So the last few years have been really great for fighting games. The usual suspects have been doing well (or least they are after being fixed over time) such as Street Fighter or Tekken, but with Dragonball FighterZ and Under Night In-Birth doing their thing at EVO all this attention has built a lot of hype around playing or spectating fighting games. When Dead or Alive 6 was announced it raised some eyebrows especially since Dead or Alive 5 Last Round wasn’t too shabby. Unfortunately when it comes to explaining DOA to anyone it gets a little complicated so bare with me. The core system of Dead or Alive has always been great, and many would agree it still is. From their reversal/parry options, to great graphics, and a decent cast they’ve kept up on the essentials for a solid fighting game but there has also always been a slight side eye from half of DOA’s fans for the fan service.
To be frank, DOA has a big focus on breasts and a hentai-like appeal to it. Jiggle physics, sweating/getting wet to see-through clothes, manipulating camera angles to look at whatever you desire, the list goes on. The game teeter-totters on a serious or “ecchi” fighting game, attracting all kinds of gamers and leaving its status in limbo on whether it can gain main stream appeal. What’s this got to do with anything?
Well kind of everything.
DOA 6 has been met with mixed reviews and a slew of bad press. The trashing began after Team Ninja stated that the game was going to “tone down” the sexual aspects which fans soon realized was definitely not the case as highlighted in the EVO Japan stream resulting in many “Core Values” memes. This same stream ended up costing them a slot at EVO.
Fans found the 92$ season pass absurd, The heavy grind system to unlock outfit pieces were tedious and unrewarding to complete, and the story mode was met with a shoulder shrug and seen as mildly entertaining. There was no online mode at launch. There was also the issue of the public not receiving enough information or getting it late. Needless to say the whole fiasco left Shimbori resigning as the director but remaining as the producer. He stated a few reasons why in his interview with Dengeki Online we sourced from Oneangrygamer:
“[…] Like the story I just explained [Editor’s note: referring to the hardships of being a producer and director, and the overwhelming amount of work involved with trying to handle both jobs], following the release of [Dead or Alive 6] the director position has been entrusted and left to a staff member who is up to the task. I’m now only the producer [for Dead or Alive 6].”
This makes it a lot easier to gather user opinions, as well as improving our ability to impart attention into scrutinizing or inspecting portions or parts of the game that we hadn’t noticed before.
Again, the development staff and marketing staff, along with the director and myself, are encouraged to talk and communicate more as an ongoing effort. This is the current challenge that we’re undertaking to improve and make DOA6 as excellent as it can be.”
We still can’t help but feel that a lot of the issues stem from the initial tottering of boobs though. Personally, I don’t mind the fan service as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the game-play, story, or features, but the time and attention to the detail on the important things on DOA 6 seemed to have been skimped on. Many people are saying that you got more bang for your buck from DOA 5 and might as well just play that, and to be honest they make a strong point.
As I said earlier, some of the games that are doing well now have had rough launches themselves, so they may have dropped the ball but we’ll see if Team Ninja can pick it back up.
Let us know what you think.
Sources: Dengeki Online, Oneangrygamer,Twinfinite, Youtube
