A new trailer was shown today for Bandai Namco’s upcoming Tekken 8, this time featuring a character that many are probably surprised to see back: Tekken 7‘s Shaheen.
To say that Shaheen was not popular in Tekken 7 would be a bit of an understatement, the character was middle-of-the-road in terms of online usage and when it came to online discussion, many players simply found there was nothing to say because the character was so unremarkable. This marks Shaheen as another surprise pick for the base roster of Tekken 8 alongside fellow low-usage characters like Zafina and Panda.
But that isn’t to say that the character is a complete wasted slot, it seems Bandai Namco has listened to the criticism levied against Shaheen in Tekken 7 and has gone out of its way to revamp his moveset in an effort to make him more appealing and interesting to the player base. The skateboard, his most popular move, makes its return as a key part of his moveset as well as the primary animation during his Rage Art. It seems that Shaheen’s move set has been revamped to be more dynamic as well, with a new brutal backbreaking counter being added to his arsenal, as well as more flowing strikes, all while being featured on a fantastic new stage, a mystical desert with a mysteriously broken statue and magical gate in the background.
While Shaheen’s detractors likely won’t be won over by this trailer, perhaps those riding the middle of the fence on him will be convinced to try him out following this display.
If you would like to play Shaheen or any of the other characters revealed for Tekken 8′s base roster then you can look forward to Tekken 8’s full release come on January 24th, 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Steam. You can also play the Tekken 8 demo right now for PlayStation 5 or wait for the demo’s release on PC and Xbox Series X|S tomorrow on December 21st featuring Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, Nina Williams, and Paul Phoenix and see if the game will gel with you.