Tekken 8 director Harada suggests game will offer a completely rebuilt experience in Unreal Engine 5

Announced during PlayStation’s latest State of Play broadcast, which also featured a new trailer for God of War Ragnarok, Tekken 8 already has the fighting game community abuzz with chatter and speculation.

Whether you were blown away by the graphics on display or wondered which characters might make their way onto the final roster, excitement over the game was pretty universal on platforms like ResetEra.

Now though, some more concrete info on the title has emerged, thanks to an interview with its director Katsuhiro Harada conducted by IGN’s Kat Bailey.

Are you hyped up for Tekken 8?

While the interview covers a lot of topics, one of the key points of discussion is how the switch from Unreal Engine 4, used for Tekken 7, to the newer Unreal Engine 5 has affected the game.

Harada suggests that this iteration will continue the series’ tradition of getting the most of the technology on offer, with most of the work that went into the previous entry having been thrown away in favour of fresh assets that’ll allow characters’ appearances to change based on environmental factors like weather and mud.

In terms of the central characters that’ll be getting covered in all of that rain and dirt, Harada reveals that this new entry is set to be a bit of a change for the series’ storyline, with Tekken 7’s effects on the Mishima bloodline setting up the scenario Jin finds himself in during the events of 8.

Outside of the household names, whom Harada acknowledges being aware of fans feeling very strongly attached to, the director confirms that the team were pleased with how the integration of guest characters into Tekken went and that they’d be open to doing so again, though he does admit that the first foray ended up making company president Yasuo Miyakawa’s first trip to EVO a little unusual.

In terms of character customisation, Harada doesn’t go into too much detail but admits to being aware that Tekken fans are always hungry for more options and suggests that other developers in the genre aren’t too keen to add constipation to their titles because of the resources involved.

Another aspect of Tekken 8 that you’ll have to stay tuned for more info on is the gameplay mechanics, with Harada discussing Tekken 7’s Rage system, but declining to elaborate on how such elements will look in Tekken 8 for now.

So, if you’re keen to learn these details as soon as they’re revealed, make sure to follow us for more coverage of games like Tekken and Street Fighter.