DOA6 New Gameplay Mechanics Revealed

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Try to keep an open mind as the footage is an early build of Dead or Alive 6, and we are slowly piecing the mechanics together the best we can with the information we have available to us. DOA6 will be available for us to play at EVO this year so observation is clearly welcomed by Team NINJA.

At 3:30 PM Pacific Time a stream from IGN is expected to help us make some sense of today's Famitsu interview with Shimbori that revealed several new mechanics to the DOA formula. Most developers copy and paste the predecessor, but the sixth installment of our game will have plenty of new mechanics, coupled with the elements we loved most from DOA5LR. Let's take a quick peep at what's new:

Critical Bursts, Power Blows and Power Launchers are gone!

When it came to the hand to hand combat, with no environmental damage in the picture, the critical bursts felt like a really special part of DOA. Hopefully this new system will blow our minds. How do you feel about this change?

New Mechanic: Side Attack

The side-step will not be taken out, but replaced with something else. You must release :8::2: and follow up with the new Special button (H+P+K) which is detailed to some degree in the Famitsu Interview. The S button will be conducive to several new mechanics in the game. You can attack while avoiding a straight hit, but it always forces you to commit, so there is risk for the person side-stepping. A successful hit at close range will result in major damage. The stage will also be dependent on how damage is dealt. Seems like timing will mean everything.

New Mechanic: Break Gauge

If you watched the trailer, you may have noticed an additional bar under the HP. That's the break gauge and it fills up as you deal damage according to the Japanese translation of the interview. It also accumulates or freezes depending on your success with hold game duing the fight. When the bar fills up you will have access to "Break Hold" and "Break Blow." How they handle the holds will probably be one of the more complex topics of this new Break Gauge mechanic.

New System: Fatal Rush/ Auto Combo ( S, S, S, S )

Pressing that Special button continuously is an activity all characters can trigger.... the first hit will initiate a Fatal Stun, which puts the opponent in an unprotected state, and the normal hold can not be performed. If your gauge bar is filled you can use "Break Blow" on the last hit. Another interesting tidbit of information is that this auto combo will not cost from the break gauge, thankfully these moves are expected to be highly unsafe on block and are not invincible.

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New System: Break Blow ( :6:+ S )

As mentioned this works by filling up the break gauge and spending it all. This is the special cinematic punch that breaks the face of your opponent and is also confirmed by Shimbori to tear clothes. This can beat high and medium attacks, and can even break throws! A technique Shimbori calls the "invincible attack." This move can also be incorporated with an air juggle and the environment. Though it's a strong move, Break Holds can beat it, and lows can too.

New System: Break Hold ( :4: + S )

It sounds like this mechanic will let you hold anything from any stage! This could be absolutely wonderful for dealing with people that love spamming the same moves over and over. This will make even the fastest characters think twice. You move behind the opponent, and do damage to them as you do it, hopefully they are all unique animations for all characters.

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Famitsu was able to let us in on a lot of new information this early on, so to me this game will have little chance of delay and will be changing our lives in 2019. Sometime after the IGN stream I will edit this story with new details of the mechanics and also include a new write-up pertaining to the returning characters and how they will play differently from their DOA5 counterparts.

Please look no further than FSD for high quality content, tournament write-ups, news updates and an active forum that has been the most trusted source for DOA competitive play. Let's get hype!

 
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It would be interesting if you can use a breaker hold to get out of a breaker hold. So if you're opponent uses one to get out of your combo then you can use yours right after to take the advantage back and not take damage. If not, then it seems like it'll be impossible to get a Great / Perfect with breaker holds in the game. It would have an interesting affect on the meta of the game. You'd probably want to hold onto your breaker gauge in case your opponent uses a breaker hold. And you may not want to use your breaker hold if you know your opponent has a full breaker gauge to counter you right back.

Edit:

I have to assume that breaker holds can't kill you as well. If you had one pixel of life, then that could cause issues with the breaker hold. So they'd have to make breaker holds not be able to kill.
 
It's going to be about timing your Breaker Hold to catch their Break Blow. Honestly if someone decides they're going to use Fatal Rush or they're just new or whatever and I get caught by it I'll probably just save my meter and eat the whole string. Kind of like if you don't know how to hold out of a combo in the current game it's better to just be patient and take your hits and learn the pattern of the moves your opponent is using so you can hold out next time. As long as it does significantly less than a good clean optimal combo I guess it's alright.
 
It looks like you can side step cancel the break blows. Kasumi does it at 0:55 in this video:

https://www.gamespot.com/videos/8-minutes-of-dead-or-alive-6-gameplay-e3-2018/2300-6444681/

But why would anyone want to do that? The break blow is a sabaki and she lost a full meter doing that.

Some other thoughts from that video. I don't like that meter is stored from the previous round, and it took only 8 seconds for both players to get a full meter. I really feel like this is something that should build extremely slowly and at best see 1 full meter a round.

Edit:

Go figure Helena fatal rush ends with a stun and Zacks fatal rush ends with a knockback lol. Poor zack.
 
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But why would anyone want to do that? The break blow is a sabaki and she lost a full meter doing that.

Some other thoughts from that video. I don't like that meter is stored from the previous round, and it took only 8 seconds for both players to get a full meter. I really feel like this is something that should build extremely slowly and at best see 1 full meter a round.

Edit:

Go figure Helena fatal rush ends with a stun and Zacks fatal rush ends with a knockback lol. Poor zack.
All fatal rushes end in knockback. Interrupting mid seems to give a stun but wothout any possible guaranteed followup
 
All fatal rushes end in knockback. Interrupting mid seems to give a stun but wothout any possible guaranteed followup

Ah, ok. Its hard to really tell whats going on when its button mashers. Seemed like the person playing Helena was doing a full fatal rush but ended in the same stun every time he used it.
 
My thought processing on DOA6 game play.
(I cannot speak for everyone else, nor do I have the right to do so).
Warning Note: It is rather giant wall of text revealing a recap and some personal thoughts on the subject of DOA6's new mechanics.

Please, forgive me.
I do not have any real issue with the newly introduced game mechanics as of DOA6. It is difficult to gauge what long-term effect they will have without actually playing the game or at least being exposed to a live demo, outside of fighting game or general video game events. If this game should ever come out, I will wholeheartedly seek fellow FSD members out to get some training with them going to get better. That goes for the people who are typing on this thread discussion as we speak. DOA6 does have me excited for a large number of reasons, some personal and some that relates specifically to the mechanical theories behind this game. There is a lot of research and exploration that we can do, especially when it concerns those who seek the tournament experience or self-improvement.

There are some pretty cool ideas but it is met with just a handful of odd or jarring ideas that may or may not work in the long run.

1). SS by itself being gone in place of Side Attack:
I don't necessarily have a problem with this, though it may spell trouble for individuals who had use for it in the past or preferred to implement it with their play style (I kind of had to, considering my background on Miss Tengu. For other players and the characters they play, mileage will vary on the how they choose to use SS). While this change may come across as strange to some, it still may work in one way another. Players still need to exploit the 3D environment in the best way they can. Free stepping should still be considered a thing but once again, YMMV.
Side Attacks... yes, yes. The only thing that concerns me is if characters will have more than one kind of attack for it. A character such as Kasumi for example may have more than one kind: One that is a sweep... one that is manifestation of a pre-existing move or a new move altogether. Just provide a bit more variation and situational usage for giving the player the edge they desire.

2). Break Gauge:
I was never expecting a meter system. Not that it is a big deal because it is easy to understand its general use and it is also easy to look at from just below the characters life bar. As this article and TN themselves state: Break Blow and Break Hold are what the player will be paying a bit of attention to.

3). Break Blow:
… Somewhat similar to Power Blows from Tekken. Sort of. I am... indifferent towards this one. At the same time, I appreciate that they are still useful in combos, whereas in Tekken, they are designed specifically as GTFO tools and not necessarily moves you would use in combos (and they only have super armor, rather any sort of invincibility). Will there be additional animations or properties depending on the character or will it just be a single universal animation? The idea of Kasumi or Jann Lee ramming their fists (or even their feet) into... Marie Roses' face is strongly tempting, especially with that glorious close up. I am half-joking.

4). Break Hold:
I had a theory about this in the distant past where there would be a mechanic where players can put a stop to every other sort of attack but it would have to cost them something major in the process. In this case, the player would theoretically have to trade their potential damage or offensive capabilities just for an all around defensive mechanic. It seems like it grants a form of frame advantage when done correctly but it will not do a lot of damage. Whether it guarantees anything seems to vary. Hopefully there are some more unique mechanics. Hayabusa having an Izuna-Drop variation of the Break Hold wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea.

Or... would it? Because, Izuna-Drops traditionally do a lot of damage by themselves. How would this even apply to Break Holds? So perhaps; every character is given one universal animation where the user switches place and puts the opponent in an awkward position. With this one animation, the characters would have at least two or three unique animations for themselves when they use Break Holds.

5). Fatal Rush:
This is a mechanic that I am not necessarily fond of but let me convey my point of view:
In KOFXIV, there is similar mechanic known as the simply known as the rush combo, which basically involving tapping A multiple times (usually up to four times. On the fourth hit, you will score a special move. If you have one bar of meter, you will get a super move in itself place). BTW, A is just a light punch. Most people, especially intermediate players who have KOFXIV do not even bother with this mechanic for a number of reasons:
- It does not lead to that much damage in retrospect. The player may as well have did a heavy normal into a command move (if the character had one) into a special move. Otherwise, confirming with different lights into a comboable command move into a special move would have also been a good choice for tighter punishes or just an offensive hit confirm. The player is missing a lot of strong options.
- Most of them are highly disadvantageous and risky when they are blocked.

Personally, many players actually forget that the rush combos in KOFXIV were actually in the game in the first place.

Here in DOA, it is the same in theory... but there are obvious difference to consider:

In DOA6, the Fatal Rush appears to actually dish out a bit more damage for any character who utilizes them and can apparently be utilized in some juggle combos. They are very unsafe if the player attempts to use them against a blocking opponent. The problems that I can see coming from this however are the fact that it seems impossible to... variate the animations. There is a part of me that wonders if it is possible for TN to implement this in a way where the player to can somewhat control whether or not the Fatal Rush can start off as a mid, high or a low.
Many of them seem to start off as slow highs or the like. You might not be able to use them easily in the neutral. In stun? Possibly. I don't mind them being slow in this regard because we don't necessarily want the game broken. At the same time, what I like about the Fatal Rush is the fact that it can allow players to shut down hold attempt while playing the stun game (otherwise, shutting down holds could also still be done by simply launching opponents or implementing grab mix-ups).
There is also something that makes me wonder if the player can actually implement these in specific strings...

ACTUALLY.

Helena Douglas. President of DOA Tech and 4th Tournament Champion. Or, hell. Any other character for that matter:

What if Helena & Co. are to have specific strings or pre-set attack combinations that would actually make use of Fatal Rush properties in the middle or at the end of them? What if... Hayabusa… Were to be given Break Blow or Fatal Rush mechanics in either of his own strings? Thoughts like these may be considered questionable and may even insult the intelligence of others but I wonder if TN is going to begin implementing something of this nature in the near future.
 
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My thought processing on DOA6 game play.
(I cannot speak for everyone else, nor do I have the right to do so).
Warning Note: It is rather giant wall of text revealing a recap and some personal thoughts on the subject of DOA6's new mechanics.

Please, forgive me.
I do not have any real issue with the newly introduced game mechanics as of DOA6. It is difficult to gauge what long-term effect they will have without actually playing the game or at least being exposed to a live demo, outside of fighting game or general video game events. If this game should ever come out, I will wholehearted seek fellow FSD members out to get some training with them going to get better. That goes for the people who are typing on this thread discussion as we speak. DOA6 does have me excited for a large number of reasons, some personal and some that relates specifically to the mechanical theories behind this game. There is a lot of research and exploration that we can do, especially when it concerns those who seek the tournament experience or self-improvement.

There are some pretty cool ideas but it is met with just a handful of odd or jarring ideas that may or may not work in the long run.

1). SS by itself being gone in place of Side Attack:
I don't necessarily have a problem with this, though it may spell trouble for individuals who had use for it in the past or preferred to implement it with their play style (I kind of had to, considering my background on Miss Tengu. For other players and the characters they play, mileage will vary on the how they choose to use SS). While this change may come across as strange to some, it still may work in one way another. Players still need to exploit the 3D environment in the best way they can. Free stepping should still be considered a thing but once again, YMMV.
Side Attacks... yes, yes. The only thing that concerns me is if characters will have more than one kind of attack for it. A character such as Kasumi for example may have more than one kind: One that is a sweep... one that is manifestation of a pre-existing move or a new move altogether. Just provide a bit more variation and situational usage for giving the player the edge they desire.

2). Break Gauge:
I was never expecting a meter system. Not that it is a big deal because it is easy to understand its general use and it is also easy to look at from just below the characters life bar. As this article and TN themselves state: Break Blow and Break Hold are what the player will be paying a bit of attention to.

3). Break Blow:
… Somewhat similar to Power Blows from Tekken. Sort of. I am... indifferent towards this one. At the same time, I appreciate that they are still useful in combos, whereas in Tekken, they are designed specifically as GTFO tools and not necessarily moves you would use in combos (and they only have super armor, rather any sort of invincibility). Will there be additional animations or properties depending on the character or will it just be a single universal animation? The idea of Kasumi or Jann Lee ramming their fists (or even their feet) into... Marie Roses' fist is strongly tempting, especially with that glorious close up. I am half-joking.

4). Break Hold:
I had a theory about this in the distant past where there would be a mechanic where players can put a stop to every other sort of attack but it would have to cost them something major in the process. In this case, the player would theoretically have to trade their potential damage or offensive capabilities just for an all around defensive mechanic. It seems like it grants a form of frame advantage when done correctly but it will not do a lot of damage. Whether it guarantees anything seems to vary. Hopefully there are some more unique mechanics. Hayabusa having an Izuna-Drop variation of the Break Hold wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea.

Or... would it? Because, Izuna-Drops traditionally do a lot of damage by themselves. How would this even apply to Break Holds? So perhaps; every character is given one universal animation where the user switches place and puts the opponent in an awkward position. With this one animation, the characters would have at least two or three unique animations for themselves when they use Break Holds.

5). Fatal Rush:
This is a mechanic that I am not necessarily fond of but let me convey my point of view:
In KOFXIV, there is similar mechanic known as the simply known as the rush combo, which basically involving tapping A multiple times (usually up to four times. On the fourth hit, you will score a special move. If you have one bar of meter, you will get a super move in itself place). BTW, A is just a light punch. Most people, especially intermediate players who have KOFXIV do not even bother with this mechanic for a number of reasons:
- It does not lead to that much damage in retrospect. The player may as well have did a heavy normal into a command move (if the character had one) into a special move. Otherwise, confirming with different lights into a comboable command move into a special move would have also been a good choice for tighter punishes or just an offensive hit confirm. The player is missing a lot of strong options.
- Most of them are highly disadvantageous and risky when they are blocked.

Personally, many players actually forget that the rush combos in KOFXIV were actually in the game in the first place.

Here in DOA, it is the same in theory... but there are obvious difference to consider:

In DOA6, the Fatal Rush appears to actually dish out a bit more damage for any character who utilizes them and can apparently be utilized in some juggle combos. They are very unsafe if the player attempts to use them against a blocking opponent. The problems that I can see coming from this however are the fact that it seems impossible to... variate the animations. There is a part of me that wonders if it is possible for TN to implement this in a way where the player to can somewhat control whether or not the Fatal Rush can start off as a mid, high or a low.
Many of them seem to start off as slow highs or the like. You might not be able to use them easily in the neutral. In stun? Possibly. I don't mind them being slow in this regard because we don't necessarily want the game broken. At the same time, what I like about the Fatal Rush is the fact that it can allow players to shut down hold attempt while playing the stun game (otherwise, shutting down holds could also still be done by simply launching opponents or implementing grab mix-ups).
There is also something that makes me wonder if the player can actually implement these in specific strings...

ACTUALLY.

Helena Douglas. President of DOA Tech and 4th Tournament Champion. Or, hell. Any other character for that matter:

What if Helena & Co. are to have specific strings or pre-set attack combinations that would actually make use of Fatal Rush properties in the middle or at the end of them? What if... Hayabusa… Were to be given Break Blow or Fatal Rush mechanics in either of his own strings? Thoughts like these may be considered questionable and may even insult the intelligence of others but I wonder if TN is going to begin implementing something of this nature in the near future.
Solid post! I enjoyed reading your point of view. People are bothered by FA because it seems to do reasonable damage, and the big kicker here, for minimal effort. Obviously it's for new players and as someone else mentioned it might as well be considered like getting caught by a CH launcher into a juggle except you can BH out with meter. The difference here and why it leaves a bad taste is that when you get caught by a CH launcher and get juggled you know that player put in effort to land that CH launcher at just the right time, and they labbed the follow up juggle so they wouldnt drop it. That leaves you with an "Ah I fucked up. Good job dude." Feeling. FA when you don't have meter to BH out is going to leave you with a "Oh good, we're playing this game." feeling. I have faith the damage we're seeing from FA into BB at the moment wont be represented at launch, and after EVO they'll tone it down, but at the moment from what we're seeing it would be annoying if someone was capable of landing good combo damage with no effort. Whether they're new to the game or not.
 
Solid post! I enjoyed reading your point of view. People are bothered by FA because it seems to do reasonable damage, and the big kicker here, for minimal effort.

This is a weird perspective for The DoA community to have considering the level dexterity the game requires...

I personally do want players to get on my level quickly and if I get hit then that was just me being Sloppy...

The difference here and why it leaves a bad taste is that when you get caught by a CH launcher and get juggled you know that player put in effort to land that CH launcher at just the right time, and they labbed the follow up juggle so they wouldnt drop it. That leaves you with an "Ah I fucked up. Good job dude." Feeling.

I feel like this is what TN Should have addressed... its annoying when I land a move that has a drastically different property on counter hit... you never get enough time to react and capitalise on it. I was hoping TN Could borrow Hitstops from 2D fighting games so we could do some actual one hit confirms. New players might be able to benefit from it too.

I just dont get why they insist on inserting all these stupid gimmick mechanics.

Its probably just Featuritis (They need to add new shit because creating a solid game just isn't enough).
 
This is a weird perspective for The DoA community to have considering the level dexterity the game requires...
NO ONE... Likes seeing low effort tactics rewarded in fighting games when you've put in the time and effort to do better. DOA is no different. It's not about them being on your skill level it's about them not needing to get there because this even lower effort option is equally efficient. Why learn how to CH Launch juggle when you can just CH spam this button.
 
NO ONE... Likes seeing low effort tactics rewarded in fighting games when you've put in the time and effort to do better. DOA is no different.

I thought we were better than that. :(

It's not about them being on your skill level it's about them not needing to get there because this even lower effort option is equally efficient. Why learn how to CH Launch juggle when you can just CH spam this button.

It might be tricky... but there must be a way to deal with S Button Mashers... if there is then the only thing left to bitch about is why the mechanic was implemented in the first place since it clearly isn't giving a leg up to new players....

Although... Fatal Rush might actually be stronger than we think it is. In which case... mission accomplished. But then there would the issue of balance.

For me personally I never ever factor in how much effort it takes to do "X" move because thats a slippery slope. One that ArcSys Games clearly have lost control of except for DBZF Obviously.
 
I thought we were better than that. :(



It might be tricky... but there must be a way to deal with S Button Mashers... if there is then the only thing left to bitch about is why the mechanic was implemented in the first place since it clearly isn't giving a leg up to new players....

Although... Fatal Rush might actually be stronger than we think it is. In which case... mission accomplished. But then there would the issue of balance.

For me personally I never ever factor in how much effort it takes to do "X" move because thats a slippery slope. One that ArcSys Games clearly have lost control of except for DBZF Obviously.
No like already we know there is a way of dealing with them. It only locks you in when they catch you with it and they all start high. Lows most likely crush it, and I'm hoping you can hold the first strike of it if you predict it. All I was explaining is why it will annoy people. If you face a really competent player who decides they're just going to space and poke into stun and then FA spam you, you cant tell me it wont annoy the hell out of you.
 
No like already we know there is a way of dealing with them. It only locks you in when they catch you with it and they all start high. Lows most likely crush it, and I'm hoping you can hold the first strike of it if you predict it. All I was explaining is why it will annoy people. If you face a really competent player who decides they're just going to space and poke into stun and then FA spam you, you cant tell me it wont annoy the hell out of you.

It most certainly will... :confused:

I guess we'l just have to wait and see...
 
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