Tekken currently holds two Guinness World Records: one for being the longest-running 3D fighting game franchise, and another being a testament to the Tekken team’s storytelling ability—the longest-running video game storyline.
For long-time Tekken fans, that should come as no surprise. The story began with the original entry back on the original PlayStation in 1994 and has since been culminating over almost three decades with new developments, all leading up to Tekken 8.
Related: Tekken 8 hands-on: A console-first approach levels up an arcade classic
As we move onto the next entry in the series, Dot Esports was recently invited to a preview event with travel expenses provided by Bandai Namco for a first look at Tekken 8, as well as a chance to interview Tekken executive producer Katsuhiro Harada. Tekken producer Michael Murray was also on hand to translate for Harada and offer his own insight.
At the end of Tekken 7, the series’ main antagonist, Heiachi, finally meets his end at the hands of Kazuya. Upon being defeated, Kazuya dumps Heihachi’s body into a sea of lava, which even caught Harada by surprise when the team showed him the animated cutscene.
Murray told Dot that Harada in a previous interview “was surprised at how dead Heihachi was in the story,” and that when he went to ask the team who created the cutscene about it, they were confused why he was asking as that was the “order” they were given. Harada could only laugh at this.
Of course, this was all done on purpose. Heihachi had been supposedly dead in a previous game only to come back, so Harada wanted to ensure it was “convincing” this time and to “make sure that Heihachi is dead.”
Related: Tekken 8 could have guest characters at launch, but they aren’t a priority
When pushed on if the villain was really, actually, well and truly dead, Harada jumped in saying that “he [Heihachi] looks pretty dead to me.”
But Harada being Harada, he had one final tease during our interview, mysteriously saying that “according to the movie he is quite dead, right?” perhaps alluding to a potential revival. Who knows at this point? Those attending the event did bring up the idea of using Heihachi as a training mode AI, dubbed “Aihachi” which sent Harada into hysterics.
An idea for the future, perhaps?
