How Tekken 8's Roster Compares to Tekken 7

Summary

Tekken 8 marks the franchise's debut on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, built in Unreal Engine 5, focusing on Kazuya and Jin's story.
Tekken 8 boasts a roster of 32 characters at launch, offering a diverse range of combat styles for players to enjoy.
While Tekken 7 had a larger post-launch roster, the initial line-up of Tekken 8 has been well-received, as there is a healthy balance of fan-favorites and newcomers.

Tekken 8 is the latest fighting game to be released, following up on the success of Tekken 7. The franchise has been around since 1994, and in that time, its universe and the characters in it have grown in scope. The first game was released with eight characters but later expanded to 18 in the PS1 version. In contrast, Tekken 8 has 32 characters at launch. With almost 100 unique fighters appearing across the series' many entries, there is no shortage of combatants for each game to pull from. One of the most highly regarded games in the franchise is Tekken 7, and a lot of its success can be attributed to its diverse roster.

Tekken 7 was released in Asian arcades in March 2015 before releasing everywhere on home consoles and PC in June 2017. The initial release in arcades had 23 characters, as opposed to the 36 on console. By the successful release of Tekken 8, T7 had amassed over 50 characters.

Tekken 7 Roster

Akuma
Alisa
Anna
Armor King
Asuka
Bob
Bryan Fury
Claudio
Devil Jin
Dragunov
Eddy Gordo
Eliza
Fahkumram
Feng
Ganryu
Geese
Gigas
Heihachi
Hwoarang
Jack-7
Jin
Josie
Julia
Katarina
Kazumi
Kazuya
King
Kuma
Kunimitsu
Lars
Law
Lee
Lei
Leo
Leroy
Lidia
Lili
Lucky Chloe
Marduk
Master Raven
Miguel
Negan
Nina
Noctis
Panda
Paul
Shaheen
Steve
Xiaoyu
Yoshimitsu
Zafina

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By Bruna Telles

Tekken 8's Roster is Comprehensive

Tekken 8 was released directly to home consoles, and as such, its roster is a little bit more limited than the T7 console launch roster. In spite of featuring fewer fighters, the T8 roster covers a huge variety of fighting game archetypes and has 32 members, with more to come as DLC. Tekken 8's launch roster is, like that of T7, comprehensive and provides a well-rounded group of combatants to start the game's life.

Tekken 8 Roster

Alisa
Asuka
Azucena
Bryan Fury
Claudio
Devil Jin
Dragunov
Feng Wei
Hwoarang
Jack-8
Jin
Jun
Kazuya
King
Kuma
Lars
Lee
Leo
Leroy
Lili
Law
Nina
Panda
Paul
Raven
Reina
Shaheen
Steve
Victor
Xiaoyu
Yoshimitsu
Zafina

Of the 32 characters in Tekken 8's launch roster, only six did not make an appearance in Tekken 7. Raven and Jun are series veterans but did not appear in the last entry. Jack-8 is a new version of the Jack robots that appear in each game, but is extremely similar to Jack-7, meaning that some fans do not count him as a new character. New to Tekken 8 are Reina, Victor, and Azucena. Reina and Azucena bring unique fighting styles to the Tekken series, while Victor Chevalier reprises many of the mechanics that were unique to Noctis in T7.

Does Tekken 8 Have a Better Roster than Tekken 7?

Tekken 7's massive roster has a lot more to offer than that of Tekken 8, due in large part to years of post-launch support and DLC characters. While Tekken 8's roster is more limited at this time, comparing the launch roster of each game tells a different story. The initial line-ups of each game are largely similar, but characters like Akuma and Lucky Chloe were controversial in T7, whereas all the newest game's additions have been largely well-met. Azucena is flashy but easy to pick up, and Reina provides an interesting new spin on the Mishima style.

Tekken 8''s launch roster may be more restricted than T7's full array of characters after almost nine years in the spotlight, but the foundation it provides is just as strong, if not stronger, than Tekken 7's launch roster. Newcomers like Reina have immediately become fan-favorite characters, and T8's success means that it is likely to receive DLC for years to come, just like its predecessor. The elimination of characters like Akuma, who introduced fireballs and other mechanics atypical of Tekken, makes this new entry feel more in line with the spirit of the series as well as more approachable for newcomers. Tekken 7 will be remembered as one of the series' strongest entries, but so far, Tekken 8 seems like a more than worthy successor.