We’re only a little under a month away from the highly anticipated Tekken 8. Bandai Namco’s latest entry in the fabled fighting series has been a long time coming, and the company has been giving us new information from time to time for the majority of this year. The latest fighter to be revealed is none other than a long-time stalwart, the brawling giant bear Kuma. Kuma originally made his debut in the very first Tekken title as a sub-boss, making him one of the longest-tenured fighters in the entire franchise.
As with all other fighters that are revealed for the title, Kuma also received a gameplay trailer, and he looks just as vicious as ever. However, one of the biggest changes that Bandai Namco applied to the fighting grizzly is his apparel. Kuma usually fights with, well, no clothes on. In the trailer, he is shown wearing a denim sleeveless jacket, as well as a red headband to boot. Kuma’s fighting style is largely unchanged. He’s a heavy hitter that can do some serious damage with big combos but moves fairly slowly compared to other fighters on the roster.
We also get to see the hilarious continuing, or lack of, romance between Kuma and his female counterpart, Panda. Panda, who is essentially a female skin swap for Kuma, plays exactly the same. As we mentioned earlier, Kuma has been a longtime stalwart of the Tekken franchise and has been a playable character for his entire duration of the series. What some players might not know, unless you’re a diehard fan, is that this is actually Kuma II. His father, the first Kuma, was in the first two entries of the series. Kuma passed away in the storyline due to old age, and Kuma II made his debut in Tekken 3. Regardless of that tidbit of information, Kuma plays exactly like his dad, and we won’t have to wait too much longer to finally get our hands on this powerhouse of a bear.
Tekken 8 will officially launch next month on January 26, 2024, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/Series S, and PC.