Highlights

  • Tekken 8 has a roster of 32 fighters with new moves and flashier animations, making each character distinct.
  • Jin Kazama takes the spotlight in Tekken 8's cinematic story mode, focusing on his struggle with Kazuya and the Devil Gene.
  • Learning Jin is a great way to build transferable fundamentals and he is often among the best characters in Tekken titles. Tekken 8 is designed to be accessible, making Jin the easiest version to start with.

With the release of Tekken 8, many fans and newcomers will be stepping into the most popular 3D fighting game series once again. Since its arcade release in 2015, Tekken 7 has been building steam for almost a decade, becoming the highest selling Tekken game with over 10 million sales by the end of its run. Following that kind of success will be tough, but with multiple betas, a public demo, and an impressive launch roster and selection of modes, Tekken 8 intends to try.

The aforementioned roster deserves notice, as Tekken 8’s cast of 32 fighters is higher than expected for a new 1-on-1 fighting game installment with complex mechanics. Even if most of the fighters are returning characters, all of them have received new moves courtesy of the Heat system, and flashier animations to make everyone look more distinct. A newcomer might be confused about which fighter to try first in Tekken 8, but fortunately, the game comes with an easily recommended legacy fighter that anyone can pick up to learn the game's ropes.

Asuka riding her bike in Tekken 8
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Tekken 8 Gives Jin The Spotlight

A screenshot of Jin Kazuma channeling his Devil Gene to unleash a dark wing in Tekken 8.

Jin Kazama has been considered Tekken's lead protagonist since Tekken 3, being the more benevolent son of Kazuya Mishima and grandson of Heihachi. While he briefly stooped to corporate supervillainy in Tekken 6, he's returned to his roots for Tekken 8 in a big way. Tekken 8’s cinematic story mode takes a much different approach than comparable modes in other fighting games, as it seems to primarily focus on Jin's struggle with Kazuya and his own Devil Gene instead of other fighters. While the story mode's full content isn't known yet, Jin should continue to feature heavily, so his players can get more time with their main across Tekken 8’s extra offline modes than anyone else.

Jin Kazama Gives Players A Good Tour Of Tekken Fundamentals

There's a good reason why Tekken 8's story mode, and even its free demo, points players towards Jin Kazama. With Heihachi out of the picture and some of Devil Jin’s moves rolled back into regular Jin, he and Kazuya are now the definitive Mishima archetypes of Tekken 8. Jin can adequately use most play styles in Tekken 8, and should help players build transferable fundamentals for other characters and even other Tekken titles. There's also a lot of moveset crossover between Jin and other fighters from both the Mishima and Kazama sides of his family, so he's a great springboard for branching out into a third of Tekken 8's starting cast.

Tekken’s Mishima Family Is Usually Worth Playing

A promotional image of Jin and Kazuya fighting each other with red and blue energy flowing around them in Tekken 8.

Learning Jin has other uses than just becoming familiar with Tekken 8’s gameplay. While it's too early to predict the game’s competitive meta, the main Mishima trio of Jin, Kazuya, and Heihachi are almost never low-tier in any Tekken title. In fact, they're typically among each game's best, albeit with a steeper learning curve and execution demands than most of the cast. However, that shouldn't be a major barrier in Tekken 8.

Tekken 8’s Jin Is The Easiest Version To Start With

More so than any other entry, Tekken 8 is designed to be the most accessible Tekken game. At any moment, Tekken 8’s controls can be switched to Special Style, enabling auto-combos and one-button special actions. On top of that, Tekken 8's Heat mode gives most Mishimas more leniency while executing frame-perfect Electric Wind God Fist inputs, and since this applies to two of Jin's equivalent moves, he has never been easier to pick up. Players looking for a smooth start to Tekken 8 should take advantage of this new-and-improved Jin Kazama.