Look lemme start out by saying i love this game but i have issues that will list below 1 by 1 this game is fun but has issues and IDK if harada cares enough about tekken anymore. So lets get into the issues.
Number 1, legacy dlc characters locked behind a paywall! Didn't Harada say way back in tekken 7 or even tekken tag 2 days that legacy dlc characters would NOT be PAID DLC ?! Well either he lied or he is being forced to do things and one reason to believe he may NOT be forced is because of negan in T7 which he wanted and approved off and anna and lei were the first 2 dlc characters for S2 of T7 and then marduk, armor king, julia, then Ganryu, then kunimitsu even tho its the daughter, now eddy and heihachi in T8 ! Anna lei wulong, armor king, kunimitsu, ganryu, christie, marduk, and ALL legacy characters should already be in T8 base roster, and characters tekken 6 to present day should be dlc.
2 Hiding the shop until the review window closed. I shouldn't have to explain this as it is scummy in and off itself.
3 Shutting down mod websites and attacking mods. This just shows their fear and greed.
4 locking the temple stage behind a paywall. This was a scumbag move and it deserved all the hate it got.
5 Lying about Heihachi being "completely dead". Look i know he's Heihachi its hard to have a game like this without em but they could have added him into just the roster and NOT the story like they did with Kazumi in T7 ! I think Heihachi could have return story wise in season 4 or 5.
6 Disqualifying a Chinese player from the TWT. Don't get me wrong i dislike esports with a passion but its called the TWT and you wont even include the world ?! Correct me if im wrong but they wont let chinese and russian people play due to politics am i right ?! what a joke.
7 Lying about Guest characters . Didn't Harada say no guest characters in Tekken 8 for a really long time ?! Yeah that aged like milk ! NO ONE ASKED FOR CLIVE ! Yes hes a fun character but it would been better if it was Tifa Lockhart or really a new character or a tekken character from tekken 6 to 7 And for all you Fagbag's who are gonna mock me in the comments for wanting Tifa , overall she would have been great because her fighting style fits but even then i would have prefer a tekken character even over her to go along with what harada said but thats out the window now. and protecting Tifa's image cant be the reasons shes not in tekken cuz if the Devs at Square enix didnt want Nude mods they would have NEVER brought FF7 over to PC. No one asked for clive and i dont have much hope anymore for this game very little to none.
8 from what i heard the heat system was made so newbies could beat pro players ?! No one cares about that and Mortal kombat 1 fighting system is garbage. keeping your opponent in the air as long as possible and i fear tekken in going that route too and i think the heat system may contribute to that. This game should have had a no heat mode AT LAUNCH !
Number 9 im out of order here but the battlepass. This is a 70 dollar game it should NOT have a battlepass this is not fortnite. vote with your wallets people.
Bandai namco and the rest of the companies are scared of giving us what we want because they fear they wont make money yet they cant get their head out of their asses long enough to realize we wanna give em our money.
and lastly 10 because of pro players i fear we may Not get eliza or even lucky chloe back. i dont like esports as someone who plays R6 siege i can say esports players are really entitled and bratty and they cant realize long enough that we are just mashing buttons. No one in thier right mind is gonna care if someone else better at a video game because at the end of the day we are just mashing buttons. This is not a ♥♥♥♥ measuring contest and overall i fear Tekken 8 and many other games i love cater to pro players. OVERALL Tekken 8 is fun to play and it looks beautiful and i want it to be saved but we have to call em out and shame em and vote with our wallets. TBH i would get this game but i try NOT to buy any microtransactions but its all your money just beware fueling them leads to almost everything i said above.
UPDATE Writing this on 4-2-2025. I still love the game and i LOVE Anna. She looks beautiful and plays well imo. I Cannot Judge the whole defense controversy because i don't know to much. i do agree that defense is in this game much and that could use a fix. i will add more points below to this update.
11 From what iv seen and heard TEKKEN is not popular in Japan anymore and Harada wants to fix that its why KING is getting buffed and i think its one the of the reason the game is the way it is. I don't mean to be rude but TEKKEN will NEVER beat Street fighter in popularity. Heck i heard if it wasnt for virtua fighter we wouldn't have TEKKEN to begin with and iv never played that game !
12 Harada also said he wants fighting games to go back to thier arcade roots or something idk nor remember much. but to its still no excuse for lack of content in this game ! People have fussed at me about point number 1 above about the whole free legacy characters and said stuff like "oh well Harada said that years ago when TEKKEN didn't have dlc characters" ! IT DOES NOT MATTER IT'S STILL A LIE ! Now personally i don't care to much about balancing in games i LOVE IT when games are broken. There fun like that ! Is this game worth it ? well if your someone who plays offline ALL the time and LOVES the Story and Characters like me then YES. But grinding Online 24/7 ? thats not content !
I Wouldn't call myself a casual as me personally i don't like that term and i see people like "casual's" as just normal players imo. But offline The game is fun and amazing for me. But that doesn't mean im gonna let bandai namco or any other company kick me like a dog.

THIS GAME IS A CERTIFIED CHILDHOOD CLASSIC! This game is really fun and all these years later is still one of if not the BEST lego game of all time! With gaming being full of microtransactions,Garbage DEI Politics, and games catering to pro players 24/7. This game is worth the buy and a breath of fresh air.
BUY IT, BUT IT NOW! DEW IT !