Best DOA of All-Time

Best DOA game of all time?


  • Total voters
    19

deathofaninja

Well-Known Member
Premium Donor
News Team
Please articulate to the community in your own words your favorite DOA and why it is mechanically the best game to you in the franchise.

With your vote you are essentially voting for every version of the game, but you can specify a version in particular within the comments section.

I think there is some importance to having a community favorite game. Not only can we address it to Koei Tecmo as our favorite but as a community we can have a reference to it.
 

KasumiLover

SovereignKnight_
Premium Donor
Imo the best DOA overall is DOA2, but mostly the 2U version. That game had everything: beautiful stages, great visuals that held up, a ton of unlockable costumes and even Easter eggs like the hitomi being playable with a doa3 memory save, and the cutscenes were good too. As a remake of DOA2 which was already good and the overall balanced gameplay, I loved it. I miss my Xbox 360 so much because it always had me playing.

2nd would be dimensions since that was my awakening to the series when I was 13-15 and I played kasumi for the first time in the savannah mall games gamestop. It held its weight with the chronicle mode, costumes and free dlc and everything was just so fun, especially since it was portable and really helped bring the series back to speed.

3rd is probably doa5 since I got into it during the 5U era and stayed with it in LR when I was 17, loved the massive dlc costume support and how fun it was, and I loved when they included mai and Naotora, I think if they ever do a remake of DOA5, they should use the UE5 for the visuals and do a major balance update where it can play like doa6 by removing SE and toning down the stun, but still make CBs a part of the game again. It says alot when people quickly revisit and play DOA5LR now that DOA6 is not supported by the devs too but DOA5 had gained alot of its newcomer players back then.
 

inochinagi

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
I can never judge what the "best" thing ever is, that's why whenever I give my opinion I always say "my most favourite" or something. That said, I've thought a ton about it before but I still have a hard time coming up with my clear favourite DOA game. They all have their strengths and weaknesses even when it comes to my own personal tastes. DOA4 isn't perfect in gameplay but it's the best at so many other things, like stages, visuals, roster, and story. DOA5 excels in content and gameplay, especially 5U/5LR. DOA3 excels in gameplay but lacks in content. DOA2 excels in its soundtrack and is great in every other way too, especially for its time, but going back to it these days I miss a lot of moves and characters from the newer games. But if I really had to pick I guess I'd go with DOA2 and specifically DOA2U... but one thing I've always wished is that Bomb Factory's music was in that version at least, then it would have been perfect enough (aside from lack of characters I love like Lisa and Christie).

So DOA2U. Then DOA4 is a close 2nd and DOA5U is 3rd. Those 3 are definitely the DOA games I've had the most fun and satisfaction with.

I can admit that DOA5LR might be the best in terms of gameplay, roster, and content, but I feel like DOA5 really made the series a lot more juggle-combo focused compared to previous games (which I do enjoy in its own way but not what I prefer), was weaker in terms of stages, and it also brought in Marie Rose and Honoka near the end of its run. It was a highpoint for the series in so many ways, but also the beginning of some issues that DOA6 expanded on, but I will give DOA6 some kudos for having a great soundtrack (better than DOA5's at least over all) and the best moves for my favourite characters.
 
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Awesmic

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
I don't know about "best DOA of all time", but I do know my favorite DOA of all time... is all of them.

Except DOA 3.0.

And DOA Paradise.

And any future DOAX release without Christie.

But that's all.
 

Gultigargar

Well-Known Member
My personal favorite is DOA3 because it has a lot of really crazy and fun things you can do, movement and the pace of fights feel great, and it also has the least amount of flaws that bother me compared to the other games. Also basically every character's DOA3 incarnation is pretty much the one I have the most fun playing. Even "bad" characters will have access to something wild/fun that they'd no longer have in future games.
 

Derock

Well-Known Member
To me, it's DOA2 because how it brought the franchise to its own identity, thanks to the multi-tier stages from the ill-fated Samurai Shodown 64 and the graphics. Unintentionally, it followed the Street Fighter II trend of updates for more content: while the US Dreamcast version had the short end of the stick, Hardcore PS2 managed to provide that. Then 2004, DOA2U made it 10x better.

Gameplay was on point and was simplified, although 2U added more with the debut of the 4-hold system and slopes. DOA2 soundtrack was THE anthem (sorry DOA3-4 fans) and should be more apprecitated, especially with themes for Ryu Hayabusa, Helena, Ein and Kasumi.

One thing I appreciated that DOA2, despite on certain situations, its fanservice wasn't overboard at the time (although 2U did brought in some bikini costumes for the ladies but they were exceptional).

There are cons though. I mentioned before the US DC version was lackluster in content (which it should had waited to release later after the Limited Edition). Also, some of the original DOA2 stages, such as the Spiral and the L's Castle, and certain costumes didn't transition over to the Ultimate remake. Then the start of the facial animations being a bit stiff and lacking expressions in 2U, unlike the originals.
 

TRid

Well-Known Member
If I had to pick one, that would easily be DOA2 Ultimate. It's the most complete DOA game with the most stunning visuals overall for its time.

Itagaki era:
DOA2 Ultimate: Stage variety and amount of available costumes in the base game
DOA3: Gameplay and overall balance
DOA4: Detailed stages that feel open and vast

Post-Itagaki:
DOA5: Devs interactions with fandom (feedback, costume contests), large roster in the base game, unexpected but working collabs with other franchises
DOA6: Models quality and attention to details, customization (which can be perfected like in DOAXVV)

 

UpSideDownGRUNT

Well-Known Member
It's 2 Ultimate and it's not even close, it's visually the best one especially on Series X with Auto HDR, best costume selection, best stages, best OST, not the best roster though I'd say that goes to either DOAD or DOA5LR. There's a lot to do in single player, it definitely has the most replayablilty of the series.
 

Kasumi-Phase-X

Well-Known Member
My choice of My favorite DOA game is DOA5, what makes this installment peak DOA content with these descriptions right here:

-Multiple choices of outfits (staple since DOA1 Console release) with addition of DLC to provide more outfits (like School Girls, Gym Uniform, Bikinis, G-String, Microkinis, Camisole, hyper revealing leotard which shows more skin, & fossilized armor which also shows more skin)
-Having the ability to change different details like bras & panties (since DOA2: Ultimate)
-Having optional breast physics option (staple since DOA1 with an On/Off Option) with additions of Natural (realistic physics), DOA (similar to past games), & OMG (which is crazy physics than what DOA had to offer), you can also make girl's breast bounce if you are a Playstation Owner using Dualshock Wireless Controller which had abit of motion control
-The games photo which you can move the camera around from either replays from your match or have a CPU vs CPU Mode having the ability to pause which if you want cool action move, funny moments, or taking photos under the girl's skirt (what I did when I had to take 100 pictures)
-Having DLC Gravure Cutscenes (taken from Dead or Alive Xtreme Gravure Cutscenes) which is something you can move the camera around and pause
-With New Addition of Clothing Destruction when DOA5LR Collaborated with Senran Kagura with DOA Girls wearing Outfits based on the Senran Kagura Cast which their outfits can be damaged making the girls half clothed, which Clothing Destruction didn't stop at Senran Kagura but other Collaboration like Tatsunoko & KOF for examples
-Another New Addition is Transforming Outfits that was first introduced in Schoolgirl Strikers DLC Set
-Having Contests which gives fans the chance to pitch either their moves or mainly costumes which ends up as DLC Costumes
-The Female Character Models are peak Video Game Designs from Cute Girls, Pretty Girls, & Sexy Girls which have the perfect body types which are having big breast, skinny, & curvy which is female design 101 which is reasons to buy the game & even play as female characters before choosing male characters & artificial lifeform (who use to been SNK Boss Syndrome for 3D fighters)
-They make their Female Characters inline with what the Japanese are into besides DOA or Fighting Games like Light Novels & Manga when they first made the best newcomer Marie Rose even became an introduction to a new body type that is just as attractive as the standard DOA girl which is a petite girl (size of 147cm/4'10" which is the smallest DOA girl) with a flat chest but has the butt to make up for something
-The Japanese VA that plays as the girls definitely make them interesting which makes you appreciate them and have some laughs (like when Jann Lee threw the nunchakus to Kokoro winds up her not catching them & breaking a vase, with Kokoro line being like "Why did you do that?")
-The game is a 3D Fighter with the stages that has various objects and level hazards like falling off a certain part of a building & wind up in a different area of the level (staple to DOA2, even won 2 DICE Awards with DOA2 & DOA3 for Best Fighting Game Of The Year in 2000 & 2001 Respectfully)
-The game has Command Training where if your trying out a new character you would want to go through all the moves what the game props you up with where if you did the move you would get it right and moves to the next page
-You can easily chain in combos until you reach Critical Stun which you can launch your opponent to do more damage with addition of Critical Burst which would stun the opponent from doing anything giving you a chance to not only launch your opponent, but also do Power Blow & Power Launcher if you lost half of your health to do more damage with Power Blow giving you extra advantage to move around the area to hit before invisible timer to lead into a Cliffhanger in certain levels where character is hanging on the stage with choice of attack or throw with enemy guessing on how they defend from either attack
-DOA New Level Hazards which if you hit a certain object like a generator, things in the level starts going down like a crane knocking down a building in working progress
-Game having custom music you can listen mainly from previous DOA games

This stuff I mention is the monolith of what makes not DOA5 special, but also what makes it DOA special compare to Tekken & Virtua Fighter, should be an instruction on how they create a proper DOA sequel alongside DOAXVV which is another game that is peak DOA game in terms of content, and anything below that wouldn't be a proper sequel which would be easier if they made a 2nd Fighting Game IP (like KT makes multiple Action Games other than Ninja Gaiden like Nioh for example).
 

deathofaninja

Well-Known Member
Premium Donor
News Team
I reopened the poll. No point in closing it this soon. Give people some more time to vote that didn't.
 

WAZAAAAA

Well-Known Member
2U and 3 are the peak of the franchise, but I give a slight edge to 3
- 1 was too unripe (every 1st iteration of every fg tends to be experimental trash, that's fine)
- 2U specifically (forget the rest of the inferior DOA2 editions) has better "assets" (graphics/modes), but 3 has slightly better mechanics and a better roster
- 3.0 (NA) is straight up inferior, 3.1 (JP) and 3.2 (EU/KO) are good but I'm more familiar with 3.2
- 4 is lipstick on a pig, looks pretty on the surface but plays like absolute fucking dogshit, so awful it damaged all the following entries
- D/5/6 slowly tried to repair the stun nausea caused by 4, and 6 is the most reasonable one of the bunch on that aspect, even though it took some steps back

@deathofaninja but I'd like to shill a better type of poll for the future: the 5 star voting system, here's a demo https://star.vote/
it has a million different advantages documented better than I could ever explain, but the one I wanna point out is that the current single choice is not very "expressive" for the voter, for example the moment I cast my vote on DOA3 it'll force me to put DOA2 on the same "no-vote tier" as DOA4, REPULSIVE
 
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