Uh wow, i never thought this day would come. it seems after tekken 6 that the franchise still had been way ahead in terms of being amazing. Generally a sequel to one of my favorite tekken games seemed like an omg 10 out of 10 you must by this f%%$ game or else your an idiot, kinda game. well unfortunately its a dissapointment, and it kills me that it is.
I will say, that the game is certainly fun. everything is still fast and buttery smooth,and a real blast when you round up some friends for it. Just about every tekken character in existence is here and open from the start. theres also free DLC which is patched into the game the minute you apply the update. so awesome!
Theres not really a story to this game, although the closest thing to a campaign is the fight lab mode. basically violet (an awesome dude from tekken 4) is developing a robot to defeat jin, kazuya, and heihachi. its definetly humorious and it does teach you a few things...however it really teaches you nothing but the basics, and its over in little then an hour. (oddly shorter then Soul Calibur V's story mode). there isnt really a pay off asides from some trophies and a customizable combot, which can ONLY be used in offline or private matches.
So whats there for the single player? Arcade and ghost battle are pretty much the best parts for starting off, and time attack, and survival are a decent challenge. problem is, is that after awhile, i got bored because, simply put, it doesnt feel like theres allot of offerings at all. yes there are endings (which was straight up missing in soul calibur V) but there not really that interesting this time around, with the exceptions of bobs Metal gear solid peace walker animation styled cutscenes probably.
It also includes a pretty decent character editor, which incorperates some soul calibur elements with some tekken 6 elements. unfortunately nothing is really free, and everything is so overpriced its not even funny (a hair piece can be 1,000,000...) Its usually worth the effort thankfully and it is rewarding at the very least, as i managed to recreate some pretty neat characters i made in SCV or drew, and ive already seen some snakes, marvel or DC characters, and some other bizzare creations.
where the game shouldve shined was online mode. however its quite literally bootlegged modes stolen straight from soul calibur 5 and anything new is not here do to the world tekken federation being closed now. its also a shame that namco is making you buy an ONLINE PASS! what the heck, im not playing battlefield 3, im playing tekken, why treat us with this stupid policy?
i honestly wouldnt give a rats ass if the game was balanced but nope. its so noob friendly it kills any fun you could be having. i cant count how many double laws or double bobs ive fought, or devil jin, angel, and kazyua spammers run the world arenas. even if that doesnt bother you, juggling is required to be any good at fighting the pros and if you try not to juggle, enjoy being lifted into the air continously until you watch your fate in the same fashion over and over again...
Graphic wise, tag 2 is pretty. its got nothing on soul calibur V or dead or alive 5, but whats was wrong with tekken 6 has been fixed here. non of the maps are bland, and everything looks top notch. theres also dirt effects which is a neat touch. audio however feels generic. i like the remixes to the original tag music, but everything else feels like bland techno music that would make skrillex proud...the snoop dog tekken song however is hilarious because its such a laughable song that hardly has anything to do with tekken.
ultimately, tag 2 is a dissapointment. maybe you might get some more enjoymnet out of it then i did, but as far as im concerned, tekken has lost its luster...