More fighting. Less jiggle.

DoA6 is the latest entry in the long-running fighting game series famous for bouncy tits and literally nothing else.

I have actually never played a DoA game prior to this (other than a bit of  the beach volleyball games) , this is mostly down to the fact that I see Tekken as the definitive 3D fighting game. And though I still believe that to be true, DoA6 does an amazing job at not only making itself finally look like a serious fighting game but it also managed to blow my mind with its unique mechanics and systems.

So the meat of the fighting game is how good the combat system is, right? So for me a guy who says he prefers characters in fighting games that have grabs, command grabs, and parries, you can only imagine my excitement finding out that literally everything is parryable and many moves can be punished by a throw. Combos are fun and satisfying to pull off and learning mix-ups and entire character move sets is the name of the game. Because the parry mechanic called Holds in the game is so prominent, you’re gonna want to react accordingly and the only way you can do that is by learning enemy match-ups etc., to really make sure you don’t get stomped on. Even if you’re a complete amateur I’d say just mash away but learn how to Hold because it becomes an insanely fun match of just guessing what your amateur friends are gonna throw out and you trying to punish them as efficiently as possible.

The game provides a bunch of modes like the ever-present versus mode as well as like arcade and survival modes that are really good to just pass the time. You get yourself a really nice customisation mode which I believe is a series first. But it’s pretty okay, you just get to swap accessories and costumes and the like.

Another thing is that the tutorial the game provides is actually ginormous and really in-depth which is extremely appreciated these days, considering people really want to get into fighting games by learning as much as possible from the game itself, and not by searching up old videos of people performing wack shit online and then trying to emulate it. Big props to the tutorial, without it this review wouldn’t have been possible. Gang-gang.

The game has a really great story mode that’ll increase your play time by a butt load. You get this large grid that opens up where you can unlock chapters of other characters stories as well as the main line one. Fighting game stories aren’t always the best and this one is just so so, you’ll still enjoy your time if you’re really into the characters of DoA. The other big mode besides the story is DoA quest which is basically just challenges you have to complete within a fight. It ranges from beat the opponent in x amount of time or perform x attack x amount of times and so on. It’s a good way to earn the in-game currency for extra goodies later on.

The game also runs well and looks great as any fighting game should avoid any jankiness and uncertainty when playing. In a lot of the advertising for the game, critical combos are shown a shit ton and are kind of like the whole aesthetic of the game. But hits with slow motion close ups of a dude getting rocked in the face. It usually changes the person who gets hit by its appearance but not by a lot so I’m not really sure why they put so much emphasis on it. Still, besides that whole thing, the game still looks beautiful.

So as my first DoA game I’m actually fairly surprised that the jokes were just jokes. Sure the raunchiness the series is famous for still shines through even though it’s much more toned down. I would like to say this is tasteful filth with really good fighting game mechanics, and I can really see myself learning this game further and actually getting really good at it.

I give Dead or Alive 6 an 8 out of 10