Interview With Tekken 8 Director Harada and Producer Michael Murray! Future Story? Collabs? Why Did Paul's Hairstyle Change?

Michael Murray: Though I may not look it, I have spent over half my life in Japan. I was surprised because the atmosphere of the games, music, and cosplay at Taipei Game Show felt so close to Japan that I thought, "Am I in Japan right now!?"

Katsuhiro Harada: I have visited many regions around the world, including Taipei, an incredible number of times. Both Michael and I have very positive impressions because game fans everywhere treat us so well.
I have never had a bad experience, and everyone feeds us delicious food (laughs).
I have been coming to Taipei for nearly 30 years, and there are many kind and gentle people here even among those who don't know who I am.

Michael Murray: Surprisingly, there isn't much interaction with players from this region on stages like EVO yet, but talking to them at game shows like this conveys their excitement for Tekken 8. I hope even more people will play it.

Katsuhiro Harada: Regarding the community as a whole, I have an image of many people in Asia, including Japanese people, being shy.
When you meet them in person, the passion comes through, but I think there are clear regional differences in this regard, for better or worse.
When we go to South America or Europe, people put their arms around us for photos, and I've even been kissed in France (laughs).

Michael Murray: I want to become even better friends. Please send messages to my X account (@mykeryu), even in Chinese!

Katsuhiro Harada: The core axis of the story up to the present was something I conceived over 20 years ago. We have finally reached the point where I could wrap up what I explained back then to Masaya Nakamura, the founder of the original Namco.
From here, we are thinking about new developments, but I don't know when the next one will be.
When we were making Tekken 7, we imagined announcing the next title in about two years, but it became so popular that its operation lasted a long time.
I think it will take a little more time before we can say what will happen with Tekken 8 or what comes next.

Katsuhiro Harada: That wasn't made by the Tekken team, but by someone on the sales team who loves Tekken.
When I first saw it, even I laughed, but my first impression was, "I have no talent for creating stories" (laughs).
For example, there is no way a video like that would ever be made for a work by Hideo Kojima, right?

Michael Murray: He'd get in trouble (laughs).

Katsuhiro Harada: Thinking about it that way, I understood objectively that I probably don't have the talent to make narrative games.
I can only make action games (laughs).

Michael Murray: I'm happy that such a video was made for the timing of Tekken 8.
Overseas, the video featuring Brian Cox, famous for the TV drama Succession, was very well-received.
In Tekken, various characters have their own backgrounds. I thought it would be difficult for beginners to understand all that, so I am very grateful for a video like that which is easy for beginners to follow.

Katsuhiro Harada: Regarding simple operations, I want to expand them further.
We received feedback during the beta test, and I think more opinions will come out after launch, so I want to brush them up to be even easier for beginners and intermediate players to use.

Katsuhiro Harada: I want everyone to remember that back when Street Fighter II came out, everyone from elementary schoolers to adults was playing it.
In that environment, when people see someone who can handle characters perfectly or someone who is incredibly skilled, the hurdles start to feel high.
I don't think it's necessarily the case that everyone needs to aim for the top. For example, in Tekken 8, we have a Story Mode so people can fall in love with the characters, or they can train an AI Ghost and pit it against other players.
I believe it's important to lower the barrier by providing different ways to play like that, so I want to put effort into single-player content as well.

Michael Murray: For example, no one looks at Michael Jordan and thinks they should quit basketball because it's difficult.
If you play with someone much better than you, it might not be fun, but if you play with someone of similar skill, it is fun.
I think fighting games are exactly the same, so it starts with discarding the preconception that fighting games are difficult.

Katsuhiro Harada: A game called Counter-Strike is simple and its controls are easy, but if you log in now, you'll find yourself shot in the head and it's over in three seconds (laughs).
That's what happens if you suddenly jump in with pros. Therefore, I think it's important to create tournaments for beginners and build mechanisms in the game where people of the same skill level can be matched as much as possible, and we are trying to do that.

Katsuhiro Harada: Regarding Paul, he lets his hair down only when the numbering includes a 4 or is a multiple of 4, so in Tekken 9, his hair will stand up.
Next, he will let his hair down in Tekken 12.
From Tekken 40 to Tekken 49, his hair will be down the whole time.

Katsuhiro Harada: In Tekken 8, we have rebuilt all the models from scratch, but the difficult part is that just because you can make everything new doesn't mean you should.
For example, if King's mask changed from a jaguar to a rabbit, it would be new, but people would be like, "Who is this!?"
Finding the balance to renew while maintaining the traditional image was difficult.

Katsuhiro Harada: I think she could be.
However, one thing I didn't calculate was that, from my point of view, Reina doesn't have a very unique appearance, and I assumed she would be a character that people would come to like after finishing the entire Story Mode.
In reality, she gained huge popularity immediately after being announced, so I'm nervous thinking that fans will be angry if we don't treat her as a popular character from now on (laughs).

Michael Murray: I always use characters like Kazuya Mishima or Devil Jin, and I think the satisfaction of moves like the Electric Wind God Fist is part of the appeal.
I think Reina is an interesting character because she has that Mishima-ness combined with agility.

Katsuhiro Harada: Originally, I don't really make games with the assumption of collaborations.
It's more about if the fans are excited, or if doing something like this would bring in new people.
If there is a good timing or idea for all the players, I would like to do it.

Michael Murray: Harada still says he wanted to put in Colonel Sanders (laughs).

Katsuhiro Harada: I did want to try putting in Colonel Sanders, but I was so opposed by the team that I have mostly given up.

Katsuhiro Harada: There is no deep meaning in that presentation itself; it was simply because we were in the middle of making it, so we thought, "Let's just show that too!" (laughs).

Katsuhiro Harada: This is difficult.
In Tekken 7, what was planned to end in the first one or two years ended up increasing as a way to meet the expectations of fans and the community.
This time as well, while making certain predictions ourselves, we want to go in the direction of listening to fan voices and reflecting what is being requested as quickly as possible.

Katsuhiro Harada: With Tekken 8, we intended to create something with an impact not only for existing fans but also for those touching Tekken for the first time.
The development team put in an effort that would be unthinkable for other fighting games, especially in the Story Mode, and we have also prepared a player-side story mode called Arcade Quest.
When you go online, there is a place called the Fight Lounge where everyone can gather.
We are working very hard on the fact that you can enjoy it as Tekken content even in aspects other than battling, so I would be very grateful if you would purchase it.

Michael Murray: I think you have memories of it being fun to play with siblings or friends in the past even with button mashing.
I believe you can truly enjoy this game even if you don't understand Tekken.
The reason Michael Murray and pro gamer GamerBee could have such a fun match at the stage event is that there is a way to play called Special Style.
I definitely want you to play it.