Way more balanced. Majority of the cast is viable in a tourney setting (if not all) in some way or another, either through assist, point, or anchor. All of the 12 new characters are interesting and each give a different playstyle from the rest of the cast.
The new hit stun deterioration, assist hit stun scaling and -10% meter building update forces players to rely more on mixup on certain characters. You also need tighter combos now than before due to the HSD. You pretty much have to relearn a lot of things in the new game
Also because of the air dash nerf, rushdown isn't as herp-derp. Overall zoning is effective in this game so far.
There are a few minor gripes (why did wesker get buff?), but overall the new changes are good and basically elevated the game.