Originally Posted by GameFAQs
There were huge differences in basic play and move properties throughout the series, from 1 --> 2 ---> 3 --> T ---> 4 ---> 5 ---> 6. From 6 onward, move properties have been pretty consistent, with small changes here and there. The "feel" of the combat system has been the same since T6. Yeah, oki relaunches have been nerfed, BDC may be a bit shorter, and B! has been replaced by T!, but the basic moveset applications are pretty much the same as they've been since T6. The same sorts of combos exist since T6 (literally T7's Kaz staples are exactly the same as all the way back from T6 with T! replacing B!). Same general damage balance and scaling, same combo properties and flow, same wall mechanics, same basic floor break idea, more or less the same basic frame data and punishment tools. It's like 6 = TTT2 (w/ Tag) -> Revolution > 7.
Your character will play quite a bit differently in T5 compared to TTT1, or T6 compared to T5. Even 4 obviously served to shake things up. There was always a period of having to relearn all the different move properties, frame data, and how they reshape the basic character strats. Nothing has done this really since T6 (Revolution probably made the most changes, but even then the chars were still super similar to their T6/TTT2 incarnations). The fact that a character can toss a Rage Arts into a combo when at 5~10% (or w/e) health barely affects gameplay, and IIRC high-level players rarely use them outside of combos. I barely see those quasi-armored moves used at all, and even then I don't think they significantly change the gameplay much either (again, I never really played Rev, and while I acknowledge that armored moves changed the gameplay a bit, it still didn't seem enough to really feel like a completely new game. especially with no new moves [or outfits, stages, etc.]).
So, that's pretty much my view on it. I'll pick up T7 and pick up Kaz or Hei again, and feel like I'll know almost exactly how they should be played right off the bat. Even the Koreans mentioned how similar the chars felt compared to their T6 versions and how easily they could play them right from the start. And that just seems stale and boring to me.
And then there's obviously the aesthetics, starting with the outfits. Even many of the stages look remarkably similar to T6/TTT2's, like the jungle stage seeming real similar to TTT2's or the generic Tekken dojo stage.
Just all around, nothing seems remarkably innovative to me. If Namco retooled the systems once more and played around with move properties again, then it would seem fresh to me. Aesthetics are important too.