Tekken fans have been waiting seven years since “Tekken 7” for the next title in the fighting game series. Sony officially confirmed “Tekken 8” with a debut trailer featuring series icon Jin Kazama locked in a furious, rain-drenched duel with his hero-turned-heel father, Kazuya Mishima. The trailer is a dazzling visual spectacle with flashy lightning effects, Tekken’s trademark gunpowder-like impact explosions and absurdly muscled physiques that’s all meant to show audiences that “Tekken 8” will be taking full advantage of the PlayStation 5’s next generation bells and whistles. The game does not yet have a release date.
Team Ninja unveiled “Rise of the Ronin,” an open-world action RPG set in Japan during the 1800s. Players will take on the role of a currently nameless ronin, an itinerant samurai with no master, who wanders through a country locked in civil war after the Black Ships of the Perry Expedition forced Japan to end its isolationist policy under the threat of destruction. The game is set to release in 2024 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. In 2022, Team Ninja announced “Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty,” another open-world action RPG that’s based on a fantastical interpretation of one of China’s most revered literary works, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the developer behind the celebrated Yakuza franchise, announced a remaster of 2014′s “Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!” titled “Like a Dragon: Ishin!” The mainline Yakuza games are set in contemporary Tokyo, primarily in the fictional district Kamurocho (which is based on the glitzy, real-life Kabukicho), but the franchise has also created a small spinoff series set in 19th-century Japan. “Like a Dragon: Ishin!” will put players in the sandals of Ryoma Sakamoto, a real-life revolutionary and instrumental figure in Japan’s Meiji Restoration. However, this game is not a history lesson. Expect to see Ryu Ga Gotoku’s brand of over-the-top action and zany humor interspersed with gangster movie drama. “Like a Dragon: Ishin!” has a February 2023 release date.
A new story trailer for “God of War: Ragnarok,”which comes out Nov. 9, shows the father-son god-slaying duo Kratos and an older Atreus fighting otherworldly horrors and clashing with the Norse god Thor, who was set up in the previous “God of War’s” ending as the main antagonist. Fans of the series should be prepared for the end game since developer Santa Monica Studio confirmed that “God of War: Ragnarok” will be the end of the franchise’s Norse Saga arc.
Some other notable updates from the State of Play include fantasy game “Demeo” for PlayStation VR2, “Pacific Drive” (an intriguing horror driving game) and sci-fi action game “Stellar Blade” from Korean developer Shift Up Corp.
