Heihachi’s Surprising Return In Tekken 8 Rights The Fighting Game Roster’s Greatest Wrong

When it launched near the start of the year, Tekken 8 was praised for its dazzling visuals, over-the-top storytelling, gameplay focus on aggression and offense, and outstanding cast of characters. Though many of the series’ mainstays were present at launch, Bandai Namco left out a few heavy hitters. The first season of post-launch content is steadily remedying that, as it kicked off with fan-favorite capoeira master Eddy Gordo being added to the game and then followed that up with the addition of relative newcomer and Polish karateka Lidia Sobieska. However, a Mishima-shaped hole remained in the Tekken 8 roster.

And it makes sense. After all, Heihachi, who has served as the series’ main antagonist, canonically died at the end of Tekken 7’s story. Or so we thought. It turns out he somehow survived being tossed into a river of lava by his son and Tekken 8 antagonist, Kazuya. Given that Tekken takes place in a world where characters can ride motorcycles up skyscrapers and into a helicopter, survive the subsequent explosion and crash into the ground, and then emerge without a scratch and transform into a devil to punch their opponent through buildings, we probably don’t need to overthink how Heihachi could have survived his lava-snorkeling expedition.

However, if you just need to know how the series’ bad guy is back, you’re in luck, as–in addition to adding Heihachi to the roster–the version 1.08 update brings an all-new side story called Unforgotten Echoes, which goes into explaining how the big bad has returned. Heihachi and his stage, Genmaji Temple, join the roster as part of the paid Character Year 1 Pass, but the version 1.08 update is free to all players. That update also adds new collaboration items with Nike and Gentle Monster, and additional quality-of-life updates like online practice and main menu customization.

“I remember the initial discussions when we were talking about what to do for the 30th anniversary of the franchise, we were thinking, ‘That’s really hard to do without Heihachi, who is such a central figure to the franchise,'” game director Kohei “Nakatsu” Ikeda said.

Unforgotten Echoes focuses on the three post-launch characters Tekken 8 has received to this point–Eddy, Lidia, and Heihachi–in a narrative that takes place in parallel to the main Tekken 8 story. Because it’s free to all players, it’s a chance for those who haven’t purchased the Year 1 Pass to try the new characters. If players aren’t familiar with Eddy’s capoeira combos or Lidia’s karate-focused assaults, they’ll have a chance to learn how to play them and familiarize themselves with their stories. But the highlight is certainly the circumstances surrounding Heihachi’s return.

“Because Nakatsu and I made it look so convincing that he died in Tekken 7, we can’t just throw him in the game and say, ‘A-ha! We fooled you!'” game producer Michael Murray says. “This is a thing we often talk about with the franchise: There’s got to be some kind of motivation and feeling of believability to the scenario, to some extent. It was really important to show people why he is not dead, and to make it feel genuine and authentic. So, we really needed to have that story to show that backdrop before we release Heihachi.”

I played through the entirety of Unforgotten Echoes, though I can only talk about the first five chapters. While the following text will contain some minor spoilers, I will do my best to keep them to a minimum. The first two chapters star Eddy as he re-enters the fray with Tekken Force on a mission to South America. After fights against some of the main roster, including a few fights against multiple opponents in succession, the perspective shifts to Lidia.

The Polish Prime Minister has developed a reputation for saving New York in the wake of Kazuya’s attack, and she is soon approached by Reina. Of course, the two find a reason to fight, but after the dust settles, Lidia remarks that something smells off as spears plant in the ground and release smoke around her. The Tekken Monks appear as apparent hallucinations as a voice emanates from the smoke.

The voice tells Lidia to find him, which kicks off Chapter 4. Lidia travels to Genmaji Temple, where she meets the Tekken Monks face to face. This group is devoted to restoring the purity of the Mishima Style, which they feel has been corrupted. They believe a balance of mind, body, and technique is of utmost importance, and in this final chapter starring Lidia, that is her goal.

In the last chapter I’m able to talk about, you finally take control of Heihachi, who has been living with the Monks for the last six months. Heihachi lost his memory after the events of Tekken 7, and his look and personality are much more subdued as a result.

“The dev team felt it was necessary in portraying Heihachi and how he came back from being pretty much dead […] it was, like, if we just brought him back and he’s up and running, he’s evil, and he’s slugging it out with Kazuya again, it’s not as interesting as having him lose a part of himself,” Ikeda says. “And ‘”What would he look like if he’s just a good person?'” which we’ve never seen in the past. That’s probably more intriguing to the player base as they follow that journey, that story arc of Heihachi.”

His typically pointy hair lays flat across his shoulders, and he dons attire more befitting of a Monk than a warrior martial artist. However, fear not: His iconic look is an option, and Heihachi’s style is even more overbearing than before. This plays perfectly into the offensive gameplay of Tekken 8.

“We wanted to make him more aggressive and more powerful than past iterations, like less poking, et cetera,” Ikeda says. “We focused on his mid and high attacks, where he had a lot of strong options to begin with, but to make them even stronger in this iteration, and also by adding those two stances–the Thunder God and the Wind God–those techniques that came out of that are just way more powerful than you’ve seen in past iterations, and they may come even more aligned to that concept of being aggressive and going on the offensive against your opponent.”

After Chapter 5 closes out with a mysterious mention of a vow of some sort, I played through the rest of the story mode to follow through on that narrative thread. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about the remaining chapters, so with that, I move on to Versus matches.

As I get to know Heihachi’s style a bit more, I start feeling like he might become one of my mains. His powerhouse style embodies that sense of balance the Tekken Monks are striving for in the Unforgotten Echoes storyline, with mind, body, and technique informing his movements and combos. I loved learning his combos and how to best leverage his devastating Heat Smash attacks, and pulling off stance switches, which open up new moves. Heihachi also features a new Warrior’s Instinct mode, which makes him more powerful, but can only be triggered after three uses of Heat in a match, meaning it can only be used in Round 3 or later.

I spent my entire time in Versus on the gorgeous new Genmaji Temple stage, which is a mountain temple with Japanese architecture. When you first step into it, it has a dusk autumn setting, while later rounds transition to a nighttime winter backdrop. If you prefer a less moody version of the environment, you can select a plain daytime variant of the stage as well.

After playing through several Versus matches, including a few against Kazuya (you get a special animation between him and Heihachi at the start of a match if the two are facing off), I decided to check out the character customization. Tekken is known for its zany customization options, and Tekken 8 certainly carried forward that tradition. I used the end of my time to create a younger version of Heihachi with long, black hair and a scruffy beard, as well as a version rocking a Freddy Krueger sweater and a loaf of bread around his face. No matter how cool or hilarious you want to make Heihachi look, you can be sure he’ll still play it 100% straight-faced.

Since the series’ inception, Heihachi has played a major role in the Tekken storyline. While his presence was certainly felt in the main story through characters like Reina, it’s good to have the franchise’s big bad back on the roster-select screen. And when you add in a new side story and a beautiful new stage, this fall’s update is looking to be Tekken 8’s most substantial yet.

Heihachi, the Genmaji Temple, the Unforgotten Echoes story mode, and the rest of version 1.08 arrive on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions of Tekken 8 this fall.