Dead or Alive 6 Announced for PS4, Xbox One and PC

Koei Tecmo has announced a new instalment in the Dead or Alive fighting game series: Dead or Alive 6.

IGN has the first hands-on with the game.

IGN recently went hands-on with the upcoming brawler, and Dead or Alive 6 producer and director Yohei Shimbori emphasised that there haven’t been any changes to how the game fundamentally plays, saying the team “didn’t want to change the core mechanics”, mainly because “It can feel disappointing if a game you used to enjoy no longer feels familiar”.

Shimbori also stated that Dead or Alive 6 will be running in 4K when it launches on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, presumably only on the Pro and One X versions of the two consoles. Team Ninja is also putting more effort into the single-player and offline modes for Dead and Alive 6, so it can be enjoyed both online and offline.

Gameplay-wise, Dead or Alive 6 is introducing a new combo and special systems called Fatal Rush, and Break Gauge.

The idea is that these will be simple to execute to make it easier for beginners to get into the game. It basically sounds like a version of auto combo systems we’ve seen in a few recent fighting games like Dragon Ball FighterZ, and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.

Check out the Trailer:

Another aspect that characterizes the series are the highly interactive and destructible stages. The version we got to play had just two stages, and we didn’t get to throw our opponents off cliffs, nor did we encounter any larger-than-life events such as a dinosaur suddenly appearing on screen. Instead, we got to experience a more realistic type of interaction. For example, one stage had spectators around the edge of the ring, and if our fighter bumped into one of them, they would push us back, causing our character to lose balance and stagger. This gave our opponent the perfect chance to attack. It might not sound as exciting as throwing your opponent against a helicopter’s propellers, but more realistic stage gimmicks have a different, subtler and more seamless impact on battle.

While acknowledging the fact that he is taking a new, more refined approach for the arenas, Shimbori tells fans not to worry, as he is planning some stages with the excitement and craziness that we have come to expect from the series. Together with art director Yutaka Saito, he has already thought of several more stages to implement in the game.

This shift in approach is not only evident in the arena design, but in the game’s presentation in general. Dead or Alive is a series known to feature ostentatious characters such as ninjas and highly sexualized female fighters with nearly superhuman powers, and while Dead or Alive 6 still shares the same DNA, things seem to have become a lot more realistic and refined. The game doesn’t only come with new 4K enhanced graphics, but an actual change in direction as well.

“We wanted to make a more cool and mature Dead or Alive this time, and to that end we made a conscious decision to make the 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 overtly 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.

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