Fighting Games Friday: Dead or Alive? Tough to Say

Of the current fighting game crop, Dead or Alive 6 is the one least heard about. That’s kind of a shame given the initial effort Team Ninja put in to get the fighting game community and the more casual audience to take it seriously. The development tried to make it more accessible, and more notably, the default female character outfits were toned down compared to the fanservice-laden ones from previous installments — though alternate options are still available and unlockable. They were making a serious effort until the infamous “core values” incident. In the end, the game only sold to dedicated fans. Team Ninja’s given them the expensive fanservicey downloadable content they wanted in the post-release period.

The biggest content has been the characters, which is why all of them have been female. They’ve also all been returning characters outside The King of Fighters guest character Kula Diamond, until now. The game finally got a mostly-new one: Tamaki. She debuted in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, but she’s making her first appearance in a fighting game installment. Tamaki is following in La Mariposa’s footsteps, who debuted in the first Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball as Lisa.

Tamaki is a swimsuit model who became a fashion designer, and uses Aikido as her fighting style. Aikido fighters are staples in fighting games and are often female, but this is the first time one has made an appearance in the series despite its female-dominated cast. It’s also clear that Team Ninja got a bit too inspired for her move set, since several techniques are similar to those from characters like Jun and Asuka from the Tekken series, and Aoi from Virtua Fighter. Fortunately, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada doesn’t appear to mind, and there are no longer any VF developers left to comment. It’s fine.

Another recent well-discussed topic regarding DoA6 has involved the new hair color swapping DLC feature in the PlayStation 4 version. If you’re first hearing this, you might think this involves purchasing extra hair color options. That’s not what this is. It actually involves purchasing the swap, not the new color. This means players have to pay if they’re swapping colors, and have to pay again to swap back to a default color. It’s the scummiest offering yet in a game full of scummy options, and fans did not take it well.

Fortunately, Team Ninja heard their complaints and provided a statement apologizing for the blatant money grab and the inevitable upset it generated, something they should have expected in the first place given how it was implemented. They’re now “working towards a solution that helps to mitigate this issue” and intend to share “plans in the coming days.” Note that it’s been a week since this statement was posted, but most of their social media posts since then have been about the recently-released and critically-acclaimed Nioh 2. Maybe they’ll get back to this eventually.

The DLC likely isn’t over for DoA6, but whether Team Ninja has more planned depends on how this content is selling. Publishers rarely comment on sales of this nature, especially in Japan, so there won’t be any way to know this until it actually stops. I hate to end this segment on a bland and cliché note, but we’ll see what happens.

Spawn arrived in Mortal Kombat 11 this week for those who purchased the season pass, the last DLC character currently scheduled for the game. (He’ll be available for everyone else on Tuesday.) He’s a guest who originates from the comics of the same name, but fits right in the MK universe given its similarly mature and 1990s-style edgy themes — even though MK is a bit cheesier. The trailer shows how the developers dedicated plenty of time researching and recreating Spawn’s move set for this game, though the jury remains out on whether he’s actually formidable. He’s once again voiced by Keith David, who played him in the 90s animated series that aired on HBO.

The developers also couldn’t help but have him reference his Soulcalibur II appearance. Spawn doesn’t knock starring in that game, though, despite not fitting Soulciabur’s tone — at the time, at least.

NetherRealm Studios should comment about whether they plan to continue providing DLC for MK11 in the future, but all hands may be on deck for their next project. Again, we’ll see.

[Announcement] The #GuiltyGearStrive trailers that were originally scheduled for Final Round and Brussels Challenge will be merged into one trailer and premiered on the official Arc System Works Youtube channel on March 21st. Stay tuned for the exact time. https://t.co/9wCbdsGFdX pic.twitter.com/SQQjfMnQJf

— Arc System Works America (@ArcSystemWorksU) March 10, 2020

Two Guilty Gear -Strive- trailers previously set to debut at the Final Round and Brussels Challenge tournaments will now be merged into one trailer and posted directly to Arc System Works’ YouTube channel on March 21st, a week from tomorrow. Both the Brussels Challenge and Final Round were cancelled due Coronavirus concerns, so this makes sense.

In fact, expect to hear word of several eSports tournaments being cancelled or held without audiences over the next few weeks, as the current Coronavirus strain continues to spread around the world. That is, unless they’re feeling extremely brave. This summer could be devastating for the tournament scene, as there are few signs of the disease being contained in the near future. Keep your eyes on their social media feeds and Eventhubs.