It turns out that it’s really hard to kill a Tekken character, especially with gravity. Despite Tekken series creator Katsuhiro Harada doing his best to convince us that Heihachi Mishima was actually, really, truly 100% dead this time around, lo and behold the third DLC character for Tekken 8 is none other than the King of Iron Fist himself.
The upcoming free story expansion for Tekken 8, titled Unforgotten Echoes, is all about explaining the how and the why of Heihachi’s return, and as part of a preview event, I got to play the entirety of the two-hour-long DLC campaign. My general impression? If you’re able to turn your brain off and just let it take you for a ride, it’s more good (albeit quite silly) ass Tekken story content.
While Unforgotten Echoes is an eight-chapter story of how and why Heihachi survived being tossed into a pool of lava at the end of Tekken 7, it actually begins by catching you up with what Eddy, Yoshimitsu, and Lidia were all doing during Tekken 8’s campaign. Eddy now works under Lidia as a part of a resistance force against G-Corp, alongside Yoshimitsu, who… I’m gonna be honest, largely just feels like window dressing throughout this entire DLC. Sorry Yoshimitsu fans, if you were disappointed at his lack of a presence in the base Tekken 8 story, this DLC still doesn’t really give him much of a chance to shine.
The early fights with Eddy do largely feel like filler, as there isn’t really much story consequence to them, but at least they’ve got some cool moments like Eddy reuniting with Jin for the first time since Tekken 6, and they also do a good job of including snippets of gameplay from old Tekken games as flashbacks, which is a very cool touch.
Eventually, Eddy, Lidia, and Yoshimitsu all get wrapped up in the lives of a group known as the Tekken Monks, which is where Heihachi comes into play. I don’t want to spoil how Heihachi managed to survive, or anything regards to his specific journey through the DLC, but I will say that the DLC does a good job of showing another side of Heihachi, and the way it ties back into the main storyline of Tekken 8 left me with a big old smile on my face, even more eager to see what’s next in the storied series.
As for Heihachi himself, the word that comes to mind when describing what he feels like to play as is “powerful”. That’s not to say that I think he’ll be one of the best characters in the game, but rather that his moves hit with such incredible force that “powerful” is just the first word that comes to mind. His attacks feel extremely impactful and brutal to look at, with a moveset that is filled with screen shaking stomps, slams, chops, and no shortage of electric wind god fists. It’s all extremely satisfying, even if he seems like a character that will require some serious time in the lab to get good with, thanks to usual just frame timings of the aforementioned Electric Wind God Fist that all Mishimas share, on top of also having a new stance in the Wind God’s Kamae, and a new mechanic that seemingly buffs his attacks and gives him access to new moves once he gets it to level 3.
Ultimately, Unforgotten Echoes was a fine way to spend two hours, and does a good job of setting up whatever comes next in the world of Tekken by reintroducing Heihachi into the fold. Most importantly though, it’s free, and is a neat way to give the DLC characters a test drive to see if they fit your style of play before you drop actual money on them. Time will tell if Bandai Namco decides to do something similar for future DLC packs, or if this was just a special one-off due to Heihachi’s role in the story, and as a celebration of Tekken’s 30th anniversary.
In any case, you’ll be able to experience it all for yourself once Unforgotten Echoes is released in for Deluxe and Ultimate Edition owners on October 1, and for everyone else on October 4.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
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