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    Dead or Alive 5

    Game » consists of 14 releases. Released Sep 25, 2012

    Dead or Alive 5 is the seventh entry in the Dead or Alive fighting game franchise, introducing a new visual style, new game mechanics, and highly interactive stages.

    kyokushin_nanaya's Dead or Alive 5 (PlayStation 3) review

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    Dead or Alive 5, old yet still different.

    It seems strange that Dead or Alive 5 has come out towards the end of this console’s generation when the previous game was released exclusively for the 360. With the noted absence of main developer, Itagaki, Team Ninja headed in a very different direction with this latest installment. However, what remains in its core is certainly the Dead or Alive series that I know and somewhat embarrassingly, love.

    The most immediate change compared to the previous games is the general aesthetic, especially with the characters. Dead or Alive has always been focused on the look of the characters, almost to an absurd degree. Change is not always welcome with fans and the Team Ninja certainly felt that with complaints with Hitomi’s look during early previews. Changing a set of beloved characters to fit a new, more realistic aesthetic was a bold decision compounded with the difficulty to make them look what players would envision them to be. The results are striking. Kasumi looks like I would have envisioned her, alongside the rest of the cast. The costumes are rendered beautifully and flow with character movements. All in all, the characters in this game are meticulous, yet not overstated. Loyal to designs, yet new and interesting.

    Another signature feature that the series has are the stages. Fans can find their old favourites here, but there are a couple of new entries. They can range from rainforests, urban jungles, high tech arenas, war grounds and oddly, a circus. Each are well crafted and sometimes quite amusing. The game embraces the sheer ludicrous idea of martial artists fighting a place that’s completely foreign to their situation and throws in a firecracker consisting of exploding helicopters, RPGs, flying subway trains, tigers, and a giant clown.

    Dead or Alive is ultimately a fighting game. The rock-paper-scissors aspect of holds, strikes and throws still are there, but are slightly more difficult to pull off. Every character has aspects to their strengths and the character selection screen makes this information transparent. Typical fighting game archetypes are in here. Grapplers, rush down, mix-up. Mastering one of the main aspects of its system, the counters is satisfying as you learn pattern recognition and your opponent’s mindset. The game provides training modes which are adequate to get a grip on the system. Thankfully, there’s a Dojo stage which is endless for such use. One very welcome addition to the interface is a shorthand movelist that adapts to your input. It will show a branching possible move list, a training wheel to character’s attacks. This game has definite depth, yet with a brief understanding of its systems, still is fun and approachable.

    New to the series are Power Blows, desperation moves when your health bar goes under a certain percentage, similar to Last Blade. The game teaches some of the new concepts like Critical Stun and Critical Burst in the story mode, but doesn’t really reinforce their importance in terms of strategy.

    Regarding the story, it’s certainly nice that it is one entire storyline with different characters to give you a feel for each character. It’s amusing at times and utterly, completely stupid. It’s a good addition to the game as it gives you insight to some of the machinations of DOATEC and Kasumi jelly clones. Admittedly, this is the most story there’s been in a DOA game and it’s interesting to see it develop towards the end.

    Dead or Alive 5 is a certain guilty pleasure of mine. It’s easy to scoff at the idea of liking the game as it seems little more than a wild fighting breast physics engine with some punches and kicks. Certainly, it’s a weird game at times, there’s no denying that. There would be some who would question one’s taste of liking this game, but there’s a lot of game in one of the prettiest 3D fighters released this year. The fighting is engaging; it ebbs and flows with the systems and the players who use them to outwit each other. The new visuals are astonishing and evolve the aesthetic in a different, yet welcome direction. Despite the flops from 2 years ago, Team Ninja got one of its main franchises right and that’s the most praise it probably has heard for quite a while now.

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