Dead or Alive 5 Last Round Review (PS4)
Koei Tecmo have clearly taken tips from whoever manufactures bras in the latest release of Dead or Alive 5, Last Round, as the game is bursting with content.
I adored Dead or Alive 5, and subsequently Ultimate, on PS3 so getting my hands on the jiggly yet solid fun of Last Round was a no-brainer – whilst some may turn it away due to its breast physics, tit’s their loss as they’re missing out on an enjoyable game with very strong fighting mechanics. I’m not a big advocate of last-gen ports and remasters although I’ve bought several but when it comes to fighting games I always want the latest and best version available, more so when it comes with an exclusive character in schoolgirl outfit – Honoka.
The story remains unchanged from the previous iterations, so any characters added after the original title don’t make any appearances and, well, the story is easily the games weakest point. Many fights occur over petty things created solely for the sake of fighting but, of course, the story mostly revolves around the Dead or Alive tournament with each contestant entering for their own reasons. It’s worth going through as it’s there but you won’t really be missing out on anything if you decide to skip it, more so as all characters are now unlocked from the start.
The meat is in the gameplay (although the breasts are trying their best to be the meatiest) and it’s safe to say it holds its own against other fighters. I prefer my fighting games on a 2D plane but Dead or Alive is so easily accessible that you can’t help but enjoy it. There’s no complicated button inputs and it’s easy to string flashy combos together, and the counter system is both innovating and extremely satisfying to pull off; you can’t spam it as a failed attempt leaves you open to attack but when you manage to intercept your opponents attack and throw them over your shoulder, you’re left feeling like you’ve accomplished something great.
Along with countering you have your basic attacks – punch, kick, block and throw – and you’ll be using these during your fights as there aren’t any projectiles or moves that shoot element-based attacks across the screen; it’s close-combat that packs a powerful punch, and I don’t think I’d want DoA any other way. With the gameplay remaining the same as it was in Ultimate, Last Round relies on new girl Honoka, slicker graphics and bundles of costume DLC thrown in to appeal to those who’ve owned, or own, a previous iteration of Last Round. Honoka is fantastic if not entirely original due to her ability to mimic moves from her favourite fighters, so expect to see Honoka perform versions of other fighters moves mixed in with her own brand of skill dubbed ‘Honoka Fu’.
The DLC included is aesthetically pleasing although not all previously released DLC has been included but a good few packs including the Christmas, cheerleader, swimsuit and bunny underwear are now included and available to use straight from the get go – you’ll have to play to unlock several of the other outfits, the best way to do this is to play Survival Tag mode as you’ll unlock costumes for both characters used and the battles are seamless, meaning you don’t have to bother with loading screens or character intros. Along with the previously mentioned Story and Survival modes, there’s Arcade, Versus (CPU and local) Time Attack, Team Fight with seven characters per team, and an in-depth Training mode with tutorials and combo challenges. It all wraps up nicely with a stable online mode featuring ranked and lobby matches, and like with the offline modes, you can play either solo or tag team matches.
Dead or Alive 5 has always been a visually appealing game and Last Round solidifies that; it’s gorgeous for more reasons than the girls present. Moves seamlessly flow into each other, the framerate is solid and smooth, the character design is great and the outfits are varied and eye-catching – there’s no denying that Last Round is pure eye candy. The stages compliment the characters well, with the explosive danger zones and ever-changing scenery keeping things fresh and colourful; you can kick people from the top of mountains, punch them into surrounding objects including animated statues, tigers and furniture, and the water, sweat and dirt effects are realistic and add another layer to how powerful the combat is.
I don’t mind fan-service myself so I set the breast physics to OMG – the jiggliest of the lot – but you can choose natural, DOA or LR (which is a balance between natural and DOA) settings if you fancy something less ‘flying everywhere’. You can shake the controller to make them jiggle more. Koie Tecmo know what they’re doing but sadly, as fun as it is, this is the reason why DoA is struggling to be taken as a serious fighting game; hopefully people will realise it’s a solid fighting game under the not-so-solid breast physics though, as the physics aren’t going to become any more realistic.
You can choose to have voice-overs in English or Japanese, although the menus cover a larger range of languages, but I prefer the oustanding English voice-overs – some characters will speak in Japanese regardless, seemingly limited to some of the Virtua Fighter guests. The OST has dozens upon dozens of tracks which represent the characters and stages well, with a variety of guitar-laden, playful and more traditionally Japanese-inspired tunes to fight to; there are plenty of tracks from DoA 1, 2 and 3 too.
I love Last Round, despite its teething problems it’s a well-made game and fills the fighting-game void on PS4 where, in the UK, we have minimal fighters available on the system. It might be a hard sell to those who own Ultimate but the graphics are clearer, there’s incentive in the included DLC (all DLC previously purchased will work on Last Round), and, possibly the biggest selling point, is fresh face Honoka who’s a fun character to learn and compete with. I’d sold my PS3 copy of Ultimate once Last Round was announced as I’d rather own the definitive version of each fighting game, and I don’t feel disappointed – I’ve racked in roughly 200+ battles already and I’m still going strong! Dead or Alive 5 Last Round is a fantastic port which will please both longtime fans and newcomers alike, and I strongly recommend it.
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