Release of the Day: Dead or Alive 6 — Media reaction and sales forecast
On the first day of spring, Team Ninja studio released Dead or Alive 6. This is another game in a series of fighting games, famous for its fan service. We talk about how the project was met by the players and the press, evaluate its potential in terms of sales.
About the game
Dead or Alive 6 is a fighting game released by Team Ninja studio for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. As in the previous parts (and there are more than six of them, taking into account all the branches and reissues), virtual martial arts experts converge here in the arena of the fictional Dead or Alive tournament. Japanese ninjas against kung fu fighters, karate players against Chinese drunken masters and so on.
The series gained special fame thanks to a large set of female characters and the engine responsible for the physics of the breasts of these characters. Dead or Alive 6 is no exception. Before the release, there were rumors that the studio decided to abandon the physics of the chest, but in the new game this element was made only more realistic — due to the new engine.
If we look away from what really worried most of the players, then it’s worth talking about innovations. The aforementioned engine made it possible to add sweat, blood, bruises and bruises to the game and detail the characters. By the way, at the start of the game there are 27 heroes, which, of course, need to be pumped. The “training mode” will help players in this.
Also in Dead or Alive 6 there is a mode that is very unusual for the series: DOA Quest. This is a system of 96 tasks, for which players receive game currency. The currency will allow them to unlock more content, including costumes and hairstyles for heroes. DOA Quest also acts as a tutorial, teaching players all kinds of attacks, parries and evasions.
The cost of the basic edition of the game for PS4 and Xbox One in Russia is 3999 rubles. On Steam, it is distributed with a starting discount of 10% and therefore costs 1,799 rubles.
Media ratings
“The best game of the series”, or even “the best fighting game” — this is what many reviewers call Dead or Alive 6. They admit that the game turned out to be imperfect, but still fascinating and well-developed.
One of the publications — Digitally Downloaded — even gave the game a score of 100 out of 100 points.
“Dead or Alive 6 is the epitome of everything this series has fought for and tried to achieve. The emphasis in the game is primarily on its accessibility, on making the threshold of entry into this complex genre minimal. It doesn’t matter what kind of experience you have in such games — the developers have made sure that you gain confidence before you are really challenged.”
The extent to which Dead or Alive 6 is loyal to inexperienced players is noted by many media outlets. Among other advantages of the game, in their opinion, is an excellent combat system. It is deep enough to appeal to long-time fans of the series, and at the same time, again, it is easily assimilated by beginners.
“Dead or Alive is one of the most holistic in its genre. She has a deep combat system, an ideal training regime, as well as a lot of interesting challenges.”
The storyline campaign was criticized. Many call the scenario rather weak. Someone — even meaningless.
“What really bothers you is that as you wade through the meaningless story that the game presents, you begin to realize that Dead or Alive 6 has other problems. For example, how bland her art design looks, or how bad she sounds. In this game, everyone has expressionless, absolutely smooth faces, covered with sweat, well, or lip gloss.”.
Speaking of the visual component: while some reviewers note outdated, in their opinion, graphics and boring design, others like the look of the game very much. Opinions have radically diverged.
“The new engine, optimized specifically for this game, turned out to be capable of fantastic character rendering. 3D models are created and animated very beautifully, with fantastic attention to detail – especially to facial expressions. Feelings such as rage, fear, anxiety or pain are clearly visible not only in cut scenes or during special attacks, but also during normal gameplay.”
On the aggregator Metacritic, the PS4 version of Dead or Alive 6 received an average score of 76. The PC version was rated a little higher – by 77. There are no ratings for the Xbox version yet.
Player Reviews
On Metacritic, console players positively rated the graphics and animations, as well as the gameplay. Desktop players generally agree with them. But many criticized both monetization (in particular, the price tag of $ 60 for a game that, in their opinion, looks unfinished without DLC) and technical problems: bugs and crashes.
PC players on Steam have taken up the shortcomings of the game even more firmly. In particular, they scold Dead or Alive 6 for the lack of a lobby and the opportunity to fight with friends. As in the last numbered part, of all types of online activities, only ranked fights are present.
Also, not everyone liked the new physics. By the way, the developers themselves don’t like it to the end either: they promise to continue working on it and improve it in the next patches.
However, Steam does not forget to note that the game turned out to be beautiful and very balanced in terms of gameplay.
Forecast
The previous part, Dead or Alive 5, sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in three years. At the same time, before the release, the publisher Tecmo Koei announced plans to sell 1 million copies.
Dead or Alive 6 has a chance to reach the same bar in the LT perspective. The game has a large and loyal player base. In addition, the market of AAA fighting games is not oversaturated. However, we would not rely on high starting indicators.
There are three reasons for this: a restrained reception, the imminent release of Mortal Kombat 11 and, if we talk about Steam, increased competition with Tekken 7. The latter began selling at a 50% discount on the debut weekend for Dead or Alive 6.
If Dead or Alive 6 manages to sell 300-400 thousand copies in the first two months, this will already be a good indicator against the existing background.
