Tekken 8 has given me a wonderful community within locals, a thriving competitive scene, and has introduced me to a lot of people I consider close friends. My commitment to this game since the start made me grind and compete more than any other game I have before. However, the increased instability in games due to the metric ♥♥♥♥ ton of + on block into mix up situations and the loss of identity among the cast has dramatically ruined the integrity of this game. The top players will continue to be the best as they've ingrained fundamentals over years, but all of this makes the intermediate to low upper tier player particularly miserable. At the end of the day, the most skilled player will USUALLY win, but the increased instability has made that division fuzzier. While season 2 follows the same game design through line as season 1, season 1's ability for skill expression from unique characters and their pilots was clearly higher than it is now.

Outside of standard critique of season 2, there are a lot of good QoL features added. Online practice has allowed me to introduce concepts to completely new players in a less stressful environment. Practice settings have been incredible for drills and practice. The current ranked system leaves a lot to be desired however, and feels like rewarding than the admittedly still flawed system in season 1.