By Mark Rodriguez
I don't think I can give a full review since I haven't used all the characters and finished the Story Mode yet, but here are my general thoughts. Having checked out the free demo, and the deluxe demo that let you use most of the characters, I had pre-ordered my copy and have been enjoying the game so far.
First off, despite all the rumors of Team Ninja toning down the lovely ladies and their jiggle physics and all that... Dead or Alive 6 is still as provocative as the earlier releases of the series. While the women do have cool, though tamer than usual default costumes, they still have the usual skimpier outfits as unlockables or DLC. To be honest, I never considered Kasumi's cool new ninja outfit as 'censorship' or a sign of things being toned down. I already knew she'd be getting tons of costumes anyway.
The gameplay is fast and furious and full of insane combos. People that have played the earlier titles are already used to the punch button, the kick button, the throw button and the counter button and the overall layout. There is a new Fatal Rush mechanic that lets the player do a series of hard hitting attacks. This new mechanic can be used once you have enough of the new Break Gauge filled up. You also have a version of this move that is similar to DOA5's Critical Blow that is a cool slow-motion type move that ends with a close up of the fighter socking the opponent in the face or chest. There is also the Fatal-Reverse that lets you slip behind the opponent while dodging their attack. This leave the opponent open for attack.
The stages are pretty entertaining, full of hazards and multiple levels. The streets have crowds that will shove you back into the action if you're thrown up against them, which reminds me of Pit-Fighter. There's a shipwreck that has a giant octopus that will grab you and slam you through the floor to another level of the stage. There's even a fireworks-laced stage that has a part where you can knock someone down through several levels of apartment fire escapes til they finally hit the ground. The only thing I miss from other games, which I hope some future stage brings back, is when characters were sent rolling down a flight of stairs.
The overall story arc revolves around several characters looking for Honoka, a girl that has a mysterious glowing red power, as well as the ability to learn fighting techniques just by seeing them once. The evil organization M.I.S.T is up to no good and the newcomer NiCO is helping them revive former boss Raidou. All of this happens as Helena and Zack are getting ready to unveil the Dead or Alive 6 Tournament.
The story is a bit like a flowchart broken into chapters. Each character has their own chapters that intertwine with the others, and unlocking one character's chapter will unlock someone else's chapter, sometimes going backwards. For example, one character's Chapter 3 story might unlock someone else's Chapter 1 story.
One of the things about the game is the new system to unlock parts of the characters' costumes so you can unlock them. Winning matches in the Online Ranked Mode, completing challenges in the DOA Quest Mode and beating the Arcade Mode and other things unlock these costume pieces. The only problem is they are completely at random, so you have no control who's costume you will unlock so this requires a lot of grinding. This has raised several complaints of the fanbase since there is absolutely no control on which costume you will eventually unlock after multiple tries, even scoring pieces for costumes you might have already unlocked. Compare this to the earlier games where beating certain modes gave you a full costume, not many are thrilled about this new 'grinding at random' system.
The game also gives you in-game currency in several modes (Quest Mode, Ranked Online) that you can use to unlock different hairstyles for the characters as well as different shades.
As for Pre-Order Bonuses, Game Stop and Best Buy gave cool steelbook covers to keep your game in (I got lucky and got both the standard PS4 box package and the steelbook) as well as a bonus outfit got Kasumi and the extra character Nyotengu. This is if you buy the actual physical copy of the game. People that went for the Digital Deluxe version would unlock Alpha 4 as well as 25 costumes and 3 extra BGM tracks.
The real kicker is the Season Pass that is going for 93 bucks which will include bonus costumes for Nyotengu and NiCO as well as first crack at the 62 costumes that will be coming out between March and June. They'll also be able to get King of Fighters' Mai Shiranui (when she is released) as well as a mysterious second guest character also from King of Fighters 14 as well as bonus costumes for them both.
Overall the game in itself is a lot of fun. The graphics are great, the stages are entertaining, though limited, and the music is pretty good. The story mode is alright, but the real fun lies in beating up opponents online and rising in the ranks. I like the new Fatal Rush system too and it's satisfying to use it as the KO move to win the round. Unfortunately the rumors of the game being more toned down than before might turn some fans away, despite the fact that the game is as bouncy as before. There are still people currently thinking the game is tamer than before. This, plus the grind system to unlock random costume bits and the almost 100-dollar price tag for the Season's Pass are making some people give this game a pass. Also there are currently no lobbies for online matches, only Ranked Matches, and while the game will eventually add Lobbies as a free update (as well as new win poses and intros), it soured a lot of fans that these things weren't already available at the time of release.
Personally, I won't be getting the Season Pass but will be buying Mai and any other character the game might add. Dead or Alive 5 Last Round would eventually release DLC costumes based on other series like the King of Fighters costumes and Attack of Titan costumes, so if this game has interesting ideas like that, I'll be picking up those outfits too.
So in my humble opinion, the game itself is a blast if you can overlook some of the cosmetic things. Slamming 93 bucks on table is completely up to the fan but whether or not you can unlock the additional costumes doesn't really interfere with the action in the ring. To be fair, the Season's Pass for DOA 5 Last Round is also 93 bucks and throughout it's history, DOA5 easily had over a hundred dollars worth of DLC costumes alone. Asking fans to pay that much up front to what could potentially be the beginning of another huge onslaught of costume DLC might be too much to ask for a second time.
I don't think I can give a full review since I haven't used all the characters and finished the Story Mode yet, but here are my general thoughts. Having checked out the free demo, and the deluxe demo that let you use most of the characters, I had pre-ordered my copy and have been enjoying the game so far.
First off, despite all the rumors of Team Ninja toning down the lovely ladies and their jiggle physics and all that... Dead or Alive 6 is still as provocative as the earlier releases of the series. While the women do have cool, though tamer than usual default costumes, they still have the usual skimpier outfits as unlockables or DLC. To be honest, I never considered Kasumi's cool new ninja outfit as 'censorship' or a sign of things being toned down. I already knew she'd be getting tons of costumes anyway.
The gameplay is fast and furious and full of insane combos. People that have played the earlier titles are already used to the punch button, the kick button, the throw button and the counter button and the overall layout. There is a new Fatal Rush mechanic that lets the player do a series of hard hitting attacks. This new mechanic can be used once you have enough of the new Break Gauge filled up. You also have a version of this move that is similar to DOA5's Critical Blow that is a cool slow-motion type move that ends with a close up of the fighter socking the opponent in the face or chest. There is also the Fatal-Reverse that lets you slip behind the opponent while dodging their attack. This leave the opponent open for attack.
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| As you can see, DOA6 isn't afraid to have both men and women take hard hits to the face. |
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| The crows shoves Helena right back into the fight where NiCO prepares to continue the attack |
The story is a bit like a flowchart broken into chapters. Each character has their own chapters that intertwine with the others, and unlocking one character's chapter will unlock someone else's chapter, sometimes going backwards. For example, one character's Chapter 3 story might unlock someone else's Chapter 1 story.
One of the things about the game is the new system to unlock parts of the characters' costumes so you can unlock them. Winning matches in the Online Ranked Mode, completing challenges in the DOA Quest Mode and beating the Arcade Mode and other things unlock these costume pieces. The only problem is they are completely at random, so you have no control who's costume you will unlock so this requires a lot of grinding. This has raised several complaints of the fanbase since there is absolutely no control on which costume you will eventually unlock after multiple tries, even scoring pieces for costumes you might have already unlocked. Compare this to the earlier games where beating certain modes gave you a full costume, not many are thrilled about this new 'grinding at random' system.
The game also gives you in-game currency in several modes (Quest Mode, Ranked Online) that you can use to unlock different hairstyles for the characters as well as different shades.
 |
| Kokoro defeats Tina but scores a costume piece for Christie. Completely at random. |
The real kicker is the Season Pass that is going for 93 bucks which will include bonus costumes for Nyotengu and NiCO as well as first crack at the 62 costumes that will be coming out between March and June. They'll also be able to get King of Fighters' Mai Shiranui (when she is released) as well as a mysterious second guest character also from King of Fighters 14 as well as bonus costumes for them both.
Overall the game in itself is a lot of fun. The graphics are great, the stages are entertaining, though limited, and the music is pretty good. The story mode is alright, but the real fun lies in beating up opponents online and rising in the ranks. I like the new Fatal Rush system too and it's satisfying to use it as the KO move to win the round. Unfortunately the rumors of the game being more toned down than before might turn some fans away, despite the fact that the game is as bouncy as before. There are still people currently thinking the game is tamer than before. This, plus the grind system to unlock random costume bits and the almost 100-dollar price tag for the Season's Pass are making some people give this game a pass. Also there are currently no lobbies for online matches, only Ranked Matches, and while the game will eventually add Lobbies as a free update (as well as new win poses and intros), it soured a lot of fans that these things weren't already available at the time of release.
Personally, I won't be getting the Season Pass but will be buying Mai and any other character the game might add. Dead or Alive 5 Last Round would eventually release DLC costumes based on other series like the King of Fighters costumes and Attack of Titan costumes, so if this game has interesting ideas like that, I'll be picking up those outfits too.
So in my humble opinion, the game itself is a blast if you can overlook some of the cosmetic things. Slamming 93 bucks on table is completely up to the fan but whether or not you can unlock the additional costumes doesn't really interfere with the action in the ring. To be fair, the Season's Pass for DOA 5 Last Round is also 93 bucks and throughout it's history, DOA5 easily had over a hundred dollars worth of DLC costumes alone. Asking fans to pay that much up front to what could potentially be the beginning of another huge onslaught of costume DLC might be too much to ask for a second time.
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