Following the return of characters Asuka Kazama and Leroy Smith, Bandai Namco has announced the Tekken 8 arrival of Lili – full name Emilie De Rochefort – the Monegasques teenager with a penchant for Lolita fashion and a graceful, dance-like fighting style.
She’s joined, of course, by her pet cat Salt (which comes as a nice compliment to the return of Leroy’s pet dog, Sugar).
In announcing the arrival of Lili, series director Katsuhiro Harada called out the great work of artist Jasmin Darnell, a New Zealand-based artist who designed the character’s new outfit.
‘I met her amazing talent in 2017, and a few years later I ordered Lili’s costume design from her,’ Harada said. ‘I was lucky enough to order a design from her before she became famous!’
Darnell specialises in historical and fairy tale-like fashion, with many of her looks featuring a lot of fantastical and feminine touches, seemingly inspired by 19th Century illustration. Her work is certainly a good match for Lili.
Read: Tekken 8 Preview – Hands-on impressions, insights from Harada
In our hands-on preview of Tekken 8, we remarked that ‘even though the soul of the game feels nice and familiar, the game’s presentation looks sharper and fresher, and it feels like the huge generational leap forward that this series deserves … Tekken 8 is Tekken rebuilt from the ground up. It’s faster and more explosive – even compared to other Tekken games, and a lot of fun to watch in motion.’
There is currently no release date for Tekken 8 at the time of writing, although we know the game will be released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Tekken 8 – All characters confirmed so far (May 2023)
- Asuka Kazama
- Bryan Fury
- Hwoarang
- Jack-8
- Jin Kazama
- Jun Kazama
- Kazuya Mishima
- King II
- Lars Alexandersson
- Leroy Smith
- Lili De Rochefort
- Ling Xiaoyu
- Marshall Law
- Nina Williams
- Paul Phoenix
