massive pecs! Everything, from the arenas, some with multiple rooms you can blast your opponent into, to the character design, is superb and extremely rich in detail. Just amazing stuff. But there's one complaint from me—Paul lost his iconic hair and looks like a Karen (why Bamco?).

Also, if you enjoy character customization as much as I do (a lot), then the Arcade Quest mode will be your wet dream. Here, all bets are off, and we'll get free reign over how our fighters look. Will they look wacky? Yes. Creepy? Also yes. Lewd? Hopefully. Giving players more customization options and freedom is always a plus in my book!

Lastly, the over-the-topness of the story seems to be intact.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147260668
I can't wait to see what one of gaming's most dysfunctional families, the Mishimas, is up to. Likely a lot of half-naked men fighting each other, preferably near a cliff, volcano, or maybe a cliff overlooking a volcano. We shall see.

Simply put, it's all (gonna be) perfect!

And after having written 99 reviews, my 100th review will be the first and last improper one. But Tekken 8 deserved this sacrifice, as it reignited my passion for gaming when no other game could.

So, thank you, Tekken 8.
Thank you to all the developers who poured their hearts and souls into this game.
Lastly, thanks to all of you, top bananas, for coming to my TEKtalk.
I hope you all enjoy Tekken 8 as much as I am.
And if you want to see proper reviews, 10/10 dentists recommend the Gospel of Sv. Prolivije.

A month after the game launched, [i]Bandai[/i] introduced an in-game mtx shop that was never discussed prior to the game's release. None who paid 70€, for the amazing game that [i]Tekken 8[/i] is, knew about this before the feature was mentioned in a patch note. Truly disgusting behavior, and something many people seemed okay with, which wasn't surprising given how soft the gaming community has become regarding this type of stuff. I asked Valve to refund my purchase, because this was not something I wanted to support, and I was denied due to [i]"more than 2 hours played and 14 days passed since purchase."[/i] Let's just ignore the publisher knowingly misleading their players, and changing the [i]ESRB[/i] rating later to include those succulent words we all crave to hear, [i]"In-game purchases."[/i] But [i]Bandai[/i] is a double G—[b]greedy[/b] and [b]glutenous[/b]. It wasn't enough that they were selling stupid skins for 5€ anymore, they also want to exploit the player's [i]FOMO[/i] with a [b]Battle Pass[/b] now. So, here we are, 2 months after the game released, and the game is now infested with all the hip predatory money-grabbing microtransactions without this being discussed prior to the game's release. Like before, I again sent [i]Valve[/i] a refund request, in hopes that they accept it this time. But you know, [i]"more than 2 hours and 14 days passed"[/i], and all that jazz. Can't give consumers a way to fight back against these sleazy practices big publishers are resorting to nowadays, by introducing predatory microtransactions in their game sometime after launch to get around negative PR. No, no, no, that would be bad, because of reasons. What a time to be alive when my 29-year-old slav-ass can say, [b][i]"Back in my day, games didn't try to bend me over and fuck me for all my money's worth."[/i][/b] I wonder if my grandkids will believe the tales this old Slav will tell them. Or will it just be [i]"Ok grandpa, time to take the yummy pills, you're leaking again."[/i] We truly live in a society. So, while everything I said below in my original review still stands, when looking at [i]Tekken 8[/i] as just a game, my stupid ass is again reminded of how ridiculous this way of perceiving AAA games from 90% of publishers nowadays is. This isn't [b][i]just[/i][/b] a game—[b]it's a product[/b] meant to extract as much money from my pocket as possible. Fool me once, shame on me, [i]Bandai.[/i] [h1][b]Thank you, [i]Tekken 8[/i][/b][/H1] For the past few years, I've genuinely struggled to get excited to play any game I own or could buy. My passion for gaming reached an all-time low near the end of 2023. And 2024 brought more of the same—[b]a new year, same old burnout plagued me.[/b] Things weren't looking good, bruv. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147207996 I was legit thinking of calling it quits, but only after publishing my cute little flipbook project I worked on for the past 6+ months. Plus, I was once again (still am) tormented by (I assume) RAM issues, despite already getting a brand new kit from G.Skill on the 3rd of January after going through their RMA process. But that's a story for another day. Back to [i]Tekken 8.[/i] On [i](Orthodox)[/i] Christmas Eve, I was scrolling through my YouTube feed, and [i]Tekken 8's[/i] teaser popped up. I already watched it back when it was first shown—[b]I did not care![/b] Yet, now I did!? After that, I watched the story trailer for the first time. My tummy felt weird—[b]'twas butterflies![/b] I was giddy with excitement. I was looking forward to a game for the first time in forever! And it was a game from a franchise I did not care for and from a genre I don't even like. It was an [i](Orthodox)[/i] Christmas miracle! Then and there, I decided—[b]I must play it day 1![/b] As fate would have it, I had just enough TF2 keys sitting in my inventory to fund this desire of mine. So, I did. To pass the time until it fully came, [b]I played the demo, loving every second of my 23 hours spent with it.[/b] Sure, its content offering was small: only 4 (out of 32) playable characters, the first battle of the story mode, the intro section of the Arcade Quest mode, and a few Super Ghosts fights that let me reach only the [i]Warrior[/i] rank. But it's the motion of the ocean that counts! And, oh boy, [b]did it rock my boat![/b] The 26th just couldn't come soon enough. The gameplay shocked me by how easily I jelled with it. Fast, flashy, and furious, yet it was welcoming to a complete noob like myself. I was loving the learning process, and it didn't feel overwhelming. I even managed to get gud at doing some simple combos and air juggling, so that's nice. And I love the new gameplay addition—the [b]Heat[/b] system. Being able to stop my opponent's attack flow by using the [b]Heat Burst[/b] attack, which is uninterruptible, is music to my ears. Sure, you can easily block it, but this is where the fun begins—[b]trying to time it, [i]just right![/i][/b] Plus, the [b]Heat Engager[/b] and [b]Heat Smash[/b] [i](I do be engaging in smashing)[/i] attacks can be used to extend combos and deal even more damage in the process. Simply majestic. The trade-off is that [b]Heat[/b] only lasts 15 seconds. But do you really need more than that? Sometimes less is more, you know. Speaking of cool attacks, [b]Rage Art[/b] is present once again. This is essentially a super funky high-damage special move you can only do when your health is low. I can't count the number of times using it saved my noob behind from dying. And I gotta say, they are always a treat to watch. [b]This superbly animated sequence, combined with the game's insane visuals, sparks joy each and every time I watch one play out.[/b] And all the fighting is [i]extra[/i] spiced up by the crazy amount of special effects on the screen each punch, kick, grab, or flying leg kick thrown produces. I can't explain why, but I love the sight of them. [b]It makes watching the punch land that much more oh-so-satisfying.[/b] The animations are also fantastic, further adding to the amazing feel of the combat. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147260998 The visuals are simply insane. [i][b]Unreal Engine 5[/b][/i] shines, and so do daddy Kazuya's massive [i]pecs[/i]! Everything, from the arenas, some with multiple rooms you can blast your opponent into, to the character design, is superb and extremely rich in detail. Just amazing stuff. But there's one complaint from me—[b]Paul lost his iconic hair and looks like a Karen[/b] (why [i]Bamco?[/i]). Also, if you enjoy character customization as much as I do (a lot), then the Arcade Quest mode will be your wet dream. Here, all bets are off, and we'll get free reign over how our fighters look. Will they look wacky? Yes. Creepy? Also yes. Lewd? [b]Hopefully.[/b] Giving players more customization options and freedom is always a plus in my book! Lastly, the over-the-topness of the story seems to be intact. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147260668 I can't wait to see what one of gaming's most dysfunctional families, the Mishimas, is up to. Likely a lot of half-naked men fighting each other, preferably near a cliff, volcano, or maybe a cliff overlooking a volcano. We shall see. Simply put, [b]it's all (gonna be) perfect![/b] And after having written 99 reviews, my 100th review will be the first and last [i]improper[/i] one. But [i]Tekken 8[/i] deserved this sacrifice, as it reignited my passion for gaming when no other game could. So, thank you, [i]Tekken 8.[/i] Thank you to all the developers who poured their hearts and souls into this game. Lastly, thanks to all of you, top bananas, for coming to my [b]TEK[/b]talk. I hope you all enjoy [i]Tekken 8[/i] as much as I am. [i]And if you want to see [b]proper[/b] reviews, 10/10 dentists recommend the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40407656/]Gospel of Sv. Prolivije.