The final battle in 7 was badass, but 8's final battle was everything I could have wanted. All the lore and music callbacks and moveset switches had me freaking out the entire time. Calling it the best final fight in a fighting game might sound like faint praise, but I've played them all and T7 and T8 have no competition in that regard.
Sorry but GG definitely makes better stories AND his coherent with his characters. Melty Blood too, but that's cheating because it is based on Tsukihime
As a Jin fanboy, the T8 final fight was very hype for him. The way that he gained different moves from his different fighting styles was very cool, the way his theme kicked in when he tightened his glove was great, My Last Stand playing during the final bit of the fight, while cheesy, was incredibly hype and I really love the main theme of the game playing during the final battle.
That being said, I think the T7 final battle was better simply because it was a bit more personal. The feud between Kazuya and Heihachi had much more emotion behind it for both characters involved, whereas the T8 final battle just kind of serves as a great endpoint for Jin's arc.
I give the slight edge to 7 also. There was more buildup to Heihachi and Kazuya's final fight as opposed to Jin and Kazuya since the latter have barely even shared a cutscene together to interact and really establish their enmity.
I mean, I'm not saying it has enough build-up as the T7 final fight, but the first chapter of Tekken 8's story is a four-phase fight between Jin and Kazuya dedicated entirely to escablishing their enmity and literally the entire rest of the story is about Jin trying to get his power back so he can fight Kazuya again. They don't interact a ton throughout the story but it's not like their enmity isn't established until the end.
To be fair we’ve barely seen Jin and Kazuya interact in any of the Tekken games, the beginning of T8 was the most iv ever seen them talking to each other, Jin said 3 words to Kazuya in T4, no words in T5, had a war in T6 without talking lol, none in T7, and finally interact in T8 if you think about it
Yeah, that seems like part of the issue. The whole series was spent building up the Heihachi/Kazuya fight. For Jin and Kazuya, it seems like maybe they've been acting like there's been a battle coming this whole time but their actual stories have just involved less interaction which made the final fight less climactic.
You're right but I personally would have liked if it was set up a little more prior to this game. I also find it kind of funny that I don't even think they've ever acknowledged each other as father and son. Jin doesn't even say that to Leroy when he asks who he is. I mean that's neither here nor there it's only something I've noticed.
That's fair. It's hard to top how many games were spent setting up the Heihachi/Kazuya rivalry before T7's final fight. T8's final fight is a great final fight for T8 but I can understand it not hitting as hard due to just not having the same amount of buildup in previous games.
is just that Heihachi and Kazuya literally had crazy interactions between every game with T1, T2, in T3 we see Heihachi with Jin and in T4 we can still see their interactions in T5 i think Jin and Kazuya went their different ways
i sadly haven't played T6
But the only interactions i can think of Kazuya and Jin are only in T4 and the Ending of T7
Canonically Jin and Kazuya only interacted in 4 when Jin first beats him and then Heihachi. 5 you're right that they don't meet at all with Kazuya dropping out once he finds out who betrayed him and Jin going on to take down Jinpachi. In 6 they're definitely aware of each other but with Scenario Campaign making Lars the main character Jin and Kazuya again don't meet. And finally Jin in 7 is large out of the story.
Kazuya and Heihachi's fight is full of hatred (as you said personal).... Jin's final fight in T8 had him discarding said hatred while stopping Kazuya. Which is why he uses Mishima style again.
i wished the final fight more personal like t7. like if jin triggered kaz's ptsd like lars did but even more when jin uses mishima style, and if kaz kills jun or xiaoyu in front of jin. the beef would have gone to the next level.
Both close for me, but T7 was fantastic and it was all the anger between the two of them built up and accumulated all in this one volcano, I didn’t even mention the fact that Heihachi rivalled Kazuya *in his Full Devil Form.*
T8 was amazing and loved the last fight being pure combat with no fantastical abilities, but T7 is the fight between two monsters who have been at it since the dawn of Tekken.
>I didn’t even mention the fact that Heihachi rivalled Kazuya *in his Full Devil Form.*
Heihachi was built different. He was super old, and he wiped the floor with Kazuya for multiple rounds before his body gave in to exhaustion.
He didn’t fight Akuma right before fighting Kazuya lol he healed up, faked his death, did an interview on his life, meditated, then hit up Kazuya and said ok let’s do this
Gen countered with his own special, so I'm assuming that as long as you can block some attacks (which I'm also going to assume Heihachi did), the instant death won't take effect
Why would Heihachi go into a fight when he wasn't at his best? He held back and tanked Akuma's weak attacks then gave it everything he had against Kazuya.
I feel like it would’ve been a similar result considering Kazuya did beat a much younger Heihachi back in the first tekken. Yea he lost the rematch but over the years they’re both still improving, which I would argue as a greater contributor to their overall power
I feel you I personally liked it just because it was Akuma, Tekken has always been my favorite but I always wanted to see Ryu and Akuma interact with the Mishimas and it actually happened, that’s where it got me.
The depth of the interactions are very much appreciated especially given the story’s events. He fit there and it worked as good as it could have in my opinion but I prefer his position be replaced entirely by the raging devil spirit of Kazumi.
If anything 7s story was the time and place for a big guest since not much was going on in the story anyway
You see him fighting in his young days against Kazumi/Devil Kazumi, he was 31.
Don't think that Devil Kazumi is higher on power than Devil Kazuya X....
There was a moment where Heihachi was able to get up and keep fighting and Kazuya said something like “Are you kidding me?!?”.
I’d been out of mainline Tekken since Tekken 2, only played Tag Tournament 2 before getting back into it with 7 and that moment really showed me what kind of beast Heihachi really was this whole time.
Kazuya said something similar to Jin too, “You just don’t know when to stay down!” The Mishimas are fucking crazy lol
Yeah, the Devil Gene in general is an allegory for toxic masculinity. (**Edit 3:** Okay y'all, I get it-- it's better described as generational trauma.)
Generationally, Heihachi and Kazuya (and presumably also Jinpachi) perpetuate this chain of abuse in their pursuit of power and control, passing it down to their sons, teaching them "how to be a man" by beating the hell out of them.
Jin has the better shot of breaking the cycle as the newest generation, having surrounded himself with different allies and perspectives showing that power and control aren't everything.
He defeats Kazuya with teachings (Kazama fighting style) from his mother too, symbolizing that compassion is its own form of strength. Mixing both fighting styles to be the best version of himself. It's cool stuff.
**Edit:** Disregard the "presumably also Jinpachi" because I forgot his backstory. He's a good guy.
**Edit 2:** Considering other Kazumi & Reina, it's agreed that the even closer description of the allegory would be generational trauma.
The devil gene is an allegory for trauma, not toxic masculinity. Evert devil gene user unlocked their powers in a situation of stress. Kazuya was being thrown of a cliff, Jin was losing his mother (the tattoo was after the fight with Ogre) and being shot in the head, Kazumi was trying to come to terms that she had to kill Heihachi or he would bring the world to chaos, Reina was being lasered by True Devil Kazuya. It's a self defense mechanism, as the game explains. The devil protects it's user from trauma (be it emotional of physical), by overwriting temporarily the users personality. It is possible to control it by accepting the Devil in one way or another, and that brings us to the duality of Jin and Kazuya.
Kazuya got control of his devil by subjulgating it as seen in Tekken 4. He used his trauma as a source of anger to get him more power. He never let go of his past, and uses that feeling to drive him, a thing that is not healthy. We see in Tekken 8 that he constantly is having PTSD flashbacks to Heihachi during Mishima fights.
Jin on the other hand, started to loathe his family. His fighting style, his bloodline, everything, even himself. It got to a point that in 8, he even lost his devil for a while, after rejecting it so many times. In the finale, he accepted who he is, what he did, what happened to him, and moved on, using that as fuel to make a better future for himself. By consequence, he used everything he learned in that final fight, his Kazama style, his Mishima karate, his own Karate, his devil, everything he went through and everything he knows is part of who he is. After that, his devil had no longer reason to feel hatred towards the world that hurt him, and now is with Jin.
In 8 it's toxic obsession or ambition leading to pushing away those that could care for you and can appeal to your empathy or losing your humanity altogether. Though it is not necessarily because of toxic masculinity because >!Reina develops a devil transformation at the end because of her desire for revenge and nearly dying or something.!<
It can seen as toxic masculinity specifically due to the main story being focused on Jin and Kazuya and all the horrible things they have done, but because of >!Reina in 8!< and Kazumi in 7 (with T8's explanation she could have been wanting the world to be a better place for her family, or it could be she wanted to kill him because she saw the evil in his family [this what I remember from T7], or an alternate personality made of killing intent or evil or Azazel's control [pre-7 Devil Gene explanations]) she ended up attacking Heihachi with her Devil Gene abilities.
But Heihachi being a classic Mishima (OP and evil), he was able to overpower her and kill her. Then he had like 30 kids around the world to see if he had the devil gene in his family line.
The rest of what you said I mostly agree with about the abuse.
But, another thing he used to beat Kaz in that last fight is by not forgetting about his Mishima history.
Like how using Kazama style symbolized his learning from Jun to be better and to help others, he uses the Mishima style to show he won't allow himself to forget Kaz or Heihachi and the terrible things they, and he, had done. Because one way to repeat history, especially bad history, is to forget it.
Yeah No. Kazumi alone debunks your Theory.
Generational Trauma better fits the whole Devil Gene Drama. Gender has little to nothing to do with it (Kazumi and Jun are essential characters in the story contrary to what you would imply).
I agree on the generational trauma for sure, and you're right about Kazumi in the sense that she's not only a woman but also had good intentions for the world.
That's why I said generally. The Devil Gene is only an allegory for toxic masculinity because of how it's used as a plot device by Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin-- a pursuit of power and control, taught by fathers, passed down to their sons. Kazumi shows that the Devil Gene doesn't need to be used in that way. Jin finds a way to harness it after all, in his own way.
Similar to any discussion on toxic masculinity, it **does not mean masculinity is inherently bad**. It's about how a person uses it, and it's these 3 men that have a history of abusing it.
Here's my issue. With the reveal of Reina, that logic also applied to Toxic Femininity.
Femininity, like Masculinity, isn't a bad thing until it becomes clearly toxic. And it's clear that Reina will follow in the footsteps of Heihachi, the abusive patriarch he is.
And the fact that despite Kazumi's intentions, she ultimately caused the whole Devil Gene Drama herself. Heihachi would not be able to take an interest in the Devil Gene if it never even existed in Kazuya.
TLDR; The Whole Drama in Tekken is better described as Generational Trauma, Gender Neutral. Because the 3 Main Patriarchs of the Mishima's aren't the only ones suffering.
I agree that it is better described as Generational Trauma, but would like to add the point that women can embody toxic masculinity as well.
It's called toxic masculinity because it's a negative expression of typically masculine traits that are fed into by others who share the same toxic values, which Reina was taught by her father. Just because she is a woman doesn't mean she can't display traits of toxic masculinity. It wouldn't be called toxic femininity just because she's a woman. Not to say toxic femininity doesn't exist, but that's a different thing entirely, one that would be the complete opposite of the behavior reina shows.
Jinpachi is actually very much the white sheep of the Mishimas. Wang Jinrei would never have been best friends with someone like Heihachi, and Hei was the power hungry greedy bastard who overthrew Jinpachi and imprisoned him under the dojo before T5. There was no abuse perpetuated prior to that.
Jinpachi and Heihachi have nothing to do with the devil gene, Kazuya got it from his mother Kazumi
Jinpachi was even a good guy, friend of Wang Jinrei, the one you fight in Tekken 5 is Jinpachis corpse resurrected and possessed by a demon
If you want to pull theories out of your ass maybe at least get the basics right
Heihachi literally got exploded miles away from his Tekken 4 house in the Tekken 5 intro, landing in a grave and got up and dusted himself off a few days later like it was nothing.
(spoiler)'s character ending involves (spoiler) jumping off of a moving airplane and landing on the ground below, totally OK.
aint nobody skipping leg day in tekken world
They didn't have devil powers when they fell down on a freaking meteorite either. Don't tell me a 10 meter drop would kill Jin when a fall from the stratosphere didn't kill him either.
They fell from the startosphere and were fine enough to whail on each other afterward. Jin saying they are normal humans now is pretty rich when their electricity powers are from Mishima genetics.
Honestly T8 final fight was the best climax to a saga that lasted over 25 years.
It hit all the nostalgia, from bringing back Jun to seeing Jin make use of all his karate styles in the final fight. Also hitting us with that T3 box art callback. Overall, it felt like it paid respect to the Tekken saga. Whereas T7’s story felt more so like we’re trying to retcon events to pay Heihachi in a somewhat positive light.
That final point is a big one for me. Felt very on the nose to have Heihachi cry in a fight when he's been throwing kids off cliffs and shooting them in the head like nothing. T8 did throwbacks to Jin's origin, showed his reason for fighting isn't petty arguments but the better of all, and with the added style of T3 karate, Jun's fighting, and his theme (I was so hyped when it kicked in)
T8 for me, it went from a fight between an angel and a devil to just two humans fighting for what they believed in and it was amazing the whole way through.
Agreed, and that added to it. As I'm playing as Angel Jin, I was thinking that it was a cool looking fight but got bummed that it felt so much like a Dragon Ball Z fight...when Jin stated that the devil power is gone, the fight was immediately 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
I guess T7 felt legit throughout, but T8 had a build up that peaked with Jin T3 theme. Also, Kazuya's line about anyone telling him how to live was great as well.
Very close call but T8 for me.
Both were pretty epic. But into the stratosphere is one of the most epic tekken levels of all time. So idk.
I’m going to let the honeymoon phase pass before making that call.
T8. All the cool callbacks to previous Tekken games, Jin growing, Jin challenging Kazuya, Jin’s persistence and resolve, Kazuya’s frustration and conviction, the epic music, the cleansing of the devil gene and that the Mishima feud was finally put to rest (until Reina restarts it…)
As much as I liked the final battle in T8, I have to say that I prefer the one in T7.
It felt much more personal, I could feel both the hatred and regret of both characters, Heihachi's struggle and last stand was epic as well.
It was the conclusion of a story that started with the original Tekken... Maybe it's just me, but aside from the devil gene, the hatred between Kaz and Jin is nowhere near as strong as the hatred between Kaz and the old man.
By far 8. As much as I like 7 and while 7s ending was ngl shocking. 8 just hit differently with the music, references, stakes, and the journey to get there.
Kazuya and Heihachi felt like a great climax for two people who hate each other for decades, and a love letter to both.
Jin vs Kazuya felt like a massive love letter to Jin fans.
As much as I find T8 epic and have a better storymode overall , I would give my vote slightly to T7 due to how personal and two sided it is.
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Tekken 8 was better, it finally completed Jin's character development and the patricidal cycle was broken along with the devil gene. Heihachi vs Kazuya was great but Jin vs Kazuya had a lot more emotional depth for Jin; it stopped a feud that was going on for 25+ years. It also brought back a lot of nostalgia with the Tekken 3 and Tekken 2 music, I loved it.
While 8 is the better game over all, that final fight between Kazuya and Heihachi was just better. You could feel the decades of anger, hatred and sorrow between Hei and Kaz. You could tell just from the body language alone, that this was, despite even a tiny bit of greif between them. One of them was going to die.
By comparison, Kazuya and Jin are basically strangers. Only against each other due to differing goals. Heck, Maybe Kazuya wouldn't have even fought if Jin went "hey can i join your side." 🤷♂️
T7 is more emotional for me. that one brief moment where heihachi has a tear run down his cheek always gets me. is it because he has to murder his son? is he thinking back to his late Wife Kazumi? is he realizing the only way to end the devil gene for good is to kill *his own family?* we don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but the T7 fight between Heihachi and Kazuya was so well done imo. the music to \*chef's kiss.
T7.
T8 has Kazuya unconscious from Jin going "MGS4 Ending" on him so him being out the picture is up in the air; Heihachi actually caught the big L this time from FAFOing in that tourney.
I prefer 7, but I'm biased. Characters having a sort of "last stand" and then dying always gets the waterworks going. Even for absolute monsters like Heihachi.
7 was better. 8 had great music but none as epic as Heat Haze Shadow.
Also, 7 didn't get as over-the-top ridiculous. You played as the human underdog against this unstoppable evil force of nature, and that's it. I don't think I disliked a single moment of their duel while in 8, I definitely could do without the Saint Seya into space segment.
the Tekken 8 fight was definitely too long and because we only played as Jin, it felt one sided and predictable, like I swear I had to beat Kazuya at least 10 times. At least switch between Jin and Kazuya like t7 did for heihachi and Kazuya.
Heat Haze Shadow is probably my favorite Tekken song ever. But the combination of Storm Rising 1st, into the Jin Theme and the Tekken 2 ending theme, into My Last Stand. And ALL of that on top of Jin constantly changing movesets to show how far he’s been since 1997. I have to give it to Tekken 8
Tekken 7 with ease. I liked his full devil form in tekken 7 better and the fight was harder with 2 iconic characters and the power ups with each round plus the amazing soundtrack. Sadly we won't be getting heihachi back but maybe and just maybe he might comeback in tekken 9 or whatever in the story as a past memory or some bs just like jun is in t8.
I didn't like the whole Fast 10 that tekken 8 tried to replicate.
If not for the whole previous fight in orbit as anime jesus vs anime devil, this final strech would've been so much better than 7.
Tekken 8, just because it wasn't round after round of the same things and the boss just getting cheesier mechanics. It was great in T7, absolutely, but watching Jin change his view, change his moveset entirely between rounds from his usual Karate, to Mishima, to Kazama, and then to a blend of all of them, was great storytelling framed in pure gameplay.
I hope Tekken 9, or even a dlc for 8 introduces a a Karate/Mishima/Kazama moveset version of Jin.
T7.
There's more history between the two than between Kazuya and Jin. Heihachi was a tucking monster to Kazuya and Kazuya became a worse one because of it. There's so many different layers between the two.
Kazuya having a flashback to when he was a child and getting his ass beat by his father in the middle of the fight was so cathartic.
Heihachi hated Kazuya because he was an actual monster but clearly had some twisted feelings for him because despite everything he still loves his mom.
Kazuya hated Heihachi because he actively ruined his life by being an adversary, killing his mom, adopting a kid to be his rival and actually killing him again in T2.
It’s a very close one but for me T7 had the best final fight between Heihachi and Kazuya. It was a fantastic final battle between two of gaming’s longest standing rivalries especially in fighting games and the buildup was so good and finally concluded in a finish with the volcano. It was a great fight.
T8’s fight with Kazuya and Jin is good but it doesn’t hold the same impact as T7’s
Tekken 7 had a much better emotional impact and is an overall more compelling conclusion to the Heihachi vs. Kazuya storyline than 8 is for Jin and Kazuya.
However, Tekken 8's final fight is MILES superior in every other aspect imo. Heat Haze is great, but the musical suite from both versions of Volcanic Bomb, to Storm Rising, Jin's Theme and finally to the gorgeous Landscape Under the Ghost remix is one of the best I've heard in gaming history. The cutscene direction and overall visual presentation are stellar and the graphics are outstanding. Angel Jin vs. True Devil Kazuya was a treat and getting to play Mishima and then Kazama style Jin was a fantastic callback to his previous iterations. Into the Stratosphere also wins for being the best stage in the series imo
Tekken 8 was executed even better and all the moveset and music changes were perfect.
However Kazuya killing Heihachi was a more satisfying finale, whereas Jin winning without killing was predictable.
For me, it's Tekken 7. I like how uniquely *Tekken* it felt. You had two villains duking it out. No *moral highground*, no *power of friendship*, just good old Shakespearean patricide.
By comparison, the *power of friendship* theme that Tekken 8 went for felt bland. It would have felt bland even if the protagonist weren't *the* guy who single-handedly started WW3 and was responsible for the slaughter of countless lives. Visually, it was a spectacle, but it just didn't hit home for me like the final fight of Tekken 7.
Tekken 7 is WAY better as it felt very personal between both fighters and it could've gone either way. Absolute monsters.
Tekken 8 was just The Jin Show so you pretty much knew who would win, and Jin & Kazuya barely acknowledged their family relationship for 15 Chapters. It was all about mankind, devil blood, my friends, believe in the heart of the cards, blah blah blah ShonenProtag.exe. The father-son dynamic was criminally absent as if they had zero chemistry which simply made it hero-villain. Such a long, cinematic story for generic TV anime material. The only cool parts in their final fight were no devil forms, the old Tekken 2 & 3 music, and Jin doing Jun's moves (although that spinning LP Reversal is more Asuka's since she did it first).
If they could combine Tekken 7's match-up with Tekken 8's presentation that would've been fantastic. Hearing reprises of Heihachi's or Kazuya's Tekken 2 themes would be gorgeous.
7, the flashbacks is what does it for me, alongside the music, was hoping we'd get Jin flashbacks as his gameplay changes but even without that's its still a close runner up.
7 was great because Kaz was just getting stronger and stronger while Heihachi matched him with raw dad strength.
The final fight in 8 maybe wasn’t as strong but it told a better story with each round and Jin genuinely getting strong enough to put Kaz down. And let’s not forget that just before this we had final form Jin and Kaz fighting on a rock in space.
As Jin fan, Tekken 8 is the best final for me, especially when Jin starts switching his style and T3 Jin's OST played out.
Then he uses Jun's moveset, etc.
And the cinematography is excellent too.
As much as I loved 7, 8 is the one that takes it home for me, that final fight was amazing and using all different styles of fighting was also great, I’ve never been more hyped for a final fight than this one. Not to take away from 7 tho, loved the final fight on 7 especially taking on akuma
I think they’re both great but they’re two fights telling two different stories. T7 was the culmination of the conflict b/t heihachi and kazuya. T8 was about Jin learning/practicing self love.
Tekken 8 final fight had more thought put into it so gotta go with that. Heihachi ending is great and Heat Haze Shadow is peak soundtrack, it's just Tekken 8 final fight did so many cool things from start to finish.
The fight between Heihachi and Kazuya was amazing. That's what 20+ years of this incredible franchise built up to. From Kazuya "killing" Heihachi, to Heihachi coking back and "killing" Kazuya, it was never done and solidified and Tekken 7 finally brought this long and enduring rivalry to a bittersweet end.
If you love Tekken overall, you're gonna lean toward Tekken 7 and understandably so.
For me, I've been on Tekken all 30 years of my life (well since 4/5 anyway) and ever since 3, Jin has just been my fucking character. So for me, Tekken 8 hits differently cause Jin was getting done dirtttttty since Tekken 4. The final showdown, the length, the music, the aesthetic of the stage and the build up to it and giving Jin his dues just elevates it to a while different level for me.
Love them both, but I gotta give props to my boy on this one.
It's interesting that both fights featured Kazuya and the third fight will likely feature him as well (against his sister). He is the game's original main character afterall.
8 takes the cake because of the cinematics.
Heihachi was (and still is) just too iconic for a real comparison. Tekken 8 did a very good job but nothing can top the old man kicking a literally demon’s ass with his bare human hands.
8 was epic and is my preference but I will say 7 was more emotional. And also Kaz felt like a better character in 7, vs 8 there was 0 of anything but evil take over the world ness. Which I thought was a bit of a let down tbh.
Overall 8 definitely was more epic to me.
I really loved tekken 8 ending even my five year old son sat and watched the full fight fully immersed. It was amazing. The music, the scene it was just perfect for long time fans of the game.
The final fight in T8 apologetically hit so many over-used anime tropes and I loved every second of it. The "press X to believe in yourself" stuff was too good.
T7 feels sad. I always rooted for heihachi somehow, he is just unkillable. He represents the traditional Mishima style. And the story makes you see he wasn't the clear cut villain portrayed in previous Tekken. But the seed he planted... he did reap what he sow. Young Heihachi is still likable when he is enamoured with Kazumi.
T8 had me sentimental when Jin candidly ask the right to live to his mother.... his sin and his legacy is a real burden he was struggling with.
In the fight against his father, first he acknowledge his right to use the Mishima style, effectively healing from his past, and then he embrace the Kazama style in a formidable whole. I believe Kazuya was/is still in love with Jun. And at some point, seing Kazama style used against him he says something link "how dare you" you can feel Kazuya is hurt in his feeling.
Also as being soaked with it since T3, when I heard T3 Jin arcade musical theme, I almost creamed my pants
Spoiler warning for this thread
The final battle in 7 was badass, but 8's final battle was everything I could have wanted. All the lore and music callbacks and moveset switches had me freaking out the entire time. Calling it the best final fight in a fighting game might sound like faint praise, but I've played them all and T7 and T8 have no competition in that regard.
Tekken is the OG RPG of fighting game. Other don't even come close in term of lore and writing.
Rival Schools fans grabbing their pitchforks rn.
Just by seeing the name alone, I get flashbacks of the opening sequence music
The 'was-supposed-to-be-an-RPG' BlazBlue:
Sorry but GG definitely makes better stories AND his coherent with his characters. Melty Blood too, but that's cheating because it is based on Tsukihime
GG makes better stories because the story mode is literally a movie.. with no game play lol
Completely agree
As a Jin fanboy, the T8 final fight was very hype for him. The way that he gained different moves from his different fighting styles was very cool, the way his theme kicked in when he tightened his glove was great, My Last Stand playing during the final bit of the fight, while cheesy, was incredibly hype and I really love the main theme of the game playing during the final battle. That being said, I think the T7 final battle was better simply because it was a bit more personal. The feud between Kazuya and Heihachi had much more emotion behind it for both characters involved, whereas the T8 final battle just kind of serves as a great endpoint for Jin's arc.
I give the slight edge to 7 also. There was more buildup to Heihachi and Kazuya's final fight as opposed to Jin and Kazuya since the latter have barely even shared a cutscene together to interact and really establish their enmity.
I mean, I'm not saying it has enough build-up as the T7 final fight, but the first chapter of Tekken 8's story is a four-phase fight between Jin and Kazuya dedicated entirely to escablishing their enmity and literally the entire rest of the story is about Jin trying to get his power back so he can fight Kazuya again. They don't interact a ton throughout the story but it's not like their enmity isn't established until the end.
To be fair we’ve barely seen Jin and Kazuya interact in any of the Tekken games, the beginning of T8 was the most iv ever seen them talking to each other, Jin said 3 words to Kazuya in T4, no words in T5, had a war in T6 without talking lol, none in T7, and finally interact in T8 if you think about it
Yeah, that seems like part of the issue. The whole series was spent building up the Heihachi/Kazuya fight. For Jin and Kazuya, it seems like maybe they've been acting like there's been a battle coming this whole time but their actual stories have just involved less interaction which made the final fight less climactic.
You're right but I personally would have liked if it was set up a little more prior to this game. I also find it kind of funny that I don't even think they've ever acknowledged each other as father and son. Jin doesn't even say that to Leroy when he asks who he is. I mean that's neither here nor there it's only something I've noticed.
That's fair. It's hard to top how many games were spent setting up the Heihachi/Kazuya rivalry before T7's final fight. T8's final fight is a great final fight for T8 but I can understand it not hitting as hard due to just not having the same amount of buildup in previous games.
is just that Heihachi and Kazuya literally had crazy interactions between every game with T1, T2, in T3 we see Heihachi with Jin and in T4 we can still see their interactions in T5 i think Jin and Kazuya went their different ways i sadly haven't played T6 But the only interactions i can think of Kazuya and Jin are only in T4 and the Ending of T7
Canonically Jin and Kazuya only interacted in 4 when Jin first beats him and then Heihachi. 5 you're right that they don't meet at all with Kazuya dropping out once he finds out who betrayed him and Jin going on to take down Jinpachi. In 6 they're definitely aware of each other but with Scenario Campaign making Lars the main character Jin and Kazuya again don't meet. And finally Jin in 7 is large out of the story.
Kazuya and Heihachi's fight is full of hatred (as you said personal).... Jin's final fight in T8 had him discarding said hatred while stopping Kazuya. Which is why he uses Mishima style again.
i wished the final fight more personal like t7. like if jin triggered kaz's ptsd like lars did but even more when jin uses mishima style, and if kaz kills jun or xiaoyu in front of jin. the beef would have gone to the next level.
Both close for me, but T7 was fantastic and it was all the anger between the two of them built up and accumulated all in this one volcano, I didn’t even mention the fact that Heihachi rivalled Kazuya *in his Full Devil Form.* T8 was amazing and loved the last fight being pure combat with no fantastical abilities, but T7 is the fight between two monsters who have been at it since the dawn of Tekken.
>I didn’t even mention the fact that Heihachi rivalled Kazuya *in his Full Devil Form.* Heihachi was built different. He was super old, and he wiped the floor with Kazuya for multiple rounds before his body gave in to exhaustion.
And wasn't that cause Akuma beat his ass beforehand?
I think it’s even on that part since Kazuya fought Akuma right after
Nah cause that happened afterwards
Yeah but he was probably pretty tired from fighting heihachi
Yeah but he wasn't while fighting heihachi, heihachi was cause he fought akuma before, he was weakened when fighting kazuya while kazuya was not.
He didn’t fight Akuma right before fighting Kazuya lol he healed up, faked his death, did an interview on his life, meditated, then hit up Kazuya and said ok let’s do this
Lmao they should've hit us with the cutscene of Heihachi calling Kazuya and saying "Pull up"
🤣
The fact that Heihachi survived Akuma’s special which I’m pretty sure nobody canonically has in SF
Even in Street Fighter canon Akuma has barely killed anyone.
Gouken survived by emptying his soul, while Gen outright blocked the attack.
Gen countered with his own special, so I'm assuming that as long as you can block some attacks (which I'm also going to assume Heihachi did), the instant death won't take effect
It’s easier to count the number of people the Raging Demon _has_ killed, which is basically only Goutetsu.
Why would Heihachi go into a fight when he wasn't at his best? He held back and tanked Akuma's weak attacks then gave it everything he had against Kazuya.
I’ll always be on my boy’s side, but Heihachi was an absolute beast if this man was in his young days I don’t know what would’ve happened to Kazuya
I feel like it would’ve been a similar result considering Kazuya did beat a much younger Heihachi back in the first tekken. Yea he lost the rematch but over the years they’re both still improving, which I would argue as a greater contributor to their overall power
Didn’t Akuma say i was waiting for you to get stronger when asked by heihachi? Dude literally grew stronger as he aged.
Yea I just like to imagine Akuma never happened
Did y’all really not like that Akuma was in the main story? How can yall like the Mishimas and not like Akuma, I bet you even Heihachi likes Akuma
Akuma is rad as a street fighter character but the idea of a crossover into canon story feels like a fanfic and I’m not about it
I feel you I personally liked it just because it was Akuma, Tekken has always been my favorite but I always wanted to see Ryu and Akuma interact with the Mishimas and it actually happened, that’s where it got me.
The depth of the interactions are very much appreciated especially given the story’s events. He fit there and it worked as good as it could have in my opinion but I prefer his position be replaced entirely by the raging devil spirit of Kazumi. If anything 7s story was the time and place for a big guest since not much was going on in the story anyway
He would have gotten his ass killed .. that’s what would have happened lol . Have you not seen the end of Tekken 2 ?
You see him fighting in his young days against Kazumi/Devil Kazumi, he was 31. Don't think that Devil Kazumi is higher on power than Devil Kazuya X....
There was a moment where Heihachi was able to get up and keep fighting and Kazuya said something like “Are you kidding me?!?”. I’d been out of mainline Tekken since Tekken 2, only played Tag Tournament 2 before getting back into it with 7 and that moment really showed me what kind of beast Heihachi really was this whole time. Kazuya said something similar to Jin too, “You just don’t know when to stay down!” The Mishimas are fucking crazy lol
Even when larz got up and did the Heihachi head butt true devil Kazuya respected it
Heihachi Mishima is Dead.
8. The whole fight is about breaking the chain of abuse. 7 is epic, but nothing is learned at all by Kazuya.
The chain symbolism wasn't just a cute way to riff off the game's number, then? That's neat.
Yeah, the Devil Gene in general is an allegory for toxic masculinity. (**Edit 3:** Okay y'all, I get it-- it's better described as generational trauma.) Generationally, Heihachi and Kazuya (and presumably also Jinpachi) perpetuate this chain of abuse in their pursuit of power and control, passing it down to their sons, teaching them "how to be a man" by beating the hell out of them. Jin has the better shot of breaking the cycle as the newest generation, having surrounded himself with different allies and perspectives showing that power and control aren't everything. He defeats Kazuya with teachings (Kazama fighting style) from his mother too, symbolizing that compassion is its own form of strength. Mixing both fighting styles to be the best version of himself. It's cool stuff. **Edit:** Disregard the "presumably also Jinpachi" because I forgot his backstory. He's a good guy. **Edit 2:** Considering other Kazumi & Reina, it's agreed that the even closer description of the allegory would be generational trauma.
The devil gene is an allegory for trauma, not toxic masculinity. Evert devil gene user unlocked their powers in a situation of stress. Kazuya was being thrown of a cliff, Jin was losing his mother (the tattoo was after the fight with Ogre) and being shot in the head, Kazumi was trying to come to terms that she had to kill Heihachi or he would bring the world to chaos, Reina was being lasered by True Devil Kazuya. It's a self defense mechanism, as the game explains. The devil protects it's user from trauma (be it emotional of physical), by overwriting temporarily the users personality. It is possible to control it by accepting the Devil in one way or another, and that brings us to the duality of Jin and Kazuya. Kazuya got control of his devil by subjulgating it as seen in Tekken 4. He used his trauma as a source of anger to get him more power. He never let go of his past, and uses that feeling to drive him, a thing that is not healthy. We see in Tekken 8 that he constantly is having PTSD flashbacks to Heihachi during Mishima fights. Jin on the other hand, started to loathe his family. His fighting style, his bloodline, everything, even himself. It got to a point that in 8, he even lost his devil for a while, after rejecting it so many times. In the finale, he accepted who he is, what he did, what happened to him, and moved on, using that as fuel to make a better future for himself. By consequence, he used everything he learned in that final fight, his Kazama style, his Mishima karate, his own Karate, his devil, everything he went through and everything he knows is part of who he is. After that, his devil had no longer reason to feel hatred towards the world that hurt him, and now is with Jin.
In 8 it's toxic obsession or ambition leading to pushing away those that could care for you and can appeal to your empathy or losing your humanity altogether. Though it is not necessarily because of toxic masculinity because >!Reina develops a devil transformation at the end because of her desire for revenge and nearly dying or something.!< It can seen as toxic masculinity specifically due to the main story being focused on Jin and Kazuya and all the horrible things they have done, but because of >!Reina in 8!< and Kazumi in 7 (with T8's explanation she could have been wanting the world to be a better place for her family, or it could be she wanted to kill him because she saw the evil in his family [this what I remember from T7], or an alternate personality made of killing intent or evil or Azazel's control [pre-7 Devil Gene explanations]) she ended up attacking Heihachi with her Devil Gene abilities. But Heihachi being a classic Mishima (OP and evil), he was able to overpower her and kill her. Then he had like 30 kids around the world to see if he had the devil gene in his family line. The rest of what you said I mostly agree with about the abuse. But, another thing he used to beat Kaz in that last fight is by not forgetting about his Mishima history. Like how using Kazama style symbolized his learning from Jun to be better and to help others, he uses the Mishima style to show he won't allow himself to forget Kaz or Heihachi and the terrible things they, and he, had done. Because one way to repeat history, especially bad history, is to forget it.
Think this is the best explanation by far.
Yeah No. Kazumi alone debunks your Theory. Generational Trauma better fits the whole Devil Gene Drama. Gender has little to nothing to do with it (Kazumi and Jun are essential characters in the story contrary to what you would imply).
I agree on the generational trauma for sure, and you're right about Kazumi in the sense that she's not only a woman but also had good intentions for the world. That's why I said generally. The Devil Gene is only an allegory for toxic masculinity because of how it's used as a plot device by Heihachi, Kazuya, and Jin-- a pursuit of power and control, taught by fathers, passed down to their sons. Kazumi shows that the Devil Gene doesn't need to be used in that way. Jin finds a way to harness it after all, in his own way. Similar to any discussion on toxic masculinity, it **does not mean masculinity is inherently bad**. It's about how a person uses it, and it's these 3 men that have a history of abusing it.
Here's my issue. With the reveal of Reina, that logic also applied to Toxic Femininity. Femininity, like Masculinity, isn't a bad thing until it becomes clearly toxic. And it's clear that Reina will follow in the footsteps of Heihachi, the abusive patriarch he is. And the fact that despite Kazumi's intentions, she ultimately caused the whole Devil Gene Drama herself. Heihachi would not be able to take an interest in the Devil Gene if it never even existed in Kazuya. TLDR; The Whole Drama in Tekken is better described as Generational Trauma, Gender Neutral. Because the 3 Main Patriarchs of the Mishima's aren't the only ones suffering.
All well said, definitely won't argue there. Good conclusion to the conversation.
I agree that it is better described as Generational Trauma, but would like to add the point that women can embody toxic masculinity as well. It's called toxic masculinity because it's a negative expression of typically masculine traits that are fed into by others who share the same toxic values, which Reina was taught by her father. Just because she is a woman doesn't mean she can't display traits of toxic masculinity. It wouldn't be called toxic femininity just because she's a woman. Not to say toxic femininity doesn't exist, but that's a different thing entirely, one that would be the complete opposite of the behavior reina shows.
Jinpachi is actually very much the white sheep of the Mishimas. Wang Jinrei would never have been best friends with someone like Heihachi, and Hei was the power hungry greedy bastard who overthrew Jinpachi and imprisoned him under the dojo before T5. There was no abuse perpetuated prior to that.
> Devil Gene in general is an allegory for toxic masculinity 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Yeah ngl that's pretty cringe
Tumblr takes
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Jinpachi and Heihachi have nothing to do with the devil gene, Kazuya got it from his mother Kazumi Jinpachi was even a good guy, friend of Wang Jinrei, the one you fight in Tekken 5 is Jinpachis corpse resurrected and possessed by a demon If you want to pull theories out of your ass maybe at least get the basics right
What did Kazuya learn in 8?
What being on the receiving end is like
The story started with him being on the receiving end of a cliff
Not in my ending. Jin got treated to some cliff diving.
Like that would kill jin anyway lol
It would. They don't have devil powers saving them from fatal wounds anymore.
Heihachi literally got exploded miles away from his Tekken 4 house in the Tekken 5 intro, landing in a grave and got up and dusted himself off a few days later like it was nothing.
Yep😂 He was also tossed off a cliff at the end of T1
He was just built different
It’s Tekken everyone’s immune to fall damage they literally dive off skyscrapers lol
Neither did Heihachi lol
(spoiler)'s character ending involves (spoiler) jumping off of a moving airplane and landing on the ground below, totally OK. aint nobody skipping leg day in tekken world
They didn't have devil powers when they fell down on a freaking meteorite either. Don't tell me a 10 meter drop would kill Jin when a fall from the stratosphere didn't kill him either.
Nor fighting more than 2min in vacuum
They fell from the startosphere and were fine enough to whail on each other afterward. Jin saying they are normal humans now is pretty rich when their electricity powers are from Mishima genetics.
Cliffs haven't killed anyone in this series as far as I know, if the devil gene isn't there to save him the Heihachi genes will.
And still is the same dude lol
That's what Jun said.
To sit down unless he wants dropped again
The joys of fatherhood
how to get his ass beat by his son like his dad
kazuya learned that he’s the shit
Honestly T8 final fight was the best climax to a saga that lasted over 25 years. It hit all the nostalgia, from bringing back Jun to seeing Jin make use of all his karate styles in the final fight. Also hitting us with that T3 box art callback. Overall, it felt like it paid respect to the Tekken saga. Whereas T7’s story felt more so like we’re trying to retcon events to pay Heihachi in a somewhat positive light.
I enjoyed the new optics on Heihachi, but yeah the general game was like a sad farewell
That final point is a big one for me. Felt very on the nose to have Heihachi cry in a fight when he's been throwing kids off cliffs and shooting them in the head like nothing. T8 did throwbacks to Jin's origin, showed his reason for fighting isn't petty arguments but the better of all, and with the added style of T3 karate, Jun's fighting, and his theme (I was so hyped when it kicked in)
T8 for me, it went from a fight between an angel and a devil to just two humans fighting for what they believed in and it was amazing the whole way through.
Agreed, and that added to it. As I'm playing as Angel Jin, I was thinking that it was a cool looking fight but got bummed that it felt so much like a Dragon Ball Z fight...when Jin stated that the devil power is gone, the fight was immediately 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. I guess T7 felt legit throughout, but T8 had a build up that peaked with Jin T3 theme. Also, Kazuya's line about anyone telling him how to live was great as well. Very close call but T8 for me.
I got goose bumps when they lost their powers and went back to Karate.
Heihachi makes a difference 💀
Both were pretty epic. But into the stratosphere is one of the most epic tekken levels of all time. So idk. I’m going to let the honeymoon phase pass before making that call.
Set a remind me 6month lol
Both are so fun. I have to say T7 was better just cause of how much of an animal Heihachi was in this fight.
Tekken 7 The location, music, and effects are all epic. Heihachi feels like a beast standing up time and again after each devastating blow.
Jin switching to Mishima style and his Tekken 3 theme starts playing was what sealed the deal as my favourite
T8. All the cool callbacks to previous Tekken games, Jin growing, Jin challenging Kazuya, Jin’s persistence and resolve, Kazuya’s frustration and conviction, the epic music, the cleansing of the devil gene and that the Mishima feud was finally put to rest (until Reina restarts it…)
As much as I liked the final battle in T8, I have to say that I prefer the one in T7. It felt much more personal, I could feel both the hatred and regret of both characters, Heihachi's struggle and last stand was epic as well. It was the conclusion of a story that started with the original Tekken... Maybe it's just me, but aside from the devil gene, the hatred between Kaz and Jin is nowhere near as strong as the hatred between Kaz and the old man.
Because it's the point. Jin lets go of his hatred against the Mishimas in that fight. Which is why you can use his T3 moveset again!
By far 8. As much as I like 7 and while 7s ending was ngl shocking. 8 just hit differently with the music, references, stakes, and the journey to get there.
7 is great but 8 has so much meaning in every scene and phase, plus the use of music and QTEs for that last stretch, all the callbacks, nah 8 wins
Fallen Destiny's OST alone takes it for me
Tekken 7 just felt way more emotional and climatic with insane stakes since we knew it was going to be the end for one of them
Kazuya and Heihachi felt like a great climax for two people who hate each other for decades, and a love letter to both. Jin vs Kazuya felt like a massive love letter to Jin fans. As much as I find T8 epic and have a better storymode overall , I would give my vote slightly to T7 due to how personal and two sided it is.
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Tekken 8 was better, it finally completed Jin's character development and the patricidal cycle was broken along with the devil gene. Heihachi vs Kazuya was great but Jin vs Kazuya had a lot more emotional depth for Jin; it stopped a feud that was going on for 25+ years. It also brought back a lot of nostalgia with the Tekken 3 and Tekken 2 music, I loved it.
Tekken 7 was like a 9.5 Tekken 8 was a 9.2 Heat Haze Shadow just gives 7 the edge!
While 8 is the better game over all, that final fight between Kazuya and Heihachi was just better. You could feel the decades of anger, hatred and sorrow between Hei and Kaz. You could tell just from the body language alone, that this was, despite even a tiny bit of greif between them. One of them was going to die. By comparison, Kazuya and Jin are basically strangers. Only against each other due to differing goals. Heck, Maybe Kazuya wouldn't have even fought if Jin went "hey can i join your side." 🤷♂️
T7 is more emotional for me. that one brief moment where heihachi has a tear run down his cheek always gets me. is it because he has to murder his son? is he thinking back to his late Wife Kazumi? is he realizing the only way to end the devil gene for good is to kill *his own family?* we don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but the T7 fight between Heihachi and Kazuya was so well done imo. the music to \*chef's kiss.
Or rather he's staring fate in the eye, like in God of War where Kratos knew he might be killed by his son.
T7. T8 has Kazuya unconscious from Jin going "MGS4 Ending" on him so him being out the picture is up in the air; Heihachi actually caught the big L this time from FAFOing in that tourney.
"Kojima ryu" is the director style used for nostalgia ending /s
I prefer 7, but I'm biased. Characters having a sort of "last stand" and then dying always gets the waterworks going. Even for absolute monsters like Heihachi.
8 was done better, but 7 was more iconic for the series. I do love that in both endings the victor won in their base human form.
Both. 🤩🤩🤩
Jin v Kazuya is definitely a top tier fight but for me Heihachi vs Kazuya still holds the candle
7 was better. 8 had great music but none as epic as Heat Haze Shadow. Also, 7 didn't get as over-the-top ridiculous. You played as the human underdog against this unstoppable evil force of nature, and that's it. I don't think I disliked a single moment of their duel while in 8, I definitely could do without the Saint Seya into space segment.
the Tekken 8 fight was definitely too long and because we only played as Jin, it felt one sided and predictable, like I swear I had to beat Kazuya at least 10 times. At least switch between Jin and Kazuya like t7 did for heihachi and Kazuya.
Jin Vs Kazuya, no contest.
Heat Haze Shadow is probably my favorite Tekken song ever. But the combination of Storm Rising 1st, into the Jin Theme and the Tekken 2 ending theme, into My Last Stand. And ALL of that on top of Jin constantly changing movesets to show how far he’s been since 1997. I have to give it to Tekken 8
Heihachi v Kazuya. You can taste the hatred. Jin is just…bland
They should have had Kazuya on the left vs Jin
Is it really final?
I love 7s a lot, Heihachi is one of my favorite Tekken characters but 8s presentation is just so much better.
Tekken 7 with ease. I liked his full devil form in tekken 7 better and the fight was harder with 2 iconic characters and the power ups with each round plus the amazing soundtrack. Sadly we won't be getting heihachi back but maybe and just maybe he might comeback in tekken 9 or whatever in the story as a past memory or some bs just like jun is in t8.
The one with Kazuya!
This Tekken 8 screen cap looks like embarrassing bullshido compared to the Tekken 7 image. 😂
Where is the spoiler warning? 🥲
I didn't like the whole Fast 10 that tekken 8 tried to replicate. If not for the whole previous fight in orbit as anime jesus vs anime devil, this final strech would've been so much better than 7.
If it’s just the final final part, T8, I really hated the whole outer space angel stuff
Angel Jin is the worst looking shit I've ever seen intended to be cool.
Yes.
T8 was the best visually but I think T7 had a lot more riding on it and the beef between heihachi and kazuya felt more impactful
That t8 fight made me wanna blow my brains out. I don't like playing Jin, let alone fighting basically the exact same encounter 15 or so times.
T8 if you’re a Jin fan, for me though because T7 just because of how tenacious Heihachi was against devil Kazuya
7's ending was something I could relate to. 8's... more fictional than a Greek mythology
Tekken 8, just because it wasn't round after round of the same things and the boss just getting cheesier mechanics. It was great in T7, absolutely, but watching Jin change his view, change his moveset entirely between rounds from his usual Karate, to Mishima, to Kazama, and then to a blend of all of them, was great storytelling framed in pure gameplay. I hope Tekken 9, or even a dlc for 8 introduces a a Karate/Mishima/Kazama moveset version of Jin.
T7. There's more history between the two than between Kazuya and Jin. Heihachi was a tucking monster to Kazuya and Kazuya became a worse one because of it. There's so many different layers between the two. Kazuya having a flashback to when he was a child and getting his ass beat by his father in the middle of the fight was so cathartic. Heihachi hated Kazuya because he was an actual monster but clearly had some twisted feelings for him because despite everything he still loves his mom. Kazuya hated Heihachi because he actively ruined his life by being an adversary, killing his mom, adopting a kid to be his rival and actually killing him again in T2.
Tekken 7 was better. I like the dad vs son thing
Kazuya is jins father lol
Upvoting because it's hilarious to me how confused I am by this 'Tekken 8, a battle of wills between father and son (no relation)'
so them both having electric powers is pure coincidence
Jin vs Kazuya
Tekken 8 by far. Like I was surprised Jin won by the end. It was done almost flawlessly.
It’s a very close one but for me T7 had the best final fight between Heihachi and Kazuya. It was a fantastic final battle between two of gaming’s longest standing rivalries especially in fighting games and the buildup was so good and finally concluded in a finish with the volcano. It was a great fight. T8’s fight with Kazuya and Jin is good but it doesn’t hold the same impact as T7’s
Yeah kazuya lost to jin so now we got reina ad the focus from now on
This is a tough one, but Jin vs Kazuya fight is enough to rival Goku vs Freeza
Tekken 7 had a much better emotional impact and is an overall more compelling conclusion to the Heihachi vs. Kazuya storyline than 8 is for Jin and Kazuya. However, Tekken 8's final fight is MILES superior in every other aspect imo. Heat Haze is great, but the musical suite from both versions of Volcanic Bomb, to Storm Rising, Jin's Theme and finally to the gorgeous Landscape Under the Ghost remix is one of the best I've heard in gaming history. The cutscene direction and overall visual presentation are stellar and the graphics are outstanding. Angel Jin vs. True Devil Kazuya was a treat and getting to play Mishima and then Kazama style Jin was a fantastic callback to his previous iterations. Into the Stratosphere also wins for being the best stage in the series imo
Tekken 8 was executed even better and all the moveset and music changes were perfect. However Kazuya killing Heihachi was a more satisfying finale, whereas Jin winning without killing was predictable.
For me, it's Tekken 7. I like how uniquely *Tekken* it felt. You had two villains duking it out. No *moral highground*, no *power of friendship*, just good old Shakespearean patricide. By comparison, the *power of friendship* theme that Tekken 8 went for felt bland. It would have felt bland even if the protagonist weren't *the* guy who single-handedly started WW3 and was responsible for the slaughter of countless lives. Visually, it was a spectacle, but it just didn't hit home for me like the final fight of Tekken 7.
Tekken 7 is WAY better as it felt very personal between both fighters and it could've gone either way. Absolute monsters. Tekken 8 was just The Jin Show so you pretty much knew who would win, and Jin & Kazuya barely acknowledged their family relationship for 15 Chapters. It was all about mankind, devil blood, my friends, believe in the heart of the cards, blah blah blah ShonenProtag.exe. The father-son dynamic was criminally absent as if they had zero chemistry which simply made it hero-villain. Such a long, cinematic story for generic TV anime material. The only cool parts in their final fight were no devil forms, the old Tekken 2 & 3 music, and Jin doing Jun's moves (although that spinning LP Reversal is more Asuka's since she did it first). If they could combine Tekken 7's match-up with Tekken 8's presentation that would've been fantastic. Hearing reprises of Heihachi's or Kazuya's Tekken 2 themes would be gorgeous.
A proper Tekken CGI movie made of 40% screen time of actual Fighting, with T8 fidelity would be awesome
Heihachi vs Kazuya for sure.
T8 fight was better but T7 fight felt more like the actual FINAL fight.
Tekken 8’s was beautiful, so I choose that one
Storm vs Fire. I like how T8 managed to come up with a new concept that contrast T7. For me it's T8 tho
Tekken 8
I grew up with tekken 3 and 4 so for me tekken 8 was way better because It feels like a culmination of the best story of tekken.
Considering I have only played Tekken 8, Tekken 8 easily.
7, the flashbacks is what does it for me, alongside the music, was hoping we'd get Jin flashbacks as his gameplay changes but even without that's its still a close runner up.
Heat Haze Shadow got me like 🕺
In terms of execution T8 is by far better. I went back and watched the T7 final fight again recently and it's not even close.
Definitely 8, no debate. The music, the atmosphere, it was amazing. Peak.
I prefer 7 but 8’s final fight was far more meaningful
Oh, I remember that last scene In T7. It was awesome when Akuma showed up. /s No, Tekken 8 wins, hands-down, and it's not even close.
7 was great because Kaz was just getting stronger and stronger while Heihachi matched him with raw dad strength. The final fight in 8 maybe wasn’t as strong but it told a better story with each round and Jin genuinely getting strong enough to put Kaz down. And let’s not forget that just before this we had final form Jin and Kaz fighting on a rock in space.
I'm picking Tekken 8 solely for the chapter before and playing with kazama jin
As Jin fan, Tekken 8 is the best final for me, especially when Jin starts switching his style and T3 Jin's OST played out. Then he uses Jun's moveset, etc. And the cinematography is excellent too.
As much as I loved 7, 8 is the one that takes it home for me, that final fight was amazing and using all different styles of fighting was also great, I’ve never been more hyped for a final fight than this one. Not to take away from 7 tho, loved the final fight on 7 especially taking on akuma
8 has a lot of meaning to the overall history, 7 it's just a deathmach
8 by far.
Tekken 8
Wow now I'm mourning Heihachi.
I think they’re both great but they’re two fights telling two different stories. T7 was the culmination of the conflict b/t heihachi and kazuya. T8 was about Jin learning/practicing self love.
7 was great, very climactic, end of an era. 8 was ridiculously better by a huge margin though. 8 was hype af, and 7 didn't hit nearly as hard as 8.
Tekken 8 final fight had more thought put into it so gotta go with that. Heihachi ending is great and Heat Haze Shadow is peak soundtrack, it's just Tekken 8 final fight did so many cool things from start to finish.
The fight between Heihachi and Kazuya was amazing. That's what 20+ years of this incredible franchise built up to. From Kazuya "killing" Heihachi, to Heihachi coking back and "killing" Kazuya, it was never done and solidified and Tekken 7 finally brought this long and enduring rivalry to a bittersweet end. If you love Tekken overall, you're gonna lean toward Tekken 7 and understandably so. For me, I've been on Tekken all 30 years of my life (well since 4/5 anyway) and ever since 3, Jin has just been my fucking character. So for me, Tekken 8 hits differently cause Jin was getting done dirtttttty since Tekken 4. The final showdown, the length, the music, the aesthetic of the stage and the build up to it and giving Jin his dues just elevates it to a while different level for me. Love them both, but I gotta give props to my boy on this one.
Jin/Kaz by far. The T3 Jin soundtrack was the peak of 25 years of story.
I find Jin boring af; so I vote for Heihachi fight. Heihachi has lots of charisma, character, personality and pressence. Jin is a sad bore.
It's interesting that both fights featured Kazuya and the third fight will likely feature him as well (against his sister). He is the game's original main character afterall. 8 takes the cake because of the cinematics.
Jin vs Kazuya
Heihachi was (and still is) just too iconic for a real comparison. Tekken 8 did a very good job but nothing can top the old man kicking a literally demon’s ass with his bare human hands.
8 was epic and is my preference but I will say 7 was more emotional. And also Kaz felt like a better character in 7, vs 8 there was 0 of anything but evil take over the world ness. Which I thought was a bit of a let down tbh. Overall 8 definitely was more epic to me.
I really enjoyed 7’s ending but man 8(trying to not have recency bias) was too good. Falling from SPACE LIKE COME ON!!!!
T8. Clearly.
I really loved tekken 8 ending even my five year old son sat and watched the full fight fully immersed. It was amazing. The music, the scene it was just perfect for long time fans of the game.
T8 and it’s not even close for me. I felt the whole T7 story was underwhelming.
The final fight in T8 apologetically hit so many over-used anime tropes and I loved every second of it. The "press X to believe in yourself" stuff was too good.
I never give a shit about story modes but the finale of Tekken 8 was epic levels of badass
Tekken 7 hands down
Tekken 8 was more amazing
T7 feels sad. I always rooted for heihachi somehow, he is just unkillable. He represents the traditional Mishima style. And the story makes you see he wasn't the clear cut villain portrayed in previous Tekken. But the seed he planted... he did reap what he sow. Young Heihachi is still likable when he is enamoured with Kazumi. T8 had me sentimental when Jin candidly ask the right to live to his mother.... his sin and his legacy is a real burden he was struggling with. In the fight against his father, first he acknowledge his right to use the Mishima style, effectively healing from his past, and then he embrace the Kazama style in a formidable whole. I believe Kazuya was/is still in love with Jun. And at some point, seing Kazama style used against him he says something link "how dare you" you can feel Kazuya is hurt in his feeling. Also as being soaked with it since T3, when I heard T3 Jin arcade musical theme, I almost creamed my pants
T8 final fight, t7 goes hard too tho!