Jun Kazama returns in Tekken 8, 27 years after her last mainline appearance

Tekken 8 got its moment in the sun at The Game Awards last night, and for fans of the long-running fighting game franchise like me, one thing stood out: Jun Kazama’s return.

Jun Kazama, Jin’s mother, made her debut in 1995’s Tekken 2 and hasn’t been a playable character in the mainline Tekken series since. 27 years later, she’s back and it looks like she hasn’t aged a day. Tekken time logic, I guess.

The trailer below focuses on the Tekken 8 story (Tekken has an actual real life Guinness World Record for being the longest-running video game storyline!). Once again the Mishimas are at each other’s throats, with Tekken 8 picking up where Tekken 7 left off and the war between father and son Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama heating up. When all appears lost, Jin looks up and sees his mother’s dramatic return. I doubt there’s much interest in a family selfie.

You’ll also spot the return of a raft of fan-favourite characters, including Paul Phoenix (look at his hair!), Marshall Law, King, Lars Alexandersson and Jack-8.

As for gameplay, there’s a focus on aggressive tactics and dynamic and destructible environments. The trailer shows the new Heat System mechanic, which triggers aggressive attacks with special moves and buffs abilities.

Tekken 8 launches on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.