Update: Revising the Review is needed, even though I reviewed DOA 5 Plus and there is not much difference. It is not fair for those new to the series. I do apologize.
Fighting games are very interesting genres to review and sometimes can be hard when you are trying to spot differences between one port to another. I have finally acquired a PS4 after much debate over which console I should acquire. Once I got Dead or Alive 5 Last Round on Friday for the PS4, my decision became clear because being a fan of the series I wanted to know what was different. Here we go in our review.
As many of you know the DOA series dealt around the story of DOATEC where Kasumi’s DNA was being cloned to make a better fighter manipulating her ninja skills and amplifying her abilities, but there has been some slight revamps. The new story is that Rig who had no memory has gained them back and come to find out is the main villain of the story who brought all of this together. You might remember the same thing had happened to Ein back in DOA 2 and so on, but turned out to be Hayate. Now this is a story that revolves around Helena who is now running the show with Zack as her front man gathering fighters, but the the Ninja group trying to stop whatever Kasumi clone is running around causing chaos. We came to this conclusion which forged a new chapter from DOA 5 Plus. This is just a quick synopsis to get you up to speed.
What I like?
Dead Or Alive series has been my favorite series for the obvious and not so obvious reasons. The fact that this is a tactical fighter that you can’t button mash to save your from a beating receives a thumbs up from me. The addition of a few key Virtua Fighter characters beefs this game even more because they both share the same fight mechanics, but VF didn’t have a concrete parry system like DOA. Since this is a new port for the PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One we are given an update to the graphics and a smooth control system that makes all your inputs fluid. This is what is called Anti-Aliasing thanks to the mention by PoliticalCorrectness. Now since this is such a big deal for those that care about the 1080p resolution, especially you that play Minecraft still…yes I went there. Anti-aliasing or as some call it “FAKE RESOLUTION” is a great fit for Dead or Alive 5 making less clunky and gives that real time fight mechanics feel. I did notice that my parry captures and reactions to attacks flow well. This effect even work with some of the background damage that you perform with the level transitions. In that DOA 5 Last Round is a prettier game indeed.
If you are new to the series I say welcome and prepare to either enjoy the sexy fighters or being annoyed. Honestly I am guy and the fact that Team Ninja still keeps the traditions of the boobilation in DOA is hilarious. Yes I am talking about the boob physics and why they are there. Till this day I still do not know why Itagaki felt that need and I know that “Sex Sells” a lot, but it had to lot more than just because boobs *laughs*. The feature in the options has changed from using your age to DOA style, Natural and LR which you can use the motion of the controller to motion them. It is juvenile and sexist, but a distraction for new fighters I guess. Moving on.
The training mode is more fine tuned this time around giving you a step by step tutorial so you can master each character properly and respectively. So far I have honed my skills with Mila, Jacky Bryant, Jane Lee who seems to have a new fighting mechanic which is not as simple as in previous games. Pretty much you can master the game to take on online or local opponents if you put in the right work. The addition of Virtua Fighter characters is still an amazing addition and shows how similar the two are in real fighting styles. I enjoy a game that gives you free range of the board to side step, parry and counter to really make for a good fight. However if you have no clue what you are doing you will get toppled and the match is over before you even press the block button.
What I don’t Like?!?
Besides the graphics upgrades and extra chapter revealing a new evil, there is not much difference from Dead or Alive 5 Plus and Last Round. What made matters worse is the Addition of these new fighters that were not added to the story mode, especially Raidou. This what I assume is a genetically altered cyborg that can steal a fighters moves and use them against his opponents would of made for a great addition to the story. Hell they could of said he was a prototype to the DOATec program. Lets also add that the fact this the first time we are introduced with a character that can shoot energy shots. This dude is pulling off one handed Hadoukens like Gouken and it is pretty sweet, but for you DOA fans. How do you feel about this change in the games mechanics? Because as you can see in the video below you can spam this move if you wanted.
Now Iselin did a post about Gamers, A Call to Arms! where she discusses the industries laziness in the gaming community. However I will give Team Ninja and Tecmo the benefit of the doubt for porting this game over to next gen consoles so there is a decent fighting game on there. However as I stated with the few additions of new fighters they could of tweaked the story a bit to fit them in there because I am very interested in their background involvement with DOA. There is a great story to be had here and I felt they dropped the ball.
Conclusion
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round is welcomed to the new systems and PC, but I still stand at this could of had more additions than just the graphics and smoothing. I am hoping new things to come with a part 6 being now that you have made Rig the villain and shown us Raidou, please do not be afraid to be different. In that I give DOA 5: Last Round 3 out of 5 and yes being generous with that 3. This could have been a $20 dollar game or give those with the title a free upgrade for those that have DOA 5 Plus. I hope to see you on the battlefield and please feel free to leave a comment below. Stay frosty gamers!
