Dead Or Alive 6 Announced, More Info At E3 2018

Remember back at NEC ’18 when Koei Tecmo released a video which made many assume Dead or Alive was gone for good? Well, here’s some great news: Dead or Alive 6 has just been announced.

Though KT has yet to say much about the game in an official statement, IGN was able to sit down with producer/director Yohei Shimbori who provided them with the first hands-on of Dead or Alive 6. You can see the full article by following the link, but here are a few key takeaways:

• The core gameplay is intact.
• There is a new meter which rises as you receive/deal damage and block attacks, which can be used to unleash a flurry of blows or a special counter attack that works against all forms of regular strikes.
• Story mode will be structured in the same fashion as DoA 5, but the developers want it to work like a tutorial as well.
• Guest characters, like Mai, Akira and Pai Chan, are expected to make an appearance at some point, but the base roster will only include characters from the DoA franchise (whether this includes DLC characters like Honoka, Marie Rose and Nyotengu is unclear).
• Characters can have parts of their outfits destroyed after taking a certain amount of damage.
• The game in general will take on a more mature tone and one of the way the developers intend to convey that is by removing the exaggerated breast “physics” that female characters used to have.
• On a similar note, physical wounds will now show up on female characters (traditionally reserved for the men) as they take damage.

Overall, this looks pretty interesting and you’ll tell from the trailer below that the game looks very sharp. In particular, the removal of the exaggerated breast “physics” is interesting, as many people have used it as an excuse to not engage with the Dead or Alive series in good faith — which was unfortunate because the series always had a great amount of depth to it. Hopefully they’ll be willing to take Dead or Alive 6 for a spin when it arrives. Hell, they might even help the community grow.

Dead or Alive 6 is due out for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in early 2019.

Check out the announcement trailer below: