lol I knew this thread would devolve into rants about censorship... anyway...
The series either needs a full blown reboot (retell the story from DOA1-4 but not how they did it in Dimensions where they overcomplicated it and made Ryu into fucking John Cena where Kasumi went from killing Raidou all by herself in the original storyline to needing Ryu's help to beat him and making him the one to defeat Genra, not Ayane) or a soft reboot, set a good 15-20 years later after DOA6 and Marie Rose and Honoka retconned out of existence, I will never forgive TN for shoehorning them into the storyline and making them important characters. The story got so stupid with DOA6. Get rid of NiCO and Tamaki too, stop shoehorning Xtreme characters into the games just to please the loli-obsessed pervs.
If DOA7 took place a number of years later, replace most of the cast with a new generation of characters and only keep a handful of old ones like Kasumi, Ryu, Jann Lee, etc. Mei Lin becomes a fighter trained by Elliot and uses Elliot's moveset from DOA5 plus a few of her own moves to give her own identity, Elliot fully transitions to Gen Fu's fighting style. Leifang becomes pregnant with Jann Lee's child some time after DOA6 but he leaves her because her family never accepted him (her family is very wealthy so they always viewed him as a "lowlife street rat" even though he saved her life once). Leifang raises their child on her own, and teaches them Tai Chi Chuan (only as self defence and a way to keep them out of trouble, Leifang doesn't want her child to become a fighter). Leifang's child grows up wondering who their father was, but Leifang never mentions him because she was heartbroken by him leaving her. When they turn 17/18, the first DOA tournament in nearly two decades is announced and they run away to enter the tournament knowing Jann Lee will likely be there, much to Leifang's dismay.
For gameplay, I think they need to go back to basics and use DOA2-3 as a template, no more special gauges, break blow/holds, etc. They're trying to turn the series into Tekken in hopes of it being taken more seriously by the FGC. In reality, DOA would be taken more seriously if holds weren't possible while you were stunned, no combos are guaranteed until you are launched.
Bring back slopes, stairs, snow, etc. for the stages. DOA5-6's stages were so fucking bland and lifeless. Stop recycling stages, the wrestling/boxing ring stage has been used for 3 games in a row now! The undulations in the terrain actually brought strategy into the gameplay, you'd need to be aware of where you are in the stage and adapt. DOA2-4's stages were so detailed and unique.
I'm fine with fanservice, but the guys should be sexualised as much as the girls are. You got plenty of women/gay men who love the DOA series too and (almost) all the male characters are hot, give us bulge physics already!