Tekken 8 is a predictable follow-up to a series that's never aimed particularly high, it may please casual gamers for a day or two but the stagnant ongoing series is definitely in the second tier of fighters way below Capcom or NRS games, and it's seriously getting old and tired. The lack of depth and subtlety and the emphasis on the offensive, rather than the defensive, puts this squarely two notches below the best in the genre, the shallow gameplay leaves much to be desired from a serious fighting game player. Like the prequels, Tekken 8 is geared towards casual gamers and anyone who's been exposed to more technical, more dynamic fighting games will quickly pass on tekken. Other top fighters, namely Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat have advanced impressively in their latest instalments; but the relic that is tekken just can't seem to evolve, furthermore many combos can be done simply by hitting 1-button, and the nearly "instant-kill" heat moves are just laughably broken. Instead of supplying a proper fighting engine, matches in T8 seem to rely heavily on "who can get their Heat move off first". So many elements of the gameplay don't even require any sort of skill. In my book, Heat system also gets old very quickly. And in the end, it's more of a novelty or gimmick rather than an actual, thought-out fighting game mechanic. But hey, the casual crowd will be pleased!
If you want something a little more "button-masher-friendly," tekken might be your cup of tea.... Key word, might.
