I've decided to provide a list of changes to Dead or Alive 5 that have been announced during the first day of E3. Here, I am merely focusing on system changes from not only the Dead or Alive 5 Alpha Demo, but from Dead or Alive 4 as well. There's been a lot of footage shown so far and this would be a good place to see all the changes. These will not include any character changes such as movelist or attack properties as that's a bit difficult to get. Something of note: the danger zones appeared to be locked off from being used through the "Power Blow" so zones such as the car in Scramble appeared to be usable but this could have just been for the E3 demo purposes.
Power Blow System Changes:
Stun System Changes:
General System Changes:
So how could all of this change the meta game in playing Dead or Alive 5 in its current build? I obviously can't say much about it being that it's the first day of changes that have been found. So, with that said, this is my personal take on how this changes the game in higher level play:
First, let me clarify something for those who aren't familiar with terminology for the Dead or Alive series: the term "stun" is not typically the same as it is in other fighting games where one automatically assumes your opponent can't do anything in said "stun." Dead or Alive has a meta game inside of its "stun" system called the "Critical State" system. There is a difference between a "hit stun" and a "critical stun." With the exception of Dead or Alive 4, all Dead or Alive games have made it so that you can't hold out of hit stun, but you could defensive hold ("counter") out of critical stun after a certain amount of time is spent in the critical stun animation. Dead or Alive 4 changed this rule (sort of) by removing that forced delay you had while you were in a critical stun, effectively allowing you to defensive hold out of any critical stun at a moment's notice and sometimes putting you at a frame advantage over the offensive player. When you hear Dead or Alive players use the term "stun," they are typically talking about a critical stun. It appears that the critical stun system has been making strides to return back to the Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 3 system: critical stuns are less frequent than Dead or Alive 4 allowed and the delay for defensive holding out of them has started to be restored.
I can easily say that there are two major factors in this build that completely change the meta game: (1) the "Critical Burst" attack and (2) stuns that do not allow holds while feet are off the ground.
These two things can completely change the meta game. I have a feeling that there is more to the "Critical Burst" than what we have been told so far. However, as I understand it now, a character can potentially put another in a guaranteed combo due to the amount of ways one can put the other into such a situation. Rikuto hinted at this in his commentary where he can do one guess, I'm presuming the initial starting critical stun hit, combo it into a guaranteed critical stun combo that ends with a "Critical Burst." Then the character can do a free launcher or "Power Blow." Either option could allow the character to cause a knock back into a danger zone or fall towards a ground game scenario. Rikuto suggested Bayman could do such a thing and knock off 50% of a character's life with such a setup. I imagine other characters could do the same.
It's with that understanding that I believe the meta game has been changed to lower the amount of recklessness that is tolerated in the game's offense. I do not believe it will change some characters' offensive abilities as some characters will still be able to press the offense with attacks granting frame advantage pressure or causing a guard break/crush. There's a difference between saying that it's allowing less reckless behavior and the game's offense being toned down. In previous iterations, most dominantly Dead or Alive 4, the player could get away with being so reckless that it really would not matter if they were hit. This was due to the critical stun system allowing for numerous chances to escape the critical state via defensive hold. At times, players would feel better being put in such a state over being the offensive player due to the amount of damage they could do after five or six attempts to escape it. The focus of the meta game is now on that initial hit since the critical stun threshold game has been toned down severely. I can honestly say that it's probably the most severe since Dead or Alive 1, if not more. No longer can a player really find refuge in being hit or put into the critical stun state. Now a player must be cautious and decide their game plan thoughtfully, all while not allowing an opponent to set the pace of the match.
The critical state is something to be feared now due primarily to both of the changes I've mentioned. The opponent is now unable to defensive hold out of every situation and the "Critical Burst" is something that rewards a player for knowledge of their character, the critical stun system, and the environment. This will make the game rely more on poke strings than previous titles have; Dead or Alive 3.1/3.2 were probably the closest to matching such a meta game.
I think that, for now, you'll still be seeing many players play the game like Dead or Alive 4 (including mashing the low defensive hold on instinct) but I believe that with time adjusting to the changes we'll be able to see less of a reliance on the defensive holds and more so a reliance of the various new defensive features applied to the title. Something that hasn't been utilized as well as it really should is the side step system, not to be confused with the "Free Step" system. "Free Stepping" is associated with positional spacing with the environment by holding
or , similar to Soul Calibur's "8 Way Run." The side step can be considered a special movement and was designated by the command in the Dead or Alive 5 Alpha demo but has changed to and in the E3 demo build. This is certainly an area that the players will have to adjust to as the game gets closer to release.
The last thing to discuss is the buff to throws in the game. Dead or Alive has traditionally been an attack heavy game. Unlike most fighting games like Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, or Tekken, the Dead or Alive throw system is not treated like an attack. What I mean by that is in some other fighting games, like the ones just mentioned, the throw is more like an unblockable attack where it will win against another attack if its active hit frame connects before an opponent's active hit frame connects. In Dead or Alive, the throw loses immediately if an opponent is in the initial or active frames of the attack. Due to this, the throw game has not implemented a throw break system because I feel that the developers are trying to reward a grabbing player for reading correctly that the opponent would not attack. This is also probably why the throw speeds are typically so quick compared to other games, to make it easier to throw punish attacks or guard disadvantage. Even then Dead or Alive's fastest throws (at i4-5 speeds) are breakable throws for that reason and because they don't require a command input. "Offensive Holds" are probably the closest thing to throws in those other games, as their purpose is to grab an attack in its initial, active, or recovery frames and only loses to throws and attacks other than its own hit level. These "Offensive Holds" are offset by having much slower start up times than the standard throws, typically equal to the speed of the launching attacks. Both "Offensive Holds" and normal throws can have "Combo Throw" properties, where a speed game of initiating the multi-part throw is in combat with the opponent breaking the combo throw itself. This typically has resulted in a mix-match of advantage throughout the series.
So it's with those properties established that I think it should be mentioned how the grappling game has been improved in Dead or Alive 5. The grappling class has received buffs in range and damage. In addition, the grapplers who are typically the slowest of the cast in terms of attack speed will be given a frame advantage if their combo throw is broken. This gives more reward to the grappling player for playing the odds of the attack game and reading a guard, hold, or attack successfully while still providing a pressure tool should a combo throw be broken. This pressure allows for a smarter, calmer player to punish a more reckless player. In addition to the combo throw buff, the grapplers have been given a return to guaranteed ground throw traps. The grapplers have ways to hit confirm their ground throws like they did in all previous Dead or Alive games, with the exception of Dead or Alive 4. This has, in turn, changed the ground game. In Dead or Alive 4, a player would typically opt for a lower damaging combo that forced the opponent up as they fell to the ground. Otherwise, a falling player could tech the ground immediately just by mashing buttons or directions. This prevented the grapplers from gaining their necessary added damage to their juggles and generally benefited only striking characters who had more attack options for juggles and untechable force techs. Although the system still exists, it's no where near as dominant in play as it was in Dead or Alive 4. Grapplers can now do just as much damage as the striking characters to a juggling character thanks to guaranteed methods of utilizing their unique ground throws. Now it's up to the player to decide which juggle combo they would prefer to use based on (1) the launch height, (2) the environmental slope, (3) the end juggle positioning, or (4) the damage wanted to guarantee. It should be noted that most ground throws typically leave the grabbing character at a positional disadvantage to the wake-up kick meta game.
So, in my opinion, Dead or Alive 5 is shaping up to be a very good, legitimate fighting game. My cowboy hat is off to Yohei Shimbori and the fine people over at Team NINJA Studios and Koei-Tecmo. I think with the right push, and enough community support, this game can see a greater tournament scene than the series has ever had. I look forward to the release of this game the more I see of it and I look forward to meeting so many new and old players in the tournaments to come after its release. From day one, this website has been here with the goal to push the competitive mindset that this game series has deserved and I think this community has a chance at putting its past behind it and pushing forward with what looks to be the best chance it has ever had. I'm not talking about e-Sports or sponsorships here, as those are rewards to an established community and should not be used as a crutch. The game looks like it will have enough merit on its own with these changes to the system, and it's high time we all acknowledge that we are fighters and come together under similar goals.
I'm a fighter. How about you?
Power Blow System Changes:
- Power Blows have been changed from to a command depending on the character, typically .
- Power Blows can only be performed once the user has lost 50% of their life, which is noted by the lifebar glowing red.
- If the user does not have a red flashing bar when performing a Power Blow attack, he/she will perform what was the DOA5 Alpha uncharged hit effect: a knockdown pushback.
Stun System Changes:
- There's a new attack titled the "Critical Burst." This is where one or more moves of a character performs a special stun if the opponent was at full stun threshold when connecting.
- The "Critical Burst" puts a character into a deep fall forward standing stun that is not able to be held out, in effect allowing for a free hit of anything from a launcher to a power blow.
- The "Critical Burst" is just a normal attack from the character and can generally be initiated at max threshold. It is notable when the "Critical Burst" connects as a puff of smoke appears after the hit.
- Any time the character is in a critical stun that has their feet off the ground (i.e Sit down, lift, trip stuns) the opponent is not able to hold out of the stun until feet have returned to standing.
- Guard Breaks and Guard Crushes can't be held out of immediately like Dead or Alive 4, this is because of the above listed change where the opponent can't hold until both feet are on the ground. This can allow for some guaranteed followups after a guard break.
- The stun threshold (Critical State) has been returned to the lifebars. This is probably due to the importance of the "Critical Burst" attack in the game.
- Characters have options to allow a normal hit launcher and still get decent juggle damage. This is something that was more prevalent in the earlier Dead or Alive games.
General System Changes:
- The mid kick normal hold is now instead of being merged with the mid punch hold () like in the Dead or Alive 5 Alpha build.
- The high hit level wake-up kick attack has been removed from the game after being introduced into Dead or Alive 4. The mid hit level and low hit level still remain but are generally unsafe on guard.
- A grappler receives a frame advantage bonus if their combo throw is broken out of, allowing them to still press the advantage.
- A grappler can get a guaranteed ground throw more often than in comparison to Dead or Alive 4. This is typically best used when there is a ground slam in a juggle or off the wall crumple.
- The side step has been changed to and . Rikuto mentioned that hitting on the Xbox 360 directional pad will accidentally perform a motion.
- The gym shows the rope bounce from Dead or Alive 4.0 where it appears the opponent can't defensive hold during the bounce back.
So how could all of this change the meta game in playing Dead or Alive 5 in its current build? I obviously can't say much about it being that it's the first day of changes that have been found. So, with that said, this is my personal take on how this changes the game in higher level play:
First, let me clarify something for those who aren't familiar with terminology for the Dead or Alive series: the term "stun" is not typically the same as it is in other fighting games where one automatically assumes your opponent can't do anything in said "stun." Dead or Alive has a meta game inside of its "stun" system called the "Critical State" system. There is a difference between a "hit stun" and a "critical stun." With the exception of Dead or Alive 4, all Dead or Alive games have made it so that you can't hold out of hit stun, but you could defensive hold ("counter") out of critical stun after a certain amount of time is spent in the critical stun animation. Dead or Alive 4 changed this rule (sort of) by removing that forced delay you had while you were in a critical stun, effectively allowing you to defensive hold out of any critical stun at a moment's notice and sometimes putting you at a frame advantage over the offensive player. When you hear Dead or Alive players use the term "stun," they are typically talking about a critical stun. It appears that the critical stun system has been making strides to return back to the Dead or Alive 2 and Dead or Alive 3 system: critical stuns are less frequent than Dead or Alive 4 allowed and the delay for defensive holding out of them has started to be restored.
I can easily say that there are two major factors in this build that completely change the meta game: (1) the "Critical Burst" attack and (2) stuns that do not allow holds while feet are off the ground.
These two things can completely change the meta game. I have a feeling that there is more to the "Critical Burst" than what we have been told so far. However, as I understand it now, a character can potentially put another in a guaranteed combo due to the amount of ways one can put the other into such a situation. Rikuto hinted at this in his commentary where he can do one guess, I'm presuming the initial starting critical stun hit, combo it into a guaranteed critical stun combo that ends with a "Critical Burst." Then the character can do a free launcher or "Power Blow." Either option could allow the character to cause a knock back into a danger zone or fall towards a ground game scenario. Rikuto suggested Bayman could do such a thing and knock off 50% of a character's life with such a setup. I imagine other characters could do the same.
It's with that understanding that I believe the meta game has been changed to lower the amount of recklessness that is tolerated in the game's offense. I do not believe it will change some characters' offensive abilities as some characters will still be able to press the offense with attacks granting frame advantage pressure or causing a guard break/crush. There's a difference between saying that it's allowing less reckless behavior and the game's offense being toned down. In previous iterations, most dominantly Dead or Alive 4, the player could get away with being so reckless that it really would not matter if they were hit. This was due to the critical stun system allowing for numerous chances to escape the critical state via defensive hold. At times, players would feel better being put in such a state over being the offensive player due to the amount of damage they could do after five or six attempts to escape it. The focus of the meta game is now on that initial hit since the critical stun threshold game has been toned down severely. I can honestly say that it's probably the most severe since Dead or Alive 1, if not more. No longer can a player really find refuge in being hit or put into the critical stun state. Now a player must be cautious and decide their game plan thoughtfully, all while not allowing an opponent to set the pace of the match.
The critical state is something to be feared now due primarily to both of the changes I've mentioned. The opponent is now unable to defensive hold out of every situation and the "Critical Burst" is something that rewards a player for knowledge of their character, the critical stun system, and the environment. This will make the game rely more on poke strings than previous titles have; Dead or Alive 3.1/3.2 were probably the closest to matching such a meta game.
I think that, for now, you'll still be seeing many players play the game like Dead or Alive 4 (including mashing the low defensive hold on instinct) but I believe that with time adjusting to the changes we'll be able to see less of a reliance on the defensive holds and more so a reliance of the various new defensive features applied to the title. Something that hasn't been utilized as well as it really should is the side step system, not to be confused with the "Free Step" system. "Free Stepping" is associated with positional spacing with the environment by holding
or , similar to Soul Calibur's "8 Way Run." The side step can be considered a special movement and was designated by the command in the Dead or Alive 5 Alpha demo but has changed to and in the E3 demo build. This is certainly an area that the players will have to adjust to as the game gets closer to release.The last thing to discuss is the buff to throws in the game. Dead or Alive has traditionally been an attack heavy game. Unlike most fighting games like Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, or Tekken, the Dead or Alive throw system is not treated like an attack. What I mean by that is in some other fighting games, like the ones just mentioned, the throw is more like an unblockable attack where it will win against another attack if its active hit frame connects before an opponent's active hit frame connects. In Dead or Alive, the throw loses immediately if an opponent is in the initial or active frames of the attack. Due to this, the throw game has not implemented a throw break system because I feel that the developers are trying to reward a grabbing player for reading correctly that the opponent would not attack. This is also probably why the throw speeds are typically so quick compared to other games, to make it easier to throw punish attacks or guard disadvantage. Even then Dead or Alive's fastest throws (at i4-5 speeds) are breakable throws for that reason and because they don't require a command input. "Offensive Holds" are probably the closest thing to throws in those other games, as their purpose is to grab an attack in its initial, active, or recovery frames and only loses to throws and attacks other than its own hit level. These "Offensive Holds" are offset by having much slower start up times than the standard throws, typically equal to the speed of the launching attacks. Both "Offensive Holds" and normal throws can have "Combo Throw" properties, where a speed game of initiating the multi-part throw is in combat with the opponent breaking the combo throw itself. This typically has resulted in a mix-match of advantage throughout the series.
So it's with those properties established that I think it should be mentioned how the grappling game has been improved in Dead or Alive 5. The grappling class has received buffs in range and damage. In addition, the grapplers who are typically the slowest of the cast in terms of attack speed will be given a frame advantage if their combo throw is broken. This gives more reward to the grappling player for playing the odds of the attack game and reading a guard, hold, or attack successfully while still providing a pressure tool should a combo throw be broken. This pressure allows for a smarter, calmer player to punish a more reckless player. In addition to the combo throw buff, the grapplers have been given a return to guaranteed ground throw traps. The grapplers have ways to hit confirm their ground throws like they did in all previous Dead or Alive games, with the exception of Dead or Alive 4. This has, in turn, changed the ground game. In Dead or Alive 4, a player would typically opt for a lower damaging combo that forced the opponent up as they fell to the ground. Otherwise, a falling player could tech the ground immediately just by mashing buttons or directions. This prevented the grapplers from gaining their necessary added damage to their juggles and generally benefited only striking characters who had more attack options for juggles and untechable force techs. Although the system still exists, it's no where near as dominant in play as it was in Dead or Alive 4. Grapplers can now do just as much damage as the striking characters to a juggling character thanks to guaranteed methods of utilizing their unique ground throws. Now it's up to the player to decide which juggle combo they would prefer to use based on (1) the launch height, (2) the environmental slope, (3) the end juggle positioning, or (4) the damage wanted to guarantee. It should be noted that most ground throws typically leave the grabbing character at a positional disadvantage to the wake-up kick meta game.
So, in my opinion, Dead or Alive 5 is shaping up to be a very good, legitimate fighting game. My cowboy hat is off to Yohei Shimbori and the fine people over at Team NINJA Studios and Koei-Tecmo. I think with the right push, and enough community support, this game can see a greater tournament scene than the series has ever had. I look forward to the release of this game the more I see of it and I look forward to meeting so many new and old players in the tournaments to come after its release. From day one, this website has been here with the goal to push the competitive mindset that this game series has deserved and I think this community has a chance at putting its past behind it and pushing forward with what looks to be the best chance it has ever had. I'm not talking about e-Sports or sponsorships here, as those are rewards to an established community and should not be used as a crutch. The game looks like it will have enough merit on its own with these changes to the system, and it's high time we all acknowledge that we are fighters and come together under similar goals.
I'm a fighter. How about you?
