While it still has moments where it can’t find its footing, Tekken 8 has done a good job at carrying the prestigious 3D fighting game franchise’s legacy into the current console generation. Its first anniversary is drawing near, and it has already accomplished a lot with the release of three downloadable characters, an addition to its primary story mode, and, for better and for worse, plenty of open discussion between players and developers. While it will take several more years before Tekken 8 can properly be judged next to its monumentally successful predecessor Tekken 7, the game is making good strides right now.
As for where Tekken 8 is headed next, it’s hard to say. There’s one more character due to launch in Tekken 8’s first season pass, and after that the sky is the limit. More expansions to Tekken 8’s two story modes could be inbound, but what’s definitely coming are more characters and stages. Various leaks have pointed toward different additions to Tekken 8‘s roster, and it’s taken a lot of time to get the current season’s fighters out anyway, so there’s no telling what the future holds. Even so, Tekken 8 would be a great time for one unusual legacy character to return.
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Recent Tekken Has Been Light On Weirdo Fighters
Tekken is well known for its relatively grounded martial arts, at least compared to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, being broken up by wacky characters. Cyborgs and ninjas, of which Yoshimitsu is both, and animals, like the bears, kangaroos, and dinosaurs, are regular sights in many Tekken titles, but it can get stranger than that. Tekken 3 introduced a number of series mainstays like Jin Kazama and Ling Xiaoyu, but also some of the weirdest combatants in the franchise, including the geriatric scientist Dr. Bosconovitch, Tekken’s first guest character, Gon the chibi dinosaur, and the enigmatic Mokujin.
Mokujin Is A Mold-Breaking Tekken Character
With a name that roughly translates into English as “wood-person,” Mokujin is a training dummy made from an ancient tree that comes alive in the presence of great evil. At least, that’s what Tekken 3 claims, before slapping Mokujin with the most fourth-wall breaking arcade ending in the game. This becomes the norm for the wooden being when it returns in Tekken 5, Tekken 6, and the two Tekken Tag Tournament games. Mokujin is iconic enough for its likeness to appear in games where it isn’t playable, and for metal Tetsujin and gold Kinjin versions of it to appear in spin-offs, but has nonetheless been missing for almost a decade.
Mokujin Could Bring Something New To Tekken 8
Starting with the release of Tekken 7 for arcades in March 2015, Mokujin has been relegated to minor cosmetics for two numbered games in a row. He was technically never canon, despite a justification for his presence existing, and there’s not much demand for the type of fighter he is. Mokujin embodies the rare fighting game archetype of the “Mimic,” someone who fights with the animations of other random characters. He inspired more of his kind in other Bandai Namco fighting games like Soul Calibur’s Edge Master, and pushes his archetype to the extreme by changing fighting styles between rounds instead of matches.
Tekken 8 Could Reintroduce Mokujin Fairly Easily
Mokujin would be a fun bonus character in any fighting game, but that also means he isn’t a mandatory inclusion. For Tekken 8, Mokujin should take after Street Fighter 5’s Eleven and join as a season pass bonus character, awakening again due to Kazuya absorbing Azazel’s power. Tekken 8’s Heat system could benefit Mokujin similarly to how it differentiates Kuma and Panda, giving him unique abilities that are constant no matter who he is copying. Even though he isn’t a high-priority inclusion, Tekken 8 DLC is as good a time as ever to celebrate Mokujin’s return.
- Released
- January 26, 2024
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer , Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- t
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S