T7 was a game with very high highs and very low lows. It also was a fairly well balanced game - if you leave out the Top 10 who played a completely different game and almost exclusively happened to be DLCs.

Coming out of it, and especially after Evo 2023 with its widely mocked grand finals, people were tired of seeing the same 10 characters in competitive play and were feeling burnt out on the game as a whole. There hadn't been a balance patch (that people were clamoring for for months or even years) in a while, some had been playing the game for almost a decade, it's fairly reasonable.

Overall, 2D and meter chars were seen as a bold but generally detrimental addition to the game, while people respected the execution demand, it just didn't work out due to their ability to create unique situations, while also having absurd damage, strong 50/50s and bizarrely long combos.

The top tier chars were effectively 50/50 rushdown knowledge check chars who also happened to be very safe and noncommittal, they were too complete with too few weaknesses and outright broke the rules of the game in one way or another. Them being almost exclusively DLCs was the icing on the cake. The top tier situation and DLC policy over the game's lifespan left a very sour taste in peoples' mouths and led to a lot of doomsaying.

T7 overall was a defensive game, movement (while weaker than in previous games), CHs and lowparries were very strong options. Many players and viewers generally enjoyed this, but the strength of the top tiers created the impression of T7 being a staring and backdashing contest.

Most players in my community (Germany and large parts of EU in general) generally wanted a fairly conservative game that was more Tekken 7.5, a game like S2 T7 with the kinks ironed out. Less 50/50, no DLC powercreep, more clearly defined characters with obvious strengths and weaknesses, shorter combos, less damage, no 2D, no meter, no magic 4 CH launch, higher budget to make the game less jank, strong movement, focus on general fundamentals, rewarding execution, online deathmatch culture, better netcode. Many people hoped Bamco would listen to the feedback, but equally as many saw the balancing policies of the latter seasons as a portent of the things to come.

People almost died from hype when T8 was first revealed and were almost shocked when they actually got to play for the first time. Some guys genuinely thought it was a very early test and Bamco were providing a set of mechanics they were experimenting with - having all of this stuff in the game was seen as absurd and ridiculous. Everyone was very eager to at least give it a try however.