It turns out that it’s really challenging to kill a Tekken character, especially with gravity. Despite Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada doing his best to convince us that Heihachi Mishima was really, really, Really This time 100% dead! Here comes the third DLC character for Tekken 8, namely the King of Iron Fist himself.
The upcoming free story DLC for Tekken 8 titled Unforgotten Echoes aims to explain how and why Heihachi returned, and as part of the preview event I was able to play the entire two-hour DLC campaign. My overall impression? If you can turn your brain off and let it just drive you, this is more good (if pretty stupid) story content from Tekken.
While Unforgotten Echoes is an eight-chapter story about how and why Heihachi survived being thrown into a pool of lava at the end of Tekken 7, it really starts with what Eddy, Yoshimitsu, and Lidia were up to during the Tekken 8 campaign. Eddy is now working under Lidia as part of the resistance against G-Corp, alongside Yoshimitsu, who… I’ll be sincere, it largely feels like a front for this entire DLC. I apologize to Yoshimitsu fans if you’re disappointed with his absence from the core Tekken 8 story, but this DLC still doesn’t give him much of a chance to exist.
The early fights with Eddy largely feel like filler since they don’t really matter to the plot, but at least there are some frosty moments, like Eddy meeting Jin for the first time since Tekken 6. It’s also great that they weave in some gameplay footage from the aged Tekken games in the form of flashbacks, which is a really neat idea.
Eventually, Eddy, Lidia, and Yoshimitsu are drawn into the lives of the group known as the Tekken Monks, which is where Heihachi comes in. I don’t want to spoil how Heihachi managed to survive or anything about his specific journey through the DLC, but I will say that the DLC does a good job of showing a different side of Heihachi, and the way it ties into the main story of Tekken 8 left me with a huge smile on my face, eager to see what would happen next in the story.
As for Heihachi himself, the word that comes to mind when describing how he plays is “powerful.” That’s not to say 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 incredibly flashy and brutal, with a moveset filled with screen-shaking stomps, punches, slashes, and no tiny amount of the wind god’s electric fists. It’s all incredibly satisfying, even if he seems like a character that will require some solemn lab time to get used to, thanks to the usual frame rates of the aforementioned Wind God’s Electric Fist that all Mishima share, in addition to also having a recent stance in the Wind God’s Kamae and a recent mechanic that seemingly boosts his attacks and gives him access to recent moves once he reaches level 3.
Ultimately, Unforgotten Echoes was a great way to spend two hours, and it sets up everything that’s to come in the Tekken universe by reintroducing Heihachi to the game. Best of all, it’s free to play, and it’s a great way to test out DLC characters to see if they fit your playstyle before you spend real money on them. Time will tell if Bandai Namco decides to do something similar with future DLC packs, or if this was just a one-off due to Heihachi’s role in the story and as a celebration of Tekken’s 30th anniversary.
Either way, you’ll be able to experience it all for yourself when Unforgotten Echoes releases on October 1st for Deluxe and Ultimate Edition owners, and October 4th for everyone else.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on Twitter @JurassicRabbit
