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There's a very cool Tekken 8 demo available to try out now, but recently, we had the chance to take a look at a near-final version of the game with a lot more content. Here's John Linneman's impressions on the game, along with a range of footage from areas unseen in the current demo.

 

[adamsapple]

- Story mode, secondary story arcade mode, tekken ball. Seems like there's even more content than MK and Street Fighter VI.
- Pacing of the story feels better than previous Tekken games.

- Footage and stats from a recent demo and event w/ PS5 build
- Unreal Engine 5
- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage
- Does *not* utilize Nanite or Lumen
- Minor dips in non-playable segments, but actual fights are locked to 60 FPS
- Noticeably more responsive than Tekken 7 on PS4
- Load times are fast, ~4 seconds from character screen to battle arena

 

[Horseganador]

Well, there is a fairly big graphical jump from Tekken 7 to Tekken 8.

 

[Darsxx82]

- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage

VGtech say demo show DRS 4k-1080p.... with FSR1. I don't know if it could be an indication that in the final game (or in the story mode) it was decided to lock at 1440p or if it was simply the resolution that dictated the moment... We'll see.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Looks really nice

 

[Senua]

Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

Too heavy for consoles at 60

 

[YCoCg]

Before people complain about the resolution, keep in mind that Tekken 7 was 1080p on PS4 Pro, 900p on PS4 and 720p on Xbox One.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Too heavy for consoles at 60

Fortnite uses Lumen and nanite at 60. It's all fidelity based.

 

[Senua]

Fortnite uses Lumen and nanite at 60. It's all fidelity based.

Yea of course, I meant for this game. I wonder if Lumen could be used in the PC version? or some kind of RTX

 

[ChiefDada]

Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

Too heavy for consoles at 60

I'm guessing you all are referring to Lumen? Nanite is micropoly rendering and the consoles can run fine at 60fps since it's software driven.

 

[Senua]

I'm guessing you all are referring to Lumen? Nanite is micropoly rendering and the consoles can run fine at 60fps since it's software driven.

Yea my bad I read it as Lumen. I'm going back to bed

 

[nowhat]

So in an other thread people were going that "this looks like a PS3 game". Hyperbole is allowed, but come on.

Beside the graphics though, there's how it actually feels to play it. And as someone who was quite disappointed with Tekken 7... Tekken is back, baybee! This feels great, at least as far as the demo goes.

 

[winjer]

Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

This game doesn't use LODs, since stages are static.
So Nanite would be almost useless.
RT is a whole different matter. Software Lumen with SDFs could work well enough.
But with 60 fps, resolution might have to take a cutback to 1080p.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

but really, looks just ok

 

[Fake]

Good to know they want to priorize frame rate than Unreal Engine gimicks.

A fightning game need to stay 60 fps 100% of the time, so there is no room for nanite and lumen.

 

[SlimySnake]

This game doesn't use LODs, since stages are static.
So Nanite would be almost useless.
RT is a whole different matter. Software Lumen with SDFs could work well enough.
But with 60 fps, resolution might have to take a cutback to 1080p.

Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.

 

[Senua]

Good to know they want to priorize frame rate than Unreal Engine gimicks.

A fightning game need to stay 60 fps 100% of the time, so there is no room for nanite and lumen.

Gimmicks my tuchus.

 

[RoadHazard]

Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

That's not what Nanite is. Maybe you meant Lumen.

(Nanite would be pretty pointless in a game like this.)

 

[winjer]

Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.

No need for nanite for that.
Mesh shaders or primitive shaders can have huge amounts of geometry, without the overhead of virtualized geometry.

 

[Killer8]

I'm glad the music is far better than the shit in Tekken 7. Actually evokes classic Namco from the old Tekken and Ridge Racer days. And for the stinkers there will be the jukebox to replace those.

Since this is near final code I wanted to see a comparison to the initial reveal. Feels like nothing they've shown since has lived up to the fidelity on display in that trailer.

 

[Physiognomonics]

- Story mode, secondary story arcade mode, tekken ball. Seems like there's even more content than MK and Street Fighter VI.
- Pacing of the story feels better than previous Tekken games.

- Footage and stats from a recent demo and event w/ PS5 build
- Unreal Engine 5
- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage
- Does *not* utilize Nanite or Lumen
- Minor dips in non-playable segments, but actual fights are locked to 60 FPS
- Noticeably more responsive than Tekken 7 on PS4
- Load times are fast, ~4 seconds from character screen to battle arena

4 s is not fast. It's average. 1 second would be fast for such a game.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

That's not what Nanite is. Maybe you meant Lumen.

(Nanite would be pretty pointless in a game like this.)

I know what nanite is, they could have unlimited details in the fight stages, cant use it on the characters, but thats the point. Interactions with the stage is minimal - a perfect usecase for nanite.

 

[RoadHazard]

I know what nanite is, they could have unlimited details in the fight stages, cant use it on the characters, but thats the point. Interactions with the stage is minimal - a perfect usecase for nanite.

But it's not like there are big worlds with big camera movements here. The stage detail is pretty much always viewed from about the same distance, no? That makes Nanite pretty pointless. Nanite isn't about "unlimited detail", it's about transitioning from low LOD to max LOD smoothly (basically per pixel) as the camera gets closer, and not having to manually create lower LOD versions of different geometry. If you're always at max LOD it serves little purpose.

 

[DonJimbo]

Looks amazing even its the Demo on ps5
Really thrilled to see how it looks like on highend PCs and PS5 Pro

 

[Slothbeing1209]

4 s is not fast. It's average. 1 second would be fast for such a game.

Still way better than Tekken 6,7. Took around 40,50s to load in a match in previous tittles.

 

[March Climber]

So in an other thread people were going that "this looks like a PS3 game". Hyperbole is allowed, but come on.

It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.

 

[DeepEnigma]

It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.

 

[March Climber]

Yea I know

Not the most popular opinion but I wanted to try and see the other side of things.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

But it's not like there are big worlds with big camera movements here. The stage detail is pretty much always viewed from about the same distance, no? That makes Nanite pretty pointless. Nanite isn't about "unlimited detail", it's about transitioning from low LOD to max LOD smoothly (basically per pixel) as the camera gets closer, and not having to manually create lower LOD versions of different geometry. If you're always at max LOD it serves little purpose.

LOD is just one of the benefits. Here is how Epic advertises nanite:

• Multiple orders of magnitude increase in geometry complexity, higher triangle and objects counts than has been possible before in real-time
• Frame budgets are no longer constrained by polycounts, draw calls, and mesh memory usage
• Now possible to directly import film-quality source arts, such as ZBrush sculpts and photogrammetry scans
• Use high-poly detailing rather than baking detail into normal map textures
• Level of Detail (LOD) is automatically handled and no longer requires manual setup for individual mesh's LODs
• Loss of quality is rare or non-existent, especially with LOD transitions

 

[RoadHazard]

LOD is just one of the benefits. Here is how Epic advertises nanite:

• Multiple orders of magnitude increase in geometry complexity, higher triangle and objects counts than has been possible before in real-time
• Frame budgets are no longer constrained by polycounts, draw calls, and mesh memory usage
• Now possible to directly import film-quality source arts, such as ZBrush sculpts and photogrammetry scans
• Use high-poly detailing rather than baking detail into normal map textures
• Level of Detail (LOD) is automatically handled and no longer requires manual setup for individual mesh's LODs
• Loss of quality is rare or non-existent, especially with LOD transitions

The bolded things are exactly because of what I said. With Nanite you only need one version of each model, the max LOD one. Nanite then dynamically simplifies the geometry as that model moves further from the camera and takes up fewer pixels on the screen, instead of the traditional method where you have a few different discreet LOD models that swap at different distances.

But if you're always gonna show the max LOD Nanite won't really make any difference. It doesn't really allow you to display more polygons at once (that's still limited by system resources), it just lets you use max LOD models at all rendering distances (but it doesn't actually render all those polygons until you get very close).

Nanite also has its own overhead, so again, in a game like this where the camera is relatively static and the LOD doesn't change (if that's the case - I haven't played it) I don't think it's really beneficial.

 

[makaveli60]

It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.

How I feel exactly. But my main problem with Tekken is that the animations are still the same from the PS1 days. Of course they are technically more advanced, but just looking at them they feel the same. Just look at MK, you can clearly differentiate any entry from the other in many ways. If only Tekken were like that. And I was a fan back in the day, so I’m not hating it.

 

[YCoCg]

4 s is not fast. It's average. 1 second would be fast for such a game.

Tekken has a crazy amount of customisation too, so that's 4 seconds (which is already super fast compared to 7) to load the stages and characters who could have hundreds of combinations design wise.

 

[Ivan]

I still find something strange in UE look and I still think their own engine would look much better. I guess namco disagrees...

 

[NT80]

How I feel exactly. But my main problem with Tekken is that the animations are still the same from the PS1 days. Of course they are technically more advanced, but just looking at them they feel the same. Just look at MK, you can clearly differentiate any entry from the other in many ways. If only Tekken were like that. And I was a fan back in the day, so I’m not hating it.

MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again. Some of Tekken's actually look like the moves of real martial artists. Saying it looks like a PS3 game is ludicrous. It's the best looking fighting game so far.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Tekken somehow became really slow with T6 onward. Load times were kind of ridiculous from there on. 4 seconds is a god send compared to T7.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.

Because UE5 is still the best 3rd party middleware engine out there. Experience with UE in the jobs market is ubiquitous and it's also one of the best if not the best documented engine; especially in Japanese.

 

[Skifi28]

MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again

Agreed, easily the worst part of the modern MK games.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Bring on the PS5 Pro.

 

[Luipadre]

Bring on the PS5 Pro.

game is crisp af on PS5 already with stable fps.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

game is crisp af on PS5 already with stable fps.

Crisp my ass. Especially the hair looks horrible.

 

[Luipadre]

Crisp my ass. Especially the hair looks horrible.

Hair dithering is there yes, but it looks crisp on my 4K tv

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Hair dithering is there yes, but it looks crisp on my 4K tv

Yes, you probably have a magic 4kTV because I don't think it looks particularly crisp on my 4k either. Ridiculous.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again. Some of Tekken's actually look like the moves of real martial artists. Saying it looks like a PS3 game is ludicrous. It's the best looking fighting game so far.

Not better looking than mk1 unless the PC turns out to be drastically better than ps5. No way no how on ps5 after playing both. I was hoping it would top mk1 but it doesn't. The 1440p resolution doesn't help. Makes some backgrounds look muddy on ps5 like the state with the big tree in the background, so higher res on PC could help.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Vv

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Bring on the PS5 Pro.

I knew the resolution was disappointing! You guys know the outdoor level with all the trees and animals etc? That was my first impression that something wasn't quite right. The background is muddy and blurry. What a shame.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

game is crisp af on PS5 already with stable fps.

Not really ..only the times Square level looks sharp. Foliage looks blurry.