Are you curious about The Dark Awakens in Tekken 8? It’s an intense story mode that dives deep into the Mishima family drama and that notorious Devil gene, with Jin Kazama leading the charge. There are 15 chapters in total, but the real kicker is in the final chapter where you get not one, but two different endings based on how you play. This article tells how you can unlock both endings in Tekken 8’s story mode and discuss a bit about what these endings could mean for where the series might head next.
Fair warning – spoilers are coming up. So if you don’t want the surprise ruined, you might want to hit pause on this.
Tekken 8 Good (Hope) Ending
The good or the Hope ending, is the one that you will get if you defeat Kazuya Mishima in the final battle of Chapter 15. It’s the official, canonical ending where Jin finally puts an end to his dad’s reign of terror. Imagine this: after a bunch of intense battles, Jin and Kazuya go head-to-head one last time, and Kazuya hits the deck, defeated.
Then there’s a cutscene where Jin is sort of soaking in his victory, and he gets a message from his long-lost mom, Jun Kazama. She’s like, “I’m so proud of you, you’ve done your destiny justice.” And there’s a moment when Jin rides off into the sunset with his buddy Ling Xiaoyu.
In a twist, you can see the mysterious woman’s legs walking up to Kazuya’s lifeless body. Who’s this, you wonder? Well, the mid-credits scene spills the beans. It’s Reina, a new face in Tekken 8. Big reveal here – she’s Heihachi Mishima’s daughter and she’s got the Devil gene too. She turns into Devil Reina and starts laughing like a villain from a movie, hinting that the whole Devil gene saga is far from over.
Tekken 8 Bad (Despair) Ending
Let’s talk about the bad ending of Tekken 8’s The Dark Awakens, also known as the Despair ending. This one unfolds if you end up losing to Kazuya in the final showdown. It’s the alternate ending where Kazuya wins and keeps his reign of terror going strong. Unlike the other fights in this chapter, if you lose to Kazuya here, there’s no redo. You’ve got to actually let him win.
In the cutscene that follows, Kazuya does something pretty dramatic. He throws Jin’s body off a cliff, which kind of echoes some past Tekken game moments. After that, he heads back to his office at the Mishima Zaibatsu and makes this bold declaration that he’ll keep fighting, Devil gene or not. He’s like declaring, “I’m the strongest, and I’ll crush anyone in my way.”
After that, there’s this mid-credits scene, which is a bit like the one in the good ending. We see Reina showing up where Kazuya’s body is. But this situation’s vibe is way darker. Reina’s there to reclaim what she believes is hers. She transforms into Devil Reina and drops a bombshell – she’s out for revenge against Kazuya for what he did to her dad, Heihachi. It’s a pretty intense moment that sets up a lot of possibilities for what could come next in the Tekken saga if we see the next installment.
How to Unlock the Alternate Despair Ending in Tekken 8
If you want to go through both Tekken 8 endings in story mode, you will have to replay Chapter 15 and do things differently. To unlock the alternate despair ending, you simply need to let Kazuya win this final combat. But it will only happen when he starts glowing red – if you lose at any other point, it’s just a regular game over.
To make the scene easier, you can crank up the difficulty to Hard. Then, let Kazuya wail on you without putting up a fight. And if you’re not in the mood to replay the earlier fights, just pause the game and select “Skip to Final Battle”. After you lose, you’ll score the Despair Achievement or Trophy and can check out the bad ending.
