Mini Review: Dead or Alive 6: Last Round (PS5) - Dead on Arrival

I wish they would remaster Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Day 1 purchase if they did!

It's crazy that even all these years later, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is still the superior game.

Like Sammy says, they had a clear opportunity to bring 6 up a level with this re-release, and they just didn't even bother. Bizarre.

They really are dedicated to squeeze every last cent out of that old dlc, I respect it in a way but I will staying far away. Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is in my mind is the last good one.

In this era of the internet where it is pretty easy to access whatever... content...you desire, I find it perplexing that some companies are still banking on the hope that you'll spend a ton of money on a few skimpy outfits. A game needs to have more than just sex appeal to succeed. It might draw the eye but without the actual content to back it up people will just walk on by.

"Dead or Alive deserves better"

Does it? This game is softcore porn. Always was. Its target market is people who used to watch Baywatch with one hand. Just because it has tried to be something else in recent years does not mean that it succeeded or that we are losing something from its failure when we already have so many better fighters out there.

Disappointed. This was their opportunity to inject some life back into DOA and they seem to of missed the ball completely.
By the sounds of it, the combat is decent enough but the fact theyve got you re-purchasing DLC and dropping loads of money again. Just seems like a cash grab. Gutted. I hoped Koei/Tecmo would do better by now.

Yeah, this ain’t it. I’ve said before DOA6 was a huge letdown when released in 2019, and it still is. Rollback is a must, and Tecmo could have added more content for sure. They are teasing a new character that comes out later, which should have been included at the start.

The original DoA6 released in 2019? Time sure flies.

It's a shame cause I wanted to try 6.

Fine for people like me who’ve never played DOA6 and didn’t buy any of the DLC already

@Hylian-Likely I'd totally be down for that. I imported Venus Vacation Prism last year and it is quite...dull.

@LifeGirl this is certainly a take

@ATaco What's baffling is that Koei Tecmo actually removed most of the raunchiest elements from DoA 5, such as the destructible outfits. So I'm not sure what they're going for here.

No rollback netcode? Really?

@beltmenot @LifeGirl sure does have a take, and it's the correct one.

They had the perfect opportunity to revive interest in the series by removing any paid elements and allowing all the unlockables through gameplay. I dare say they could have even got away with charging £40 if they did this.

What they have done is such a poor effort.

@LifeGirl to be fair it's jiggle physics were pioneering in the early games.

But I also completely agree, I didn't even know it had to tried to be something else - I've not played it since maybe 2, on the PS2.

Sounds like it sucks but will probably still pay for the cire fighters Mila Unlock and give it a go

It's sad to see - Team Ninja was a legitimately innovative studio. Nioh shows they can still make a great action game, but their business practices get shadier by the year.

As a big DOA fan this hurts my soul. This release definitely feels mismanaged to a staggering degree. I'm still excited for the new one but DOA6 Last Round feels almost like a troll job release than an attempt to reinvigorate the fanbase.

I honestly would have bought it if at the very least it had crossplay and rollback. The fact it has neither is basically a death sentence for the game. Hopefully Team Ninja takes a good hard look at the many problems of this and course corrects for DOA7.

4/10 is quite generous for a scam like this.

@get2sammyb Speaking of DOA, have you seen today's 7DSO update? It's a cross between DOA Beach Volleyball and Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash.

I mean I'm all for some fun in the sun but the change in direction to pure gooner (am I using that word right?) material gave me whiplash. 😂

@LifeGirl Oh no, attractive women in video games? Horrible

Yet people are totally fine with major violence.

Even small indie fighting games release with rollback netcode nowadays, there's no excuse for KT to do this. Also they can't possibly be making enough money from the MOUNTAIN of over-priced DLC outfits to justify porting it like this.

The faces in these game
Look so bad

Is there any improvement on load times? This was my main expectation with this edition, however it actually looks worse than what I already have, therefore no point in buying. At all. Unless load times are significantly lower

Dead or alive 3 and ultimate and then 4 were incredible. It’s so sad what’s happened to this franchise

It's like they know all they have to do is include ginormous bouncing breasts and it will sell...

Gotta admit I was hoping this would be.... Different (?} to the PS4 version, but it looks, feels and plays just the same to me. Don't really care about photo mode. I was expecting them to polish the characters a bit so they didn't still look PS3 era though.

@LifeGirl Oof! That's harsh. Personally I always enjoyed the challenge of mastering the game, I'm not big on fighters (or violence in general), but DOA has always drawn me in.

Sigh 😞 disappointed in how they are throwing the DOA series under the bus. It’s really a great fighter.

DoA is just a gooner game nowadays with endless DLC. When Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 exist with Virtual Fighter to come why would you buy this? If you want a great budget fighter just buy Fatal Fury or Invincible Vs.

@summer235 Difference is DoA is just gooner bait nowadays and nothing else. Street Fighter 6 also has hot people with revealing looks and its fine because its also a great fighter that doesn't rely on looks alone or overpriced endless DLC.

@Nei Was a really great fighter.

I was down for it until they announced that you had to buy Mai and Kula again.

@DennisReynolds Nearly every fighting game has cosmetic DLC now. Have you seen the Tekken and Street Fighter stores.

@LifeGirl

Sad take. Yes, the marketing has always been reprehensible, and yes the developers seem keen on trying to use the lowest possible scruples to steal money from players, but the game USED to be mechanically good, and one of the most entertaining fighting games, not to mention one of the easiest to pick up and play.

Not going to change your mind or anyone else's when recent versions have been so poorly handled, but it's really sad people can't see the forest for the panties.

@Whyarewestillhere Never said they didn't. They pale compared to what DoA offers though and those games don't need to rely on it to be anywhere near good. Combine what T8 and SF6 has its still less and cheaper then what DoA6 has.

4/10 is too harsh like it's unplayable mess.

I personally enjoyed DOA 6 and i think the gameplay isn't as bad as some people claim. I would grab this if it have rollback + crossplay which KT should used it if they want decent playerbase for the game. So i'm not sure why they didn't do it here and it gives me less hope for DOA 7...

@LifeGirl

This game is softcore porn. Always was. Its target market is people who used to watch Baywatch with one hand.

Spoken like a clueless person who never played DOA game and watch softcore porn.

Pretty disappointing.

This is like if Namco re-released Ridge Racer Vita and said, eh we kind of put effort in. Pretty pathetic from Koei Tecmo/Team Ninja here.

They go oh we will put effort into our other games, put laskluster effort into Xtreme Beach Volleyball/Venus, etc. and just push the last DOA game to in some cases be Dead on Arrival yes. How do some companies even bother? Money first, basic gameplay (not saying DOA6 is but in most other money first games that is the case which is what I mean in this context) no appeal for audiences returning just newcomers who see a copy or in the news, or those returning who maybe want it on a newer platform just for the sake of it.

That's not very strong support from any of those audiences, potential possibilities or others I didn't mention, that's just doing nothing and expecting magic money to come in. It's disgusting.

There is plenty of fighting games, plenty of games with appeal for stuff like Venus/Xtreme Beach Volleyball, plenty of dating sims, FMV ones even if people want to watch them, play them, or 'do other things'. Like come on who are they fooling here there is plenty of games and media out there for gameplay, themes, fighting games, or otherwise.

I'm playing FMV dating sims and having fun with them, even some from Turkey recently not just Chinese, South Korean, Japanese, those from Wales Interactive. I enjoy Visual Novels and am FMV games now (I will get ot the more action ones eventually but just curious about the angles of the stories, gameplay of items and progression or other formats they have (as much as they can think of or make them easier as some have and copy paste the 'we need the characters in one place' approach I've seen some be creative and others be a bit lazy about it, forget going to others houses just have a bunker or a boarding house, while others are like sure speed dating or the beach or whatever others but the other settings aren't too bad, it depends what they expand on).

I tried DOA 4 and thought it was challenging and not my thing but still fair. I haven't played another entry in the series (I haven't played many fighting games, I have Smash Bros, I have PS Allstars, I have Phantom Breaker just out of curiosiity and otherwise DOA4) and I wouldn't this 6th entry at all. I'd play the others if I find a copy of DOA2 or DOA3, maybe 5 if I see it and think about it enough.

4 for 360 is the only copy I have found of the series so far, so I went eh why not pick it up. Sure I'd like to try Xtreme Beach Volleyball but even then I know how lacking they are in content too and go eh, why bother. At least the 1st one, the 2nd/3rd maybe have more. They really want people to be like sure the characters or the 'core' gameplay is strong enough when some are some aren't and I focus on gameplay/progression systems a lot before I buy a game, even with learning a new genre which fighting games I have the least experience with.

It's a shame but it's clear to see that Team Ninja no longer care about the games that put them where they are today.

Dead or Alive? Let's have an indentiy crisis and destroy its reputation with aggressive microtransactions...
Ninja Gaiden? Can't be bothered to make it, let's outsource it to other studios.
Not even the Xtreme series can catch a break. Let's turn it into a dull dating game featuring a bunch of original characters replacing the DoA girls.

They didn't ***** the bed the second Itagaki left, but they certainly didn't take long to get to that point.
Just stick with Nioh, I guess, because the world was really hankering for more samurai souls-likes.

@Kingy I mean the Nioh games are really popular and are easily some of the best Soulslike out there. I get your point but let's not discredit Nioh by doing so.

@DennisReynolds Yeah, maybe that was a bit harshly worded at the end there. I don't doubt they're good, there just isn't a shortage of alternatives for the kind of game Nioh is presently. Where games like Ninja Gaiden and especially like Dead or Alive are in very short supply.
I don't have a lot of faith in Team Ninja to deliver anything but another thinly-veiled platform to siphon whales with DoA7, it's evident they don't care.

DOA2 and 3 are some of the best fighting games of that generation. Come to think of it, we were in a bit of a silver age of fighting games back then, weren't we? Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Tekken 5, Virtua Fighter 4, Soul Caliber 2, definitely some more that I'm missing. It's a shame that the series has fallen off so hard.

I tried to like DOA 6 the first time it came out, and the core mechanics are still fun. However, it feels like one of those mobile games asking for money when you run out of whatever energy token they offer. It was garbage.

Reading this review makes me think they didnt change anything which leaves me at "meh" and gives me no hope for DOA 7.

If they had just made this a new TMNT Tournament Fighter it would have sold like hotcakes. It's sad, really!

Absolutely unacceptable to release a fighting game in 2026 without (good) rollback net code and cross play. Not touching this release.