Wind Bear Fist or Bear God Fist?
The Mishima style karate is one of the most iconic martial arts in all of fighting games, and it appears there is a new master of its secrets on the prowl (sort of).
Tekken 8’s latest trailer focused in on the lovable Kuma, revealing he has indeed inhereted some of Heihachi’s best moves including the Wind God Fist, which was kept secret for quite some time.
It appears as though the death of Heihachi has truly moved Kuma to train much harder in the ways of Mishima style, and that applies to more than his new design of wearing his master’s gi as well as his belt as a headband.
Rooflemonger released a great gameplay breakdown for the bear to really dive deeper into what he’s got that’s new and interesting to note.
On top of the Wind God Fist, Kuma is also shown to have Heihachi’s signature double palm strike (just like Reina does) as well as a stubby version of the Hell Sweep and the big Mishima uppercut.
What’s extra interesting is that Rooflemonger also notes that some of these attacks including the WGF were not included in the most recent preview build for Tekken 8 that was supposed to be the final deal, so it seems like Bandai Namco wanted to hold this surprise back for the trailer.
BEARLECTRICS ARE REAL!!!
These moves were NOT in the press event build, they kept it secret right to the last minute. A late christmas miracle! pic.twitter.com/z1iNp5yRAq
— Rooflemonger (@Rooflemonger) December 27, 2023
It’s also not clear if Kuma can truly perform the Electric Wind God Fist, however, since his powered up version of the move looks like it’s more so flaming and may be connected to his new charged attack mechanic shown elsewhere in the trailer.
We’ll also have to see if it’ll be as strict for inputs as it was for Heihachi and Kazuya (and likely Reina).
Rooflemonger postulates though that they might be limited to Heat moves, but that remains to be seen also.
EWBF pic.twitter.com/lcXeVrKsqr
— DDQ (@DemiDevilQueen) December 27, 2023
Kuma is not just a Heihachi clone now, however, as he still has his own unique style and bear stance as well as some apparently brand new moves and the aforementioned charge mechanic.
He’s also still definitely got that goofy charm too since Kuma will beat the stuffing out of you with his special salmon in multiple attacks as well.
The boy’s still got his thing for Panda (and forever getting rejected by her), but it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be going after Kazuya in the story for revenge in true Mishima fashion.
You can get a much more detailed breakdown of what to expect out of Kuma in Tekken 8 in Rooflemonger’s new video below.