Dead or Alive 6
  

 
 
ABOUTOn June 8th, 2018, Koei Tecmo announced Dead or Alive 6. Early on, the developers stated DOA6 will have a more "mature" vibe, with less of an emphasis on skimpy costumes and over-sexualized females, and more focus on stage interactions, dynamic camera angles, facial expressions, and battle damage on characters.

 
 

Dead or Alive 6 character selection screen.

 

New gameplay mechanics in DOA6 include: Side Attack, Break Gauge, Fatal Rush, Break Blow and Break Hold.
Fatal Rush is a "powerful combo attack," done by just mashing the Special button. Break Gauge is a super meter, a first for the series. It fills up when blocking or attacks land. Break Blow and Break Hold can be used when the meter is full. Break Blow is an attack executed by pressing forward with the Special button. Break Hold is a defensive technique that works against all kinds of attacks. Finally, a new Special button will execute new mechanics with 1 button press (and directional inputs).


Director Yohei Shimbori had this to say about the new mechanics: "Pressing that 4th button continuously is an activity all characters can trigger.... the first hit will initiate Fatal Stun, which puts the opponent in an unprotected state, and the normal hold can not be performed. If your gauge bar is filled you can use 'Break Blow' on the last hit. This will be an easy move to pull off for beginners, but the timing of it will be complex for high level play."

 

NiCO is actually a pretty cool new character.

  

 
MODES AND FEATURES:
 
ARCADE
-
Fight against a random selection of opponents to try to achieve the highest score), Versus Fight - battle against the computer or other players locally.

TIME ATTACK
 - Fight against a specific number of opponents within a specified time limit, Survival - Defeat as many opponents as you can, as they appear one after another.

TRAINING
- Free Training, Tutorial, Command Training, and Combo Challenge.

DOA QUEST - consists of clearing quests made up of several missions. Players can unlock rewards including costumes and owner points can be earned by clearing these missions (many hours of grinding is required to unlock all costumes). Playing this mode allow players to naturally learn the game system.

STORY - features cinematic cutscenes with the main roster. Progressing through Story Mode will unlock substories focusing on each character. Having trouble? Use character tutorials during gameplay to learn about the playable character.

 

  

DOA6's customize requires many hours of grinding...

 

DOA Central
includes the following: Wardrobe - Unlock and purchase new costumes, hairstyles, accessories, and titles. Customize your main fighter,
Database - View your fight records, Theater - Watch replays and COM vs. COM battles, Music - Unlock and purchase new BGM. Change BGM settings for various modes, Library - Purchase and view DOA Encyclopedia and Trivia entries.

 

Several classic costumes return in DOA6.

 

Team Ninja's developers stated early on that Dead or Alive 6 will apparently "tone down" the over-sexualization of female characters. Below is an excerpt from an IGN interview.

 

 
"We wanted to make a more cool and more mature Dead or Alive this time, and to that end we made a conscious decision to make characters less sexualized," Shimbori told IGN.

It goes without saying that this decision is heavily influenced by the fact that the industry is moving away from overly sexualized female characters in general, but Team Ninja seems to have a concrete vision behind this shift in style. If you look at the game's concept art, you can see that Kasumi is no longer just a fantasy figure for young boys; she's a warrior.

"The female characters are still attractive, as are the men, but first and foremost they are fighters," Saito Said.

In DOA6, female characters' breasts no longer jiggle and bounce in the exaggerated fashion the series became increasingly known for, and the costumes we have seen so far are less revealing. Females are depicted in a more natural way, which makes them feel more human and believable than before.
 

 

That's very interesting... because a few months after Tecmo Koei made those statements (above), a Japanese Collector's Edition containing hentai-looking body pillow covers and boobie + butt cheek mousepads was announced. Don't be too surprised because this is actually standard fare for the DOA series... as the DOA5'Collector's Edition featured the exact same items (below). Shimbori also provided some very "different" details to gaming media outlets in Japan, telling interviewers that female breasts will still have the jiggle effect and clothing will become transparent when wet. 

 

"Toning Down Sexuality in DOA6" .... Really?  ^__^;

 
 

 

 

 

 

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Page Updated: February 21st, 2024
Developer(s): Team Ninja
Publisher(s): Tecmo Koei
Designer(s): Yohei Shimbori   Director
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC  Steam
Release Date(s): March 1st, 2019
Characters Kasumi, Ryu Hayabusa, NiCO, Diego, Hayate, Zack, Jann Lee, Helena, Rig, Hitomi, Lei Fang, Ayane, Marie Rose, Bayman, Honoka, Bass Armstrong, Tina Armstrong, Mila, Christie, Lisa, Kokoro, Brad Wong, Elliot, Raidou, Nyotengu (DLC), Phase 4 (DLC), Mai Shiranui (DLC), Kula Diamond (DLC), Momiji (DLC), Rachel (DLC), Tamaki (DLC)

Featured Video:

Related Games: Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, DOA5: Ultimate, Dead or Alive 5, Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2, Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive 4, DOA: Dimensions, MVC: Infinite, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, TEKKEN 7, SoulCalibur 6
  

Gameplay Engine

 6.0 / 10

Story / Theme

 4.0 / 10

Overall Graphics

 7.0 / 10

Animation

 7.0 / 10

Music / Sound Effects

 5.0 / 10

Innovation

 5.0 / 10

Art Direction

 4.5 / 10

Customization

 5.5 / 10

Options / Extras

 5.0 / 10

Intro / Presentation

 4.0 / 10

Replayability / Fun

 5.5 / 10

"Ouch" Factor

 8.0 / 10

Characters

 6.0 / 10

BOTTOM LINE

 5.7 / 10

 Review based on PS4 version     

 

Final Words: Did they really reuse DLC characters? That's... innovative? Wow. These days, a fighting game having success with the competitive community is an imperative part of its longevity and, in some cases... survival. It the recent past, DOA5 barely managed to keep its head above water - and Tecmo Koei can thank the diehard fans buying ridiculously-priced paid costume DLC for that. Will DOA6 change its direction of the series? Team Ninja better make a damn good fighting game then, because it's 2019/2020 and the competition isn't messin' around... Just ask MVC: Infinite.

"Toning down the sexuality" was the popular talking point leading up to DOA6's launch. (All the while, an irksome DOA6 Collector's Edition containing boob & buttcheek mousepads and a body pillow with hentai art was already for sale in Japan). Was it all just a publicity stunt? Yup. I called it. So, same marketing strategy from Team Ninja as usual then? Sell "sexy" via DLC costumes.

Somehow... DOA6 set a record for fighting games by releasing FOUR Season Passes in the span of 1 year (some costing upwards of $80). That's... not how Season Passes usually work. Tecmo Koei seems to have taken the word "Season" a bit too literally. Did it work for them? Nope, it didn't work for them. DOA6 flopped harder than MVC: Infinite.

Not long into DOA6's short 1-year lifespan, Tecmo introduced "Premium Tickets" for players to buy with real money - used for unlocking DLC content. It was all downhill from here. They then began to sell paid DLC "hair dye" for customizing characters' hair color, which would fade over time - requiring players to repurchase the hair color again (with real money). That's hilarious and sad, considering fellow 3D fighting games like TEKKEN 7 and SoulCalibur 6 offer 100% free customization modes with a full color wheel for customizing a character's hair (and outfits).

As a long-time fighting game player who fully embraces the "game" part of fighting games... I'm always more interested in gameplay. Hell, decent character designs are important too. DOA6's mechanics are catered towards casual players, but most "strong-points" from past games is still present. Still, if the game isn't fun, serious 3D fighting game players won't care... and won't play it long term. Of course, many DOA fans don't actually care about gameplay and play the game for other reasons. (_)_) INB4 the next perverted beach volleyball spin-off game with VR capabilities gets announced and ends up having 9 times the player base of DOA6 (officially recorded in Steam stats, you can look it up). This is embarrassing, DOA6

One obvious thing Team Ninja needs to NOT do, this time... is charge over $1,000 USD for DLC costumes like they did with DOA5. Micro-transactions of this magnitude are no friend to any level of gamer. In a few ways... DOA6, in its earliest stage, seemed like a step in the right direction. Sadly, the 4 over-priced Season Passes was another blatant attempt at a money grab. Any DOA fans "surprised" by this did not learn from history. (Thankfully, DOA6 didn't survive long enough to charge fans another $1000 for DLC.)

Can I say anything positive about DOA6? The new stage designs & close-up camera angles look cool... and I was glad they managed to bring Mai Shiranui back, but that's about it. Overall, DOA6's newcomers & mechanics didn't wow me. Can we get new DOA characters that are actually interesting? You know, something outside the realm of "generic fighting dude with shiny skin" or "new Asian chick with boobs"? Bringing back / reintroducing some Virtua Fighter character's would've helped DOA6... but that didn't happen. In fact, DOA6's roster was painfully inferior to DOA5: Last Round. DOA6 had a chance to "reinvent" the series, but sadly, it was more of the same (and less of it).
~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen

  

   
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