Dead Or Alive 6 Review – Fighter Till the End

When Koei Tecmo let the world know that they were walking away from Dead or Alive 5, it wasn’t until sometime later that news of the long-awaited follow-up began to surface. Thanks to ambitious plans, a new game engine that puts the previous Soft Engine to shame, and a few new features meant to breathe life back into the series, Dead or Alive 6 was born. But would this be the game longtime DOA fans were hoping for?

Game Name: Dead or Alive 6
Platform(s): PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC
Publisher(s): Koei Tecmo
Developer(s): Team Ninja
Release Date: March 1, 2019
Price: $59.99

I’ll be completely honest here: it’s a fun game, and I haven’t had this much fun with a fighter in quite some time. It’s dumb, over the top at times, and plain silly. There are lots of returning characters, along with the addition of a blue-haired scientist packing electrified gloves, Nico, and a generic street brawler named Diego. Diego could be seen as a viable replacement for Leon, who didn’t make the cut. I can’t say I found either of them particularly interesting compared to the mainstays. The majority of my time was spent with Christie and Mila. Can you blame me?

What’s new?

Changing things up, the story mode in Dead or Alive 6 has been completely redone. There’s now a branching storyline that features every character and consists of introductions, movies, and fights. It’s similar to a pick-your-own-adventure setup, giving you some control over which part of the story you want to jump into, and I thought that worked well. It can get confusing at times since the layout doesn’t show all available options unless you view the entire storyboard. Sure, most people don’t play fighting games for the story, but KT has done a nice job implementing it this time around.

Then there’s the quest mode, which is a nice way to get introduced to every character in the game. We all know that when it comes to fighters, we tend to pick a few characters and ignore the rest. This is where quest mode shines, giving you a chance to complete random quests with a wide variety of characters. Doing so rewards you with various items and unlocks. There’s also a large selection of quests, so you won’t beat them all in just a few sittings. There’s plenty of single-player content here, and I enjoyed the downtime from playing against friends or online. It does get boring and repetitive at times due to the sheer number of quests, but thankfully you can play them at your leisure or skip the mode entirely, though I don’t recommend doing that.

The training mode and its offerings are excellent this time around. Not only is there a free training mode where you can experiment, but there’s also a tutorial mode that breaks down every move and status in the game. From basic skills, throws, and holds to learning how to sidestep, along with intermediate and advanced mechanics, the game teaches you everything you need to know. That’s perfect for someone new to Dead or Alive or for those who need a refresher.

On top of that, the command training mode has you performing various moves, and the combo challenge teaches you most, if not all, of your key combos and juggles. This is all character-specific. After spending time in each mode, I felt well-prepared to jump in and start cracking heads, especially thanks to the combo challenge and command training. I can’t stress enough how important those are.

There are also plenty of items to unlock, along with encyclopedia and trivia modes. These give you something to do outside of fighting and provide insight into both the game and the series. A photo mode also makes an appearance, allowing you to take pictures during spectator matches. You can pause the action, rotate the frozen scene, zoom in, and adjust aperture, focus, and tilt. I managed to capture some incredible shots with it.

What about that gameplay?

The gameplay is fast-paced, full of mix-ups and juggles. Combos don’t last forever, but they’re still devastating. It’s also not overly serious, which has always been part of the series’ identity. That said, it feels like Team Ninja is trying to push the game further into the eSports scene.

New additions include the Break Gauge, Fatal Rush, Fatal Reversal, and Break Blow. The Break Gauge is a two-bar meter that fills when you attack or are attacked. Once one bar is filled, you can perform a Fatal Rush, a series of hits triggered by a special attack button. The Fatal Reversal lets you reverse attacks from any direction. The Break Blow requires two bars and unleashes an unblockable, heavy-hitting move that launches your opponent. It’s similar to Rage Arts in Tekken 7. If you have two bars, performing a Fatal Rush will cause the final hit to turn into a Break Blow. Meter management becomes important, so you can’t just spam these moves.

Hit detection also feels improved. Moves that previously seemed impossible to connect no longer magically land from odd distances. This helps maintain proper spacing without worrying about phantom limbs. Sidestepping has also been improved. It’s quicker and more effective at avoiding incoming hits, except for tracking moves, which will connect no matter how often you dodge.

Fans will be happy to know that both three-point and four-point holds have returned. There’s always debate about which is the “right” way to play, but that’s silly. If three-point holds feel easier for me, that’s what I’ll use. The hold button can still cause accidental inputs during gameplay, especially if you press it unintentionally while trying to block.

As of now, online play is a mixed bag and very bare bones. For the most part, matches were solid. Using the 4+ and 5 quality settings, only a handful out of 40-plus matches were laggy. Getting online is simple: select your preferred connection quality via a slider and jump in. You can even request a rematch. That’s about it. You can’t choose stages, and they’re selected automatically.

You also can’t sync up with friends or host private matches. Lobbies were not included in the review build and were also missing from the day-one patch. According to KT, they’re planned for a later update. This could cause some players to wait before diving in. It’s a strange decision to release the game without such a key feature, and it could hurt the experience.

We’ll revisit this portion once lobbies are added.

More than just pretty face

Thanks to the new engine, the characters look better than ever. Sweat drips down faces and glistens on exposed skin, even if it feels exaggerated at times. Scratches, blood, bruises, and torn clothing become visible as fights progress. It’s a significant graphical leap over Dead or Alive 5 and one of the best-looking fighters on the platform. Whether you’re playing in action or graphics mode, everything looks beautiful. Animations are smooth, especially the facial expressions, which do a great job conveying emotion.

Customizations return and are similar to what was offered in Dead or Alive 5, except now you can save them to slots and swap them on the fly. You can change hair, glasses, and outfits. I would have liked the option to alter outfit colors as well. Most outfits are locked by default, so you’ll need to dive into nearly every mode to earn costume parts. Rewards are random, and poor RNG can leave you unlocking outfits you don’t want. Being able to choose rewards would have been a welcome addition.

As for fan service, yes, the conversation is still there. One of the stated goals was to tone down the more overt elements. While it may not be as front-and-center initially, some revealing outfits still make their presence known. Whether that bothers you depends on your perspective. For me, some of the physics were so exaggerated that I couldn’t help but laugh. There are also more tasteful outfits available, so it’s not entirely one-note.

At the end of the day, this has always been part of DOA’s identity. It isn’t Virtua Fighter or Tekken. The stylized presentation and exaggerated elements are baked into the series. It’s something players will either embrace, tolerate, or ignore.

Buy, wait or pass?

Dead or Alive 6 is a good game, though one that leaves me conflicted. It’s enjoyable, and I’ve continued playing well after finishing this review. The fighting is solid, the visuals are impressive, and there’s plenty of content to keep you busy. However, there are some questionable design choices. Quest mode, while refreshing, can be frustrating.

How am I supposed to complete a quest that requires several high holds if the AI constantly throws me? Or perform a comeback kick if the AI never knocks me down? It’s frustrating enough to fail due to circumstances beyond your control, but you can’t even restart a quest once you know you’re going to fail. Your only options are returning to the quest list or the main menu. A simple retry option would have solved this. It’s a minor gripe, but one that feels unnecessarily overlooked.

Then there’s the absence of online lobbies, which I consider the game’s biggest flaw. Releasing without them was a poor decision. While the rest of the content softens the blow, it’s still a baffling omission. KT has assured that lobbies are coming and will be worth the wait. For now, what we have is an enjoyable fighter that’s worth the price of admission.

Dead or Alive 6 releases on March 1st for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Review Disclosure Statement: Dead or Alive 6 was provided to us by Koei Tecmo for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.

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