So, we are now in the Jin Vs. Kazuya "final" showdown. Overall, the development with Jin was on point. In my point of view, Harada and the Tekken team f***ed up Jin because somehow, they decided during Tekken 5, "Hey, let's make Jin Kazuya 2.0" with his ending, in which I predicted it back in high school. Lo and behold when Tekken 6 came out and it came true! I made a good validation on why 7's story was lackluster and it's not because of the finale of Kazuya's fight with Heihachi (it was needed), it was how it was executed. Also, we had to include the fate of Kazumi. The story's execution was very flawed. What made it worse was Akuma, from Street Fighter, was added into the major canonical plot when he supposed to be the guest star/fighter. Another thing was the team tried to give sympathy to Heihachi in the audience's point-of-view, when we all knew the bad things that he had done in the past games, excluded Tekken 2 when he switched places with Kazuya as a protagonist. And I already mention about the reporter as the narrator...
Back to 8's story, I did mention on my last post that there were shonen tropes included in the story: some came from Naruto as Jin had to fight Devil Jin three times (fighting your inner self). Although, many people didn't like the sudden heel-face turn of Jin's devil side as we saw in previous games, that form is AX-Crazy! Not to mention, the Devil form was trying to persuade Jin to accept him as protection. We all know DBZ is still the rage with the big and planet-destroying projectiles but then we had Saint Seiya involved (and I didn't even watch that franchise!) with Angel Jin's form looking almost exactly like the armor those characters wore. And his fight with True Devil Kazuya, in which that form was even more ridiculous than the 7 look or even Blood Vengeance, was the over-the-top fight, on an asteroid/land mass that went into space no less!
Before I get to my thoughts and reaction on the final battle, I need to say that Jin needed the shonen-type character development. As much as cliche it was, it worked for him to actual reach his goal of getting rid of the Devil Gene once and for all.
So, the clash between the two created a giant two-color wing (gold and purple) which exploded, and the crater fell back near Yakushima. We now see Jin and Kazuya back as humans and the Devil Gene was removed from both of them! Crazy but it worked! Then we get into the fight of father and son, pure martial arts, no lasers, transformations. And that's when the hype starts! Kazuya looked like he had the upper hand, but Jin would not go down. We then see a shoutout of Jin fixing his gauntlet on Tekken 3's cover and his theme song remixed as the background music, which shocked everyone as he went into Heihachi's fighting pose, indicating that we're playing Tekken 3/Tag 1 Jin! This shocked Kazuya during the fight which pissed him off! But then after 2 rounds, Kazuya said, "Power is everything!" then Jin said, "Power isn't everything", which even shocked players more as he began to use his mother's fighting pose and Landscape Under the Ghost -KAMINANO-, the closing theme for Tekken 2, plays in the background! Jin began using most of Jun's moveset, to a certain degree: he has the moonsault, Thunder Fall Kick, Demon Slayer/Tooth Fairy, 3-Ring Circus (I'm using the old names of Jun's moves) and the reversals! Kazuya was getting even more pissed, although he thought that knocking Jin to the rock and keep punching him to point of being braindead would work. NOPE! The shonen trope, the power of friendship, came to play! Yeah, another cliche, with QTEs, although needed as Jin realized that all of the BS he had done in the past, he was ignoring the people and relationships that were trying to help and stand by him. That makes him want to live and set to let go his hatred with his father. Which then led to the finale and climax, as Jin combines ALL 3 fighting styles: his current Karate, Mishima-style and Kazama-styles! (Why didn't we get that version as an unlockable or maybe a special boss in Arcade Battle Mode?) And the opening of the game, "My Last Stand", plays! If successful, (losing the fight means we get a bad secret ending), Jin wins by not killing Kazuya.
Sorry for the details, but the final fight was THE BEST thing I had played for this franchise!!! I was hyping while playing the game! It was closure for Jin, knowing that his mother is still alive, and he has people to rely on! Also, for the little ending for Kazuya as well, as he's unconscious as Jun appears meaning she may save him!
Okay, let me stop, but let's get to the other stuff. The war with the hints of Scenario Campaign was great. I liked how when it was King's turn, the allied soldiers suddenly shout King's name, thanks to his encouragement speech. I also liked the tournament part as the Tekken team finally did something right for the story: we, the players, can pick whomever we want to play to advance, except for Jin's fight with Leroy.
We noticed other development from Xiaoyu as she protected Jin from the Jack-8s. And looks like she and Jin may become a future couple.
I mentioned Reina's inclusion and goal at the end so there's no need for me to go further. It is obvious she may be the next antagonist for 9, if the team play their cards right.
As stated before, the story has flaws. For Nina, it was a waste to have her side with Kazuya (AGAIN, see the non-canon Street Fighter X Tekken). She figured out who Reina was immediately and then dropped out to have a vacation. Marshall Law was very stupid, picking a fight with Paul during the war because he failed to make the promise about the money when the tournament was halted. What a dumbass! I don't know why the team just continue to make Paul and Law stupid once more. Poor Asuka didn't have a good role here. I stated before that she doesn't even know about her family as her father was a part of a side branch, thus she really doesn't know about Jun and Jin. It was weird that she was suddenly became a bit of a buddy-buddy for Jin. However, Azucena's reason of joining G Corporation was just for the laughs. It was also kind of strange that Bryan wasn't included in the war so he and Yoshimitsu, who also didn't appear, can duke it out.
Now for Azazel's return as a boss fight, I stated before that I was surprised to see him back as many people didn't like him in 6, as opposed to Ogre, Jinpachi and even Devil. However, his inclusion gave a better storyline for the Devil gene, though copied from King of Fighters. The Tekken team now considered Azazel a bit like Orochi. From the info on 8 revealed that Azazel, who is now the official true origin of the Devil Gene, had worshippers centuries ago and those include the Hachijo clan whom he provided his powers to. So, remember Kazumi's predictions about the Mishima Clan in 7? Yeah, she was trying to prevent them so Azazel can return and rule the world. But it's not happened because Azazel is gone now. Although, I wished that book about the Mishima clan was somewhat canon too because that had much more sense than 7's.
Best of all, we were finally shown what had happened to Jun before Tekken 3 happened, in a side story: she beaten Ogre, but barely! However, in the Kazama temple where she won the fight, she heard the lullaby that she had sung to Jin when he was little, which made her fell in a comatose sleep for several years.