Funny you should mention that. Here's something new that Ling can do in T7 for free if blocked (near a wall or not):
Which kinda illustrates the point I was making earlier after having played for several months - there are more "Tekken-ish" additions, changes and adjustments than some who haven't played give it credit for.
Sure, the game is certainly more of an evolution instead of a revolution, and we already talked about the pros and cons of re-inventing the game vs. simply releasing a new franchise. But that doesn't mean the sequel is a stagnant update. I'll say again that a lot of the things in this game are subtle but potentially significant, and altogether add up to a enjoyable refinement of the Tekken formula.
For instance, here's the last response Manbig posted to a quote of mine on this very point (I said the the T7 back spring kick and toe kick adjustments from knock-down position forces you to adjust your okizeme strategies):
This is simply not accurate. Moreso than any other Tekken, a fallen opponent is better equipped to deal with aggressive okizeme. These are two of at least five anti-oki techniques Namco added, changed or tweaked that you will have to look out for or some of your old wake up tactics will be blocked or interrupted. The back spring kick comes out significantly faster (for those that can access it - i.e. Steve can't do it) than before and has a lot of priority. As I watch T7 matches, I can sometimes "see" players aware of this move as they instinctively zone it in order to evade or punish it should it come out. Other times I see it interrupting in situations where it would have been too slow in earlier games to work.
With the toe kick, it was barely worth trying except to end a round because even on hit, you were at a significant frame disadvantage right in front of your opponent. Now? I've seen high level players use it with their backs to the wall of all places because even then the game rolls them backwards to a much safer situation.
Of course okizeme is still very potent, and plenty of setups can still deal with these defensive buffs. But the overall benefit to the game is that it is definitely easier than before to defend against oki, which means players will take less damage while rising on average, which ultimately means more action occurs with both players on their feet (which is good IMHO).
Lastly, I should have responded to your post here earlier, but I accidentally wiped it and didn't feel like re-typing it, lol.
Honestly, I think the basketball analogy works half-way decently.
Of course real life will always offer more than what's possible in any game. NBA2K is considered one of the best sports titles in videogames, but even it can't offer "limitless potential for innovation" for obvious reasons. Still, to me one reason Tekken is a blast compared to most 2D fighters (as an example) is that the huge move lists offer a lot more opportunities for discovery and innovation of custom setups. Lei Wulong alone has more moves (400+) than some fighting games' entire cast put together!
One might argue that most moves are useless, and there is a point to that except for one thing: in T7, more ignored moves are a bit more useful because of how sidestep/sidewalk were nerfed. A player can't simply evade 85% of a movelist as easy as before with step cancels. This opens up possibilities with each characters movelists while still retaining the usefulness of 3D evasion. Subtle, but significant.
Anyway, my point about b-ball and Tekken was that after the awkward early starts, they both settled into what is pretty much the same thing for years with added tweaks here and there. Tekken 1 and 2 are like the first few decades of basketball, where they played with peach baskets with closed bottoms, and once you had the ball you couldn't move - only pass or shoot. Dribbling didn't come until later.
Like T3, basketball eventually became at least 80% of the sport that that is recognizable today. The three point shot and the 24-second rule are major advancements, just as sidestep/walk and walls were in Tekken. But overall, most of the game is pretty much the same. None of us here have fully mastered the characters we play, and in T7, your winning potential increases if you learn how to mix your old tactics with the subtle but significant changes the new game offers.
As I said before, like Counterstrike, basketball, etc., I see nothing wrong with evolution over revolution. But I will say, I like some of your ideas, and maybe the home version will flesh out Power Crushes and Rage Arts a bit more. Perhaps give everybody at least two of each for different strategic uses.
Though, there is already a decent variety in how they are implemented between the characters. Lili's PC is potentially very dangerous as it is mid and gives a full juggle for armor crushing an attack, but it guarantees an opponent juggling her if it is blocked. You would go at her differently if you knew the player could throw it out, vs. how Yoshi's flash PC is used (only dangerous in close), which is different from the properties of Ling, which is safe but is high and doesn't juggle.
As for RAs, Paul can cancel his mid animation to create better combos, Jin and Steve's RAs are so fast that they can punish whiffed jabs (but are high for balance), Lucky Chloe's is a high crushing ultra.
No, none of this is overwhelming. But I maintain that it doesn't have to be in order to add enjoyment to a franchise that is fundamentally a ton of fun even without these new mechanics. They are just icing on the cake at this point. If one is looking for major changes and a lot of purely new stuff, then yeah, they will be disappointed.
Not to take away from these other games, but it is easier to do significant overhauls to 2D fighters when they have comparatively fewer moves than Tekken characters. To me, it is exciting playing with the tools that the Tekken characters already have since discovering "my optimal response to his effective set up" and vice-versa is never ending and filled with good times.
I don't outright reject anything being completely new, and depending on what it is I may welcome it. It's just that the absence of some whizz-bang new feature is not as big of a deal to me as it may be to you and others simply because I feel there is still plenty to learn and do with the returning Tekken gameplay, as well as enough interesting stuff to work with in the T7-only gameplay tweaks.
Well, as I continue to point out, there are far more T7-only "Tekken-ish" updates than some realize, and I don't feel an evolving game has to incorporate a ton of never-seen-before features to be a legit sequel (i.e., almost all sports games, competitive games like Counterstrike, etc.). In all those cases, a developer could simply tweak an existing game as you say instead of releasing a sequel.
Honestly, either way is fine for me. A number in the end is just a number. I just enjoy playing Tekken.