One of the last stops during day 2 of the Electronics and Entertainment Expo was with my associates at Koei Tecmo. They were showing off a game that they hadn’t revealed to the masses yet and that game was Dead or Alive 6. Dead or Alive 6 builds on the basic formula of the fighting game that you know and love and brings things to the table that work.
For example, the controls are very simple to pick up and play right away and that’s key for a good fighting game. If the players feel too overwhelmed, they won’t want to play. Also on the controls, the blocking and throwing felt simplified to me, that the commands were easy to perform in high-pressure situations. I was playing one of the Koei Tecmo employees and in a highly contested match and we were going back and forth, one mistake could cost the match. In the end, it was being able to block and use combo attacks. There was one other way, the special unblockable, combo. This move could be what gives you the upper hand in the match. We played quite a few matches so I could get a feel for the fighters and how fast they are/range of their attacks.
Those things I listed are really the only differences in characters, in my opinion. There are different locations in the game and this time, the locations have environmental hazards such as the people pushing you/grabbing you while in the city level. The basic attacks feel like ths basic attacks that any fighting fan would know how to do and that’s how you want the controls to feel, like people have been using them for their whole lives. During the hands on I gave quite a few characters a test run, Kasumi, Helena, and Zack and before you say anything, there were only four characters to play as in the demo.
DOA 6 has a rock, paper, and scissors mechanic to it, regarding certain attacks. What I mean by this is that strikes beat throws, throws beat holds, and holds beat strikes. New to the series is a special attack meter, a Break Gauge System where you’ll be able to get the upper hand in battle for sure if you use these. However, miss one and you’re pretty much wide open for an attack. There are new stages for you to fight on as well so you’ll have to train if you expect to be the best! You’ll also be able to perform a fatal rush, four attacks in a row that look great and the opponent can’t do anything about. I won my demo fight because of the fatal rush and because of the tight controls. What I mean is sometimes well timed dodge or a spin and attack is all you need. The Fury Rush and being able to use the attacks to dodge as well is perfect, It allows for quick movement and sneaking in attacks! You can watch the trailer on the Dead or Alive 6 YouTube channel as well expect DOA 6 to release in 2019.