After checking out one of the EVO Tekken 6 Tournaments that had some of the best players fighting in it, I myself got really excited about the series again. That time, there was already plenty of talk about Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken Hybrid, that had the prologue of Tag Tournament 2 as well as the original game in it. Tag Tournament 2 was still on the arcade stage though so we had to wait for the console version quite a while.
Now, over a year or so later, I have the game and have it played for sometime and can give you some of my thoughts about it.

The game's small guide gives you the very basics on how everything works, which are more or less the same as before with the added Tag Partner moves. There is a much larger strategy guide available for it though that has to be bought separately. Very detailed and recommended for those who are serious about competitive fighting and want to learn all the tricks there are. I unfortunately don't have it myself, but I might just get one later. You can still start off great in the game without it though, if you can afford to spend a bit of your time and have the patience.

Graphics have been greatly improved from 6 and fight money is a lot easier to earn now. One example of this is Lucky Boxes, which you randomly get after fights. You can also get ending movies this way, if you don't feel like tackling the Arcade over and over again. Music is also amazing and sets the right atmosphere, which was sometimes completely gone in 6. Unfortunately we didn't get Hidden Retreat again in this one, but having so many other good tracks makes up for it.

The game has a small training mode to it called "Fight Lab", which is where you should start if you're new to the genre or getting back to the series like me. Sometimes it really tests your patience though so I hope you were prepared for something like it when you thought about getting the game. Other modes are Online Mode and Offline mode, which both offer mostly the same stuff as before, but have been updated. One mode has been added and that's called "Pair Play", which allows up to 4 players fight with each other or 2 against the CPU. Offline rank can only be raised in Arcade Battle and Ghost Battle modes.

Other things in the menu include Gallery, where you can watch the game's cutscenes as well the older ones from the earlier games, Customize, where you can change your character's appearance and register you Tag Teams and Tekken Tunes, where you can change the stage music and also add your own music from the ones you have on your PS3. The rest are Profile, Options and PS Store for DLC.

Online Mode I found really good, but also very high skilled. You have all the typical options for choosing your opponent by connection and rank and having Ranked Matches and Player Matches separately. I suggest not jumping online right after getting the game unless you're an old Tekken pro, since you are very likely not to do well. I've played for some time now and I still have difficulties with many of my opponents. Truly mastering your favourite characters takes a lot of time so if you hoped for this to be an easy pick up, this is not the game for you. Some things have been added to Online as well. One is World Arena, which is where you can fight or just text chat in a lobby with your friends.

You can now also fight as a member of a team which I found really fun. First you have to create it or join one on a site (http://wtf.tekken.com) and you're good to go. Depending on how well you do, your team's level rises and you eventually unlock new stuff for it. This is still incomplete as far as I know though, so look forward to something new in the future. The rest of things are Tekken Channel, where you can watch replays of matches and of course, Leaderboards. Connection is really good and I haven't had any problems with it at all in my matches with the right search settings.

There isn't much left to say about Offline Mode, but you can unlock most of trophies here if you're one to be interested about those. Practice mode has been improved and it is still one of the first places you should check out. If you're serious about competitive battling, online aside, you will spend most of your time there, like it or not. Arcade Battle endings are still as funny and good as always if not even better at times.

As for gameplay, it's still the same old Tekken with it's very deep fighting system and the Tag Partner moves are well thought out. Only thing I kind of have mixed opinions about, is the way the matches can conclude. What I mean by this is that when one of your characters loses his/her health completely and your other guy still has max for example, the match is over. It possibly could have been better that only when both your characters go to 0 health, it counts as a KO. It isn't anything huge and I can understand why they did it, but they could have included an option to change it in Offline Mode and Online Mode's Player Battle.

All in all, I like the game a lot though and it is sure to keep me entertained for a long time. One of the best fighters around for sure.

So,

8.5

Couldn't Agree More. 8.5