Free Step Dodge

Marie-Laure Norindr, also known as "Kayane," is a professional Soul Calibur player from France who recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Yohei Shimbori and Yosuke Hayshi from Team Ninja regarding Dead or Alive 5. Kayane managed to ask a fair amount of questions that covered a variety of topics ranging from the story mode, music, inclusion of Virtua Fighter characters, and the mindset of Japanese DOA players.


The entire interview can be found on Kayane's blog: kayane.fr. Below are some notable excerpts:

Day 10 of IGN Pro League's 12 Days of Dead or Alive 5 has arrived. Today they bring a few game play matches from their staff of players who have had some time with the August game build.

The characters in battle are Ayane, Bass, Eliot, Hayate, La Mariposa, Jann Lee, Lei Fang, and Rig. We also get to see the new stage "Home" and the tigers are finally shown off in "The Show". Personally, the tigers don't look anywhere near as annoying as Dead or Alive 4's cheetah because they are triggered by hitting the wall danger zone and the ring master announces their departure. You be the judge. All the matches from set one are on display below, but be sure to check out more info from doa.ign.com. My personal favorites are the Jann Lee & Hayate matches, and any match that has Bass winning. What can I say? I'm a pro wrestling fan. I just wish I could have seen his F5.

IGN's 12 Days of DOA continues with a breakdown of Jann Lee. The article can be found here.

It goes in depth to talk about some nice items like the Dragon Gunner having guaranteed follow-ups and unsafe attacks becoming safe if canceled into the new Dragon Stance.

Jann Lee was one of the best characters in the Japanese and European versions of DOA3 (known as DOA 3.1 and 3.2). In Dead or Alive 4, he was average at best and struggled to keep up with the better characters in the game. Dead or Alive 5 returns Jann Lee to his rightful place near the top of the DOA food chain.

First and foremost, his Dragon Gunner throw is one of the few offensive holds in the game for a non-grappler character. Not only does it guarantee multiple follow-up attacks that cannot be countered, but it’s very difficult to see...

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Due to technical difficulties, IGN was unable to release DrDogg's breakdown of a fan favorite character introduced in Dead or Alive 4: Kokoro. Kokoro is a Ba Ji Quan user modeled after Virtua Fighter's Akira in concept. She is the half-sister of Dead or Alive's DOATEC president, Helena Douglass. Does Kokoro stack up well in the new engine, or is she in for some troubled times? Bryan has provided the full article until IGN Pro League has resolved it's issues:

Bryan Dawson said:

Kokoro was a newcomer in Dead or Alive 4 that had a few nice strings but was never really considered to be on the same level as many of the ninja characters. Now, she enters Dead or Alive 5 with all of her powers at the ready. She is formidable, safer than most characters, and with a little luck, can actually hit a Critical Burst in three successful attacks (from our experience so far only Leifang can Burst in less...

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Day 7 is here. Bryan has put up his breakdown of Bass Armstrong. Suffice it to say, he's better than he was in DOA4 by far. The guy is back to being a scary monster with powerful attacks and devastating throws. I'll summarize the article for all the Bass fans out there:

DrDogg said:

While Bass won’t be playing the stun game very often (most of his attacks are single hit knock down moves), his Critical Burst is one of the best in the game. It’s about the same speed as most other Critical Burst attacks, but it’s safe if blocked. Couple this with the fact that it stuns on normal hit (the opponent can counter out of this stun), and you have a very dangerous attack on your hands.

Against Bass, you have quite a few things to worry about. If you block any of his guard breaks he has advantage in the best case scenario, and is safe in the worst case scenario. If you attack in the middle of...

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Bryan's back with a breakdown of a new character as we count down to the second IGN Pro League "I'm a Fighter" Championship event in San Mateo, CA. Today's character breakdown is none other than the femme fatale assassin Christie. Christie is a character who has had her hand in just about every incident in the Dead or Alive story, including killing Helena's mother and attempted assassination of Bayman. It looks like she also has some sort of history with series newcomer Rig. Be sure to check out the game when it comes out on September 25th, until then, let DrDogg give you a sneak peak of Christie's fighting style:

DrDogg said:

Against a good Christie player, you’re going to have to decide if you block her guard break at the end of a string and allow her to continue her offense (she still has one of the fastest jabs in the game), or attempt to interrupt a potential Jakeiho cancel and risk...

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The fifth day of IGN Pro League's 12 Days of DOA brings us information about the advanced Training mode, and from the sounds of it 'advanced' is an understatement.

DrDogg goes over many of the robust features this training mode brings along. This includes a feature to record your inputs, second player controlling the dummy, holding in stun as soon as possible, and even the speed at which Struggle Escaping is performed. Many cool options are explained and I recommend getting over there and reading the full article.

DrDogg said:

The basic features you’d expect from a training mode are also present. You can reset the character position back to the default starting spot, have all attacks connect as a counter hit or hi counter hit, turn the ability to use a Power Blow on or off, turn danger zones on or off, and even adjust the latency to mimic online lag (from 5 bars all the way down...

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Day 4 of IPL's 12 days of DOA is here. I swear it feels like just yesterday that I posted up the previous breakdown. DrDogg continues to breakdown many of the new characters in the latest build that didn't make the cut in the Electronic Entertainment Expo build from June. He has given a breakdown of La Mariposa's current revision, though he unfortunately has not revealed her secret identity we'll just have to wait until the release to find out.

La Mariposa practices lucha libre style wrestling. This is a style known for its quick movements and high-flying attacks. In DOA4 she even was one of the few grapplers with a non-breakable combo throw. Check out DrDogg's article to read more about her changes such as her new run stance "Carrera":

DrDogg said:

We know Team Ninja is still making adjustments to the game, and if we had to go out on a limb, we’ve got to assume La Mariposa’s new Carrera running stance is at the top...

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Looks like Day 3 of IPL's 12 days of DOA is here. We're getting one step closer to those double-digits. This time, DrDogg has given a breakdown of the current revision of Leifang. Leifang has traditionally been a character who relied on various holds including parries, sabakis, offensive holds, and advanced defensive holds to really bring the pain and mind games towards her opponent. One last thing to note is that she's apparently had a change to her name. In previous Dead or Alives she's been "Lei Fang". However, this time it is one word: Leifang.

It looks like she's added some new techniques to her repertoire. Jump over to IPL's website to read over DrDogg's breakdown.

DrDogg said:

Leifang is shaping up to be a formidable opponent in Dead or Alive 5. Playing against her is not going to be an easy task. She can go under high attacks and throws with ease, so you won’t be able to...

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It looks like IGN Pro League and our own DrDogg has released his breakdown of the new character to Dead or Alive 5: Rig. Rig is a self-taught Tae Kwon Do fighter who has spent all of his life on an oil rig, giving him his nickname. He has amnesia of his past so took the name Rig.

The article breaks down his play style for those looking to pick him up when Dead or Alive 5 drops this September.

Be sure to check out the full article over at IPL website:

DrDogg said:

Rig is one of the few characters who has good 2-in-1 attacks, also known as natural combos. This means that if the first hit connects, the second hit is nearly impossible to avoid or counter. It’s a tactic that has been used often by competitive players in previous DOA games. Rig has an attack string that starts with a mid kick and ends with either a high attack (that transitions in Flamingo), a safe mid attack, or a low...

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It appears that the first article from IPL has been released today. The article brings up the changes the game has gone through since last seen on the show floor of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. This includes a new critical stun that disallows holding and struggle escaping out of it, changes to the Critical Burst mechanic, disadvantage changes on block, and various option settings that many players I think will come to enjoy.

Check out the full article for all the news coming out of IGN's Pro League and our own DrDogg, and stay tuned for the next 11 days as the site counts down to the second I'm a Fighter World Championship tournament being held in San Mateo, CA on Aug 18th.

For the hardcore competitive players, they’ll be happy to hear that a new “unholdable” stun has been added into the mix. At E3, the tournament players were ecstatic to find that certain stuns did not allow...

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Tecmo Koei updated their Facebook page this morning, revealing the final box art for Dead or Alive 5, along with a new Bunny Angels pre-order trailer, dubbed both in English and Japanese.

Furthermore, they've also unveiled the final look for the collector's edition box set of the game.

It is with great honor that I make this major announcement. On behalf of Free Step Dodge, Gaming Vision Network, and Big E Gaming, we are proud to announce that we will have a near final build of Dead Or Alive 5 at GVN Summer Jam VI. We will have the game a full month before its release. The event will be held on August 25th to the 26th. Tentatively we have plans to run both a singles and a team tag tournaments. We would like to extend an invitation to all current and former DOA players, and those interested to please attend the event as this will be one of the few non IGN Pro League events to have Dead Or Alive 5 playable to the public.

For more information about...

It looks like Rig has finally been announced, and with it is a new trailer of him fighting Christie and Bass on an oil rig.


Rig is a Tae Kwon Do user from Canada who apparently is working on an oil rig with Bass Armstrong of all people. Bass is also repairing his bike while in the middle of the ocean doing his job in the mean time. You even get to see a return of his DOA3.1/3.2 4F+P launching throw.

Apparently there's also some history with Rig and Christie. I'm sure we'll find out once the game hits store shelves on September 25th so be sure to pick up your copy at launch day.

Update: Koei-Tecmo has provided the following bio for Rig:

Koei-Tecmo said:

Rig
- A natural born fighter, he has used his powerful instincts to master of the art of taekwondo. He has run the oil rig from a young age, and his colleagues simply call him "Rig." But even he doesn't know his real name or where he comes from.

Fighting Style: He learned taekwondo...

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Hayashi was recently interviewed by System Update of the New York Daily News. Most of the interview is spent on things we've heard about Dead or Alive 5 before. However, on the second page, Ebenezer Samuel brings up the comparisons of fighting entertainment between Dead or Alive 5 and NetherRealm studios' Injustice: Gods Among Us:

Ebenezer Samuel said:

But DoA hardly seems to go “all-in” with its entertainment approach. Granted, it’s hard to make a judgment on the quality of the game’s interactive elements after seeing just two levels, but Team Ninja’s “Hollywood blockbuster” effect seems subtle when compared against what we saw from Injustice: Gods Among Us.

That much-hyped 2013 superhero fighter — from NetherRealms, the folks who brought us Mortal...

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Team NINJA's upcoming game Dead or Alive 5 was nominated at E3 for five different awards and nabbing two of them (GameWorld and Game Chronicles). It has just been announced that Dead or Alive 5 has been nominated by the Game Critics Awards for Best Fighting Game of E3. This is certainly a great honor for Team NINJA.

Dead or Alive 5 is in the running for best fighting game with the following competitors:

• Injustice: Gods Among Us (NetherRealm Studios/WBIE for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U)

• Persona 4: Arena (Arc System Works/Atlus for PS3, Xbox 360)

• PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (SuperBot/SCEA for PlayStation 3, PSVita)

• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Bandai Games/Namco Bandai Games for PS3, Xbox 360)

Source...

In an interview with Videogamer, Yosuke Hayashi and Yohei Shimbori commented on their thoughts in regard to Dead or Alive 5 utilizing downloadable content. Specifically, they had issue with the idea of downloadable characters and how allowing for such a downloadable content affects the rules of the game.

Additionally, in a separate article with Videogamer, Yosuke Hayahi and Yohei Shimbori discussed their ideas with the next generation ideas and online support for the title and future iterations.

Videogamer said:

Team Ninja has 'no plans' to sell additional characters for Dead or Alive 5.

Releasing additional characters as downloadable content for...

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In a recent article on Kotaku, Evan Narcisse asked Yohei Shimbori and Yosuke Hayashi about their thoughts of fighting games and competitive play. The responses were interesting. I've included the full article since honestly the article is so short that it really is just two quotes:

Evan Narcisse said:

When I asked Team Ninja lead Yosuke Hayashi and Dead or Alive 5 director Yohei if they'd implemented any changes to the game specifically in anticipation of its reception by the fighting game community, they answered that that's not how they approach design. "We want to appeal to all levels of skill," said Shimbori. Right now, the dev team is working on game balance, he elaborated, to make DOA5 a fun game first. Shimbori mused that any adoption by the tournament scene comes later and...

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Kayane recently posted her impressions on her experiences with Dead or Alive 5's E3 build and the IGN Pro League itself. In it, she talks a bit about her history with the Dead or Alive series and what her future plans are for it. Although she made a name for her self in Street Fighter and Soul Calibur, what many people don't know is that she started her competitive gaming addiction with Dead or Alive. Her favorites were Kasumi and Ayane, and that's where her name came from after blending the two together.

Kayane said:

Then, I focused more on Soul Calibur which was my first fighting game and made me love the genre, and didn’t participate to more DOA tournaments, also because the french scene didn’t have many tournaments for this game. SC Community has always been very active in France. I wish DOA could have such a strong community as well here.

I have always been a DOA fan, playing DOA3 and DOA Ultimate, DOA4 DOA dimensions…I heard about this CGS tournament with pro gamers...

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According to an article on Kotaku, a small comment is made that the Power Blows will be allowed in the tag mode of the game. This is certainly interesting to hear, as the tag system has not really been talked about. I still would like to hear more about possible changes to the tag system from not only Dead or Alive 4 but also Dead or Alive Dimensions.

UPDATE: GameSpot has given further clarification on the subject. Not only will Power Blows be in Dead or Alive 5 Tag mode, but they will also be Tag Power Blows. This is a very interesting take on it and brings in a nice way to implement the power blows into its system.

GameSpot said:

One fighter connects with a power blow, but instead of knocking the opponent into the environment, they knock them toward their...

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Andriasang has reported that the Dead or Alive Japanese release will be accompanied by a Collector's Edition version of the game. The price is hefty at ¥11,340 (~$130 USD), with the regular edition being priced at a 'more modest' ¥8,190 (~$100 USD). The details consist of the following package material:

• Official Visual (Picture) book
• Soundtrack CD
• Eight (8) Poster Cards
• Ten (10) Special Character Metal Plates
• DLC Code for Twelve (12) "Premium Sexy Costumes"
• The initial printing will have exclusive Ayane & Kasumi 'Premium Sexy Costumes' not a part of the other twelve (Available in both the Normal and Collectors Edition versions)

The twelve costumes will be available at a later date for purchase on their respective marketplaces.

Japan will also be receiving the game on September 27th, practically one day after the American release...