Dionysus
Well-Known Member
I liked this article about DOA so I translated it. It's about 5700 words in translation over 3 parts, and follows the author's love for the series and Hitomi in particular up to the release of VR for DOAX3. Since it relates to the series in general and I didn't want to hijack any threads with an enormous text dump like this I'm putting it here for anyone interested. I think it's an interesting viewpoint. The idea of paying penance in DOAX3 is interesting and highlights that we don't actually play it like a game simply for pleasure. There has to be suffering in order to feel justified looking at the characters. This is kind of like a porn director saying to the actors: "I know you aren't really feeling it, but just imagine you're aroused!" We aren't really aroused, we're just imagining it. In that sense, DOAX is most erotic when the girls aren't even on screen. But I'll have a more complete analysis of DOA as a psychological experience later, drawing on this article, which is why I translated it in full so people would have context. Please enjoy.
Dead or Alive: Record of Craving and Paradise
Part One: A Boy in Puberty Meets DOA
In March 2016, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 was released on the PS4 and PS Vita. And then, ten months later in 2017, January the 24th, the addition we'd been waiting for so long arrived: the VR Paradise for the PSVR. Shortly after the release of this VR Paradise, we came to the first year anniversary of DOAX3. After my strong requests, I was kindly granted the right to write some thoughts on the DOA series to mark the occasion. In this first part, I'll reveal completely one part of my history with the series; a history which stretches 20 years now. It may not compare to Au Yeung Yu Leung or Ezra Krabbe's stories, but please bear with me.
WHAT IS "DOA"?
Before diving into these memories, I'd like to explain what Dead or Alive is. Simply, a 3D fighting game with over twenty years of history. Perhaps some of you would like to modify that discussion: but I assure you it is without a doubt a fighting game series. Using blows, throws, and holds in a triangle system comparable to scissors paper rock, it is accessible to beginners because these systems emphasize the ability to "read" an opponent over combos. Thanks to this hold system, the ability to vortex an opponent all through a match more or less disappears; and a reversal is possible even from a position of stark disadvantage. These then are some of the main characteristics of the series systems. In addition, The stages can explode or collapse, characters may fall from many metres, and other such over-the-top effects differentiate it from other fighting games; the tight integration of these effects with the fighting might be the single most memorable feature of the game. After DOA3, the absence of arcade editions may have ensured it couldn't dominate the mainstream 3D fighting game market, such games as Tekken or Soul Calibur; nonetheless, I believe one can fairly say that DOA has a peculiar charm all its own.
However, the first DOA had another feature that attracted attention quite different from those other games. That would be the "breast movement" physics that were so unique for a 3D polygon game at that time. While I personally have not played DOA1, I can say that from what I've heard the graphics were exceptional for the time, and the beautiful women such as Kasumi attracted many young men of the time. Since then, the series has continued to feature a high proportion of female characters, with costume designs that may perhaps be described as 'bold'; this aspect of the series has then been in display ever since the original game came out.
In this column, I will look back at my own meeting with such a game, in the years of my puberty, and how it has intersected with my life as a gamer ever since.
A Young Male Gamer Comes Across "DOA"
I first encountered DOA as primary school came to an end. This was when Dead or Alive 3 was released for the Xbox. Back then there was a video shop that dealt in games as well near my home. I was just wasting time playing some of the demos set up at the front of the shop. Of course, the Xbox boasted the best graphics of any machine, and the dynamic stage design and danger zone production, and the hold-heavy gameplay that let you stage a comeback at a stroke are still things I can remember vividly as cinematic and revolutionary. The first game I ever played was Street Fighter Zero 2, and I was a pretty big fighting game fan already; so I was primed to fall in love with the game, and whenever we went to the shops, I went straight to the demo station to play it. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that until my parents told me 'we're leaving', my eyes never left the screen. Those strange yelps from Jann Lee never stopped; but looking back at it now, no doubt everyone was annoyed at this kid hogging the demo machine and causing a rackus. I feel kind of sorry about it now. But thanks to that experience, I was able to collect my allowance and save up for the PS2 version of Dead or Alive 2; so all's well that ends well.
Having bought DOA2, I played it each and every day. At that stage I didn't play with any deep knowledge of the system, and lost a lot out of nowhere thanks to getting held, but none the less I kept playing without worry. The essential elements of the series were already all set by 2, and it was after all my first 3D fighting game. I think myself it might be weird for a kid to start with 3D fighting games not with VF or Tekken, but with DOA. Probably, the graphics being so close to anime in style helped for a kid like me to get into it. Thanks to the fond memories from that time, I'm still playing DOA to this day, I think.
But there was a problem with the game for a kid, and a big one at that. The issue of 'where do I look'? The bewitching women swung their full-to-bursting melons all over, and during intense fights the amply sized limbs would be exposed by the clothes, flesh sparkling white from the gaps. And Kasumi's clone even appeared tantalizingly naked for a glorious moment. Looking at it now, you can't exactly see the modelling as inflaming, yet for a young boy in primary school who could barely even bring himself to select the female characters at all, the stimulus was too much.
Still, while it was embarrassing, it didn't reach to the level of feeling any guilt, and so in fact I continued to play DOA2 for some months. After getting used to the game, I gathered in a friend’s house with 5 or 6 people, used the throws on the women over and over while we all cheered for "panties, panties, panties!". I was in deep enough to buy DOA2 Hardcore on release by now. To unlock the new costumes, I have fond memories of playing over a hundred matches in a day with a friend. Those additional costumes were basically all sexy, so you could say we were showing our credentials as young perverts quite shamelessly. Since there weren't any CERO ratings, it was 'safe' after all.
The Southern Island Dazzles with Blinding Radiance
Soon after in 2003, the Paradise series, or the Xtreme series, finally began to form its pairing with the fighting games. This was a game were you played the women of DOA as they played volleyball on a tropical island, while collecting over 300 swimsuits; a downright gallant shift to the sexual. Even those who don't know DOA as a fighting game at all will know about "Oppai Volley", or one of the other nicknames. The first game had other minigames such as the skipping game (jumping over blocks across water), which you did to get money and buy even more swimsuits. In fact there was no goal other than that, so if I played now I'd probably get bored out of my mind quickly - though the sequels are perhaps no different in this respect. Anyway, this game, which abandoned fighting entirely for enjoying the girls' vacations, was deeply impactful for me in that impressionable time, and shone like a 'paradise' indeed.
However, the Xbox having such a minor presence in Japan, so I didn't care for trying any games past DOA3 and Onimusha Warlords; it remained outside the grasp of a junior high student like me. At least, until the power of DOAX blew that way of thinking away. My worldly desires provoked precisely and powerfully, I knew I had to get my hands on an Xbox.
Perhaps the Xbox being so minor in Japan helped me out at the end, as in the shop where I'd bought DOA2 here was a used Xbox for 9000 yen on sale. I thought that I could make this work. I couldn't just ask for a new console out of nowhere from my parents, but I did come up with a plan. I absolutely would not accept failure: I needed the console. I first lent the PS2 to them, taking advantage of it playing DVDs; and in exchange I asked for the Xbox. I carefully brought up the price and how for a game console, it wasn't really that expensive.
You might think, 'wait, that's it?', but to me, it was the best my junior-high brain could do. It seems a pretty shallow plan doomed to failure now, but somehow it worked out just as planned. So I was able to get an Xbox and DOA3 together without any major issues. I may have been a fool who neglected studying to play all the time, but thanks to my parents not putting any conditions on me, even getting good results, I was able to. Probably they didn't know the dark urges behind my desire to get it.
Wait a minute, I expect you're saying. What has this got to do with Xtreme? But think about it. Would you be able to ask your parents for a game filled with bikini-clad girls? Someone in puberty values their privacy more than that. So while playing DOA3 I continued to stock up my allowance. But this turned out well. As in the process I met with a love that continues to this day.
The Boy Who Fell In Love With The Karate Girl
Since I had for a short time studied karate myself, in DOA2 I went with the amnesiac karate user Ein -- though his cool BGM theme was another reason. As listed in the last part, I had succeeded in my plot to get an Xbox. Getting it and DOA, I had at first planned to continue using Ein, but unfortunately he is not in DOA3 (more exactly, he is a hidden character in it). In DOA3 Ein regains his memory and returns as the leader of the ninjas Hayate; his fighting style also changes. As someone used to the beginner-friendly Ein's inputs, I found it hard to get into using Hayate.
But though I was discouraged by this, it was also the reason I discovered Hitomi. First appearing in DOA3, she's established as having trained with Ein, and so she could be thought of as a substitute character of sorts for him. At first I was pretty unsatisfied with that, resigning myself to it while wishing that it could have been Ein while I was using Hitomi as a substitute; but before I knew it, she had acquired a hold over me to the point that I was obsessed with her.
The beauty of her long brown hair, the cool casual style based on denim, the cheerful attitude and smile, the way she never forgot respectful manners before and after matches... though she didn't match the kind of girl I was usually interested in, everything about her just resonated with me; before I knew it, I had fallen for her. Ever since, she's been my main in both the fighting and Xtreme games. My DOAX hours amount to around 200, and of that about half have been solely devoted Hitomi. In the new Warriors All-Stars game by Koei Tecmo DOA has a few representatives, but the absence of Hitomi is a gaping omission (we're all hoping for DLC right?)
Finally Reaching Paradise
After fighting with Hitomi for a few months, I'd saved up enough of my allowance, so I went -- not to the usual shop, but to another that took about 30 minutes to get to by bike. While I wasn't that familiar with any of the staff at the regular store, I still didn't dare to buy DOAX at a place I was at so often. A student at that age will get a lot of attention just from the gravure images on the front of a manga magazine; I suppose I didn't want to be seen buying DOAX in an environment like that.
I went uphill while panting my heart out on the way there; and on the back, I was so eager to get started playing that I went at a speed altogether dangerous. Since starting saving months earlier, my desire had happened until it had reached the level of a real craving; now it was time to quench that thirst. I never entered into club activities and never liked sporting; it was that craving that drove me. Can you think of a more idiotic sort of puberty?
Coming to Know The Value of Moderated Exposure
And since I'd finally gotten my hands on my long-awaited DOAX, of course I played it without end. Of course, I mainly used Hitomi, but to acquire all of the swimsuits, I played all of the characters many times. I got to the point of being able to win at volleyball pretty much every time, and I knew every character nuances inside and out. Even though I played PS2 games too, I played DOAX so much that hands fit themselves to the big Duke controller and I couldn't hold the PS2 controller easily. It was precisely because I was a child that I was able to play such a game to the point where that happened... but then again, I've also played DOAX3 over 200 hours, so perhaps nothing has changed.
DOAX had 300 swimsuits, the designs ranging from standards to things closer to cosplay. Boys of that age are likely to assume that the more a swimsuit exposes, the better, and in fact the first thing I did was expend all my efforts to get the most extreme one, the Venus. But in the process of playing so long trying to get, I had come to realize how good a more moderate level of exposure could be. To realize that in junior high might be a little too precocious, but for me, who had indulged in drawing so much that I dreamt of becoming a manga artist, that principle has become a boundless source of design ideas.
On a tangent, I remember being seen by my father once while playing. Since it's the age where you try to hide stuff like that, at first I was desperate. However, I rushed to replace the Venus with a more normal bikini and continued playing while feigning calm. Probably the way I reacted was pretty sad-looking. My being so flustered was probably plain to see, after all. But it doesn't end there. Having had some thought or another, my dad suddenly asked 'what kind of swimsuit do you like?'. I hurriedly pointed out the one I'd changed into, and responded 'just a normal one like this', trying to end the conversation quickly. He was probably trying to gloss over the fact that in some way, he had intruded on an aspect of his son's private world. Still, what a question, dad.
Separation, Reunion, and Revival
After that, I become estranged with the DOA series for some years after having gotten so into it. It wasn't that I stopped playing games in general. just that with part-time work and a band, I had less and less time for it. I spent most of my money on musical instruments and the like, so I couldn't buy games as much. I also had a PS3 but not a Xbox 360, so I couldn't get a chance to play the Xbox exclusives DOA4 and DOAX2. Yet I still saw them on the shelf every time I entered the game store, giving me a painful feeling of missing out. I don't regret my experiences of that time I general, but as a gamer, I have nothing but regrets.
Then time went on, until 2012. I'd stopped being in a band so I had more free time, and spent much of it on games. The seventh console generation went on, and great titles were coming out a lot by then. And just at that time, as I began my life as a gamer once more, Dead or Alive 5 came out. I remember getting excited just from seeing the name. The debut trailer that came out then, just as the time was ripe, featured the even more beautifully rendered Hitomi and Ayane.
The designs which had tended towards stylistic deformation had become much more realistic, and as if to symbolize battle itself sweat could be seen on their bare skin as dirt accumulated over the course of the fight. At the time of announcement, it's certainly true that the fans had fights over the virtues of this redesign. For me, I welcomed the change with open arms. The old design was good, but it showed its age. and the new design, which matched the changes over the years, was just what I wanted. The sexiness of the limbs covered in sweat was another reason. Not that you can pay attention to that during a match.
When You Don't Have to Save Like a Student To Buy A Game
Unlike DOA4 or X2, 5 was multi-platform for the 360 and PS4; so I celebrated finally being able to play DOA again. I waited eagerly to be again to throw myself into the battles of DOA along with the new improved Hitomi. I probably would have bought a 360 for it without a second thought had it been exclusive again.
Meanwhile, Ninja Gaiden 3, also developed by Team Ninja at the same time, had a demo code for DOA5 on the original edition. I thought about buying NG3 just for that. However, there was a difference between the demos on the PS3 and 360 versions. They had different playable characters, and Hitomi, who I was aiming to play as, was on the 360 version. If I waited for the release I could of course play as anyone, but I was still disappointed because of how keen I was to play the new reborn Hitomi as soon as possible. After doing some research, I found that on an expensive collector’s edition was a demo that had both sets of characters. 'How dare you, Koei Tecmo!!'... I didn't say it out loud, but I did feel a certain degree of indignation about it. But by then I was an adult myself. I thought how nice it was to have the small degree of freedom of an adult, when you don't have to save like a student to buy a game. By the way, I tried NG3 but didn't like it and hardly ended up ever touching it again.
While I like fighting games, I don't go as far as serious players do in labbing and going through many sets; so I'm closer to what is called the casual player. Still, in DOA5 I studied combos and neutral movement and the like, and went out my way to do a lot of online matches. From long-time fans, there were arguments about the weakening of holds and emphasis on combos, but for it it was the first DOA in so long, and I ended up getting friends who had been exclusively 2D players to also join in matches. I also played games like Street Fighter 4 at the same time, but I preferred DOA as a game where you could leave more to intuition and play in a more carefree manner.
After this DOA5 had Ultimate and Last Round, additional upgraded versions; I bought them all and got all the trophies and bought the large numbers of costume DLC for a long while. There are a lot of other games coming out now, so I have less chances to play and have ceased to follow DLC, but I still occasionally play it as long of my favoured fighting games.
The Eagerly Awaited New Game is... Ascetic
As already stated I didn't play DOAX on the 360. I also didn't play Dead or Aive Paradise which came out for the PSP, so DOAX3 was the first time I'd gone back to the Xtreme series in 13 years. For this reason the sense of anticipation was great, and I remember celebrating like the old days when the news of its production came out. Among fans people eager to see the characters in their new DOA5 state in the Xtreme games were commonly seen, and as Team Ninja had often said 'we'll possibly be able to make one if we see enough requests from people', we were pleased to see that our requests had gotten to them. But as information was released close to launch, things got more suspicious.
They Demanded The Players Choose Between 16 Beautiful Women
From the first 'election', there was resistance. At the time of DOAX2, all 9 female characters that were in the series was playable. In DOA5, over several instances, the number of female characters had increased to 16; naturally everyone assumed all would be in the new Xtreme. However, what came out of Team Ninja was this: 'We put out paid custom themes, and according to the sales the top nine characters go into the game'. A harsh thing indeed.
Can you believe it? Even though there were 16 characters, all wonderfully attractive, they demanded that the players choose between them. And at a price of 300 yen just to vote. That's what we call selling out your characters cheaply. Where was the love for characters built up over so long? Where was the pride for their creations? One couldn't help feeling indignation at their plan.
And I felt a degree of danger as well. Hitomi may be a popular character, but with the up and coming extreme force behind Marie and Honoka, it was a dangerous situation for her. Desperate to prevent Hitomi from not getting in, I ended up buying her theme and that of another character I liked Mila, getting brought into TN's nonsense. And only Hitomi got selected of the two. The failure of Lei Fang and Tina despite their presence from the first game disappointed a lot of fans too. The themes that acted as the voting right for this vote didn't have any animation or even BGM, and after checking what it was I haven't ever used it since until using it as a screenshot for this article.
Plainly Put, The Gameplay of DOA3X is Asceticism
And in addition, the removal of series standbys such as the Marine Race and Imitation Gravure, and the decrease in number of the swimsuits meant that it hardly even felt like a sequel as more information came out. When it was released, in addition to the decrease in content, Owner Mode and Owner Level, two unneeded features, were added, players were stressed by the addition of upper limits to money, and the price of downloadable outfits also brought negative responses from fans.
At IGN Japan we gave the free edition of the game a 6.8, but judging from how in the premium game with all feature unlocked I've spent 200 hours, I'd like to call it a lukewarm score. Playing DOAX3 is a form of asceticism. It's like the folk tales of children in the Buddhist Child's Limbo, endlessly building stone towers and having them torn down by oni; like this you must continue on working in the game forever. This no doubt makes it inferior as a game to the original of 13 years prior. If you asked for the worst game of 2016, I'd name this no doubt, so much was I disappointed by it.
After release there were many features added or improves in updates, but even now it's a game that demands a huge amount of patience in doing its routine work, the basic cause of the stress it causes to play it not gone. Though the hotly-awaited Photo Paradise Mode where you can pose in any swimsuit you've given the girls was added, you have to take so much time getting the poses unlocked. And further, just like the swimsuits you have to use the present function to give them poses where they may not accept. It's all just work, and the reward you get is nothing in comparison. It's a very sterile game. like blood from a stone. Even so I bought just the Hitomi part of the periodic outfits. But because of the money restrictions I had to work for it every time, and eventually I got so annoyed by this I stopped playing the game at all.
The Sudden Paradise Opening Announcement
It happened on the 24th of the first month of 2017. On the island that could be called 'a hell made to look like heaven', the players who had prayed for remuneration for their asceticism for so long, had the doors to paradise opened to them.
VR Paradise... It should have come out with PSVR on 13 October 2016. Before release there was a delay, and a while later there was a sudden release of information as it was announced for release the next day. There was even paid DLC, but as an apology for the delay those who bought it would have it free for download for 2 months. It'd faded out of attention for a while, but I had still awaited it hotly, and thought 'it's finally come' at the time.
It WAS A Paradise
You're probably thinking that's a bit much for all the complaints. But the game I'd spent 200 hours with had VR now. Perhaps to put it another way, without such a bait I'd never have been able to deal with this game, truthfully.
On the day, I started the PS4 to try as soon as it was released. But what was there was an alert for starting file downloads. Damn it, I thought; but don't rush it, since waiting the final moments just adds the spice to something like this. I calmed myself and waiting carefully. I could have done something, but I simply waited. It felt like an eternity while being mere minutes; it was like going back to the student days of craving for DOAX, the golden age.
Open the game and the words 'VR Paradise' are there. But even that's enough to stoke up excitement. Finally, the days of asceticism will be rewarded with a paradise... to which I opened the door. And what was waiting there for me surprised all imagination. The boundless sunlight of a tropical southern island, a beach upon which hit waves of not just water but freedom. And then they appear in front of you. Swimsuit-clad beauties showing their gorgeous bodies. When I say this vision... I could say only one thing. 'This truly is... Paradise'.
Paradise After Ten-Odd Years
The first time you begin, a VR-specific tutorial starts. You use Kasumi as a model and get taught the basics of changing viewpoint, and when I saw the screen turn to her I couldn't stop myself from uttering a sigh. She was too vivid, too sensual, and too beautiful not to.
I'd played a fair amount of PSVR titles up to that point, but DOAX3 made the largest impression of the lot. This was because I'd been unhappy with the resolution of the games prior to this. Since for VR motion sickness is such a problem, stability becomes an absolute need, and to decrease load on the machine, resolution is often sacrificed. So no matter how new and interesting the experience was, the sense of immersion they worked so hard to build would be hurt by the lacklustre nature of the image itself. My being excited by the Pro compatibility was because of this. The look of VR Paradise is marked by this: though the background is simplified compared to non-VR play, the resolution itself is high and satisfyingly beautiful. The liberating sense of the surroundings extending so far away, combined with the way this highlights the women themselves, is one other aspect that leaves an impression. That beautiful look of the game, and the vivid depiction of the game's beautiful women who I had come to know so well, are enough to make you panic when they suddenly appear in front of you.
They say 'More Beautiful in Person than on TV', But Isn't That Just Flattery?
I was constantly excited due to the quick succession of announcement, release, and the great quality of it, but I remember something here. I'd like Kasumi as far as it goes, but to be so struck by her: what would be my response to see Hitomi, who'd been the object of my affections for over ten years, in this degree of vividness, with this daringness and closeness? To figure out the answer I opened the closet Hitomi. I was ready. With expectation in my heart, I went to her.
Then I was in front of her, Hitomi herself. To tell the truth, the aspect of surprise was gone since I'd already seen Kasumi. It's somewhat sad I couldn't experience my first time with someone I liked more. Even so, after seeing her so many times, the girl of my adoration was more beautiful than ever. People often say of actresses and idols, 'they look more beautiful in person than on TV', but doesn't everyone think that's mere flattery? I thought so too. But it's true so far as I can tell. VR is also through a screen of course, but that's not the point. Even through it she was there. the visuals were unchanged and yet she was unspeakably cute. It's a new and unknown experience, impossible to describe with mere words!
The girl in front of my eyes with her glamorous body and beautiful to the point of losing verisimilitude facial features, was unmistakably marked as fiction by those qualities. Fiction... unreality... falsity... no matter what words you use, it means 'impossible to reach'. Over ten years since her creation, that was still an unbreakable truth, and I of course understood that... Or I should have. Yet my brain couldn't comprehend her not really being there. She made a pose, and I instinctually moved despite the impossibility of us touching, because I felt 'reality' from her. I want to get closer, but is it right? I didn't expect in my wildest dreams to get this impression from a game, to be made to feel this way. And one of the most beloved characters of my gaming career of a quarter century; to feel her as if she was right there also provoked a certain sense of embarrassment.
Still, as a man I couldn't help wanting to see her, now that I was here, from the closest possible distance. With some embarrassment still there, I stood from my sofa and advanced right up to her. And then I realized something important. Height difference. Hitomi is 160cm and I am 173cm; comparing the height of our eyes, there's a gap of about 10cm. Because of her amazing proportions, I'd imagined her to be taller, but when standing there myself, she was shorter than me. I thought about how if she really existed, she would be like this. This lucky experience remains one of the things I always remember when recalling experiences I've had in VR.
Thankful That I Am A DOA Fan
As if it had all been for that moment, all the many hours worth of swimsuits and poses I'd collected for Hitomi I went over one by one. No doubt it was a mere fraction of the time I'd spent paying penance, in my ascetic playing up to that point. Yet it was filled with much more happiness than all of the rest combined. I thought once more how happy I was that I was a DOA fan. After all my DOAX3 complaints, VR Paradise had given me surprises and discoveries, but it was still after all material to be visually appreciated and nothing more. The visuals have impact, and even if you aren't a series fan you'd probably be surprised, but there's nothing beyond that. The originally planned features of touching and causing wind to blow were considered problematic, perhaps, and were not included; but this meant it was an exhibit, something just for looking that couldn't be called a 'game'. The amount of content simply wasn't there.
Still, even so, that I still felt it to be a 'Paradise', is perhaps because I've been a series fan for so long. Even if there were blanks in the middle, it had been over ten years of being involved in DOA. So my affection for the characters and the games increased the impact of the VR. Precisely because I'd spent over 200 hours in the game even while complaining about it, to have it appear in front of me, simply increased my emotional response. to be able to use all the items that I'd spent so much time getting gave me a sense of superiority. And because it gave me Hitomi, I remain a fan of DOA, and was able to withstand the asceticism of the game. All of this together is what made VR Paradise a true Paradise for me. Hoping that it will give me something like this or even greater, I continue to follow the DOA series. But I am serious when I say I am sick of the ascetic gameplay of DOA, so seriously, knock it off Team Ninja.
With that the column is over. There's some harsh things in this, but it's all because I'm a fan that I say it, so forgive me.
Finally let me say this. DOA is a series with many hidden charms. But if you've read this and thought you wanted to try VR Paradise despite not having any DOA, I can't recommend it. Even if you spend the time to complete all the content, there is no proof VR Paradise will become a true paradise to just anyone. Only the hardened fans and those with peculiar dispositions (perhaps a perverted constitution) will be able to hold on through the gameplay that seems interminable. But I won't stop you if you still want to. If what waits for you past the hours of asceticism is paradise, I don't know; but as a fellow player I will hope it is. I hope that DOA6 and DOAX4 will, for fans and for new players, not demand such things, and be a work that grants Paradise to everyone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll see you again one day -- in Paradise.
Dead or Alive: Record of Craving and Paradise
Part One: A Boy in Puberty Meets DOA
In March 2016, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 was released on the PS4 and PS Vita. And then, ten months later in 2017, January the 24th, the addition we'd been waiting for so long arrived: the VR Paradise for the PSVR. Shortly after the release of this VR Paradise, we came to the first year anniversary of DOAX3. After my strong requests, I was kindly granted the right to write some thoughts on the DOA series to mark the occasion. In this first part, I'll reveal completely one part of my history with the series; a history which stretches 20 years now. It may not compare to Au Yeung Yu Leung or Ezra Krabbe's stories, but please bear with me.
WHAT IS "DOA"?
Before diving into these memories, I'd like to explain what Dead or Alive is. Simply, a 3D fighting game with over twenty years of history. Perhaps some of you would like to modify that discussion: but I assure you it is without a doubt a fighting game series. Using blows, throws, and holds in a triangle system comparable to scissors paper rock, it is accessible to beginners because these systems emphasize the ability to "read" an opponent over combos. Thanks to this hold system, the ability to vortex an opponent all through a match more or less disappears; and a reversal is possible even from a position of stark disadvantage. These then are some of the main characteristics of the series systems. In addition, The stages can explode or collapse, characters may fall from many metres, and other such over-the-top effects differentiate it from other fighting games; the tight integration of these effects with the fighting might be the single most memorable feature of the game. After DOA3, the absence of arcade editions may have ensured it couldn't dominate the mainstream 3D fighting game market, such games as Tekken or Soul Calibur; nonetheless, I believe one can fairly say that DOA has a peculiar charm all its own.
However, the first DOA had another feature that attracted attention quite different from those other games. That would be the "breast movement" physics that were so unique for a 3D polygon game at that time. While I personally have not played DOA1, I can say that from what I've heard the graphics were exceptional for the time, and the beautiful women such as Kasumi attracted many young men of the time. Since then, the series has continued to feature a high proportion of female characters, with costume designs that may perhaps be described as 'bold'; this aspect of the series has then been in display ever since the original game came out.
In this column, I will look back at my own meeting with such a game, in the years of my puberty, and how it has intersected with my life as a gamer ever since.
A Young Male Gamer Comes Across "DOA"
I first encountered DOA as primary school came to an end. This was when Dead or Alive 3 was released for the Xbox. Back then there was a video shop that dealt in games as well near my home. I was just wasting time playing some of the demos set up at the front of the shop. Of course, the Xbox boasted the best graphics of any machine, and the dynamic stage design and danger zone production, and the hold-heavy gameplay that let you stage a comeback at a stroke are still things I can remember vividly as cinematic and revolutionary. The first game I ever played was Street Fighter Zero 2, and I was a pretty big fighting game fan already; so I was primed to fall in love with the game, and whenever we went to the shops, I went straight to the demo station to play it. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that until my parents told me 'we're leaving', my eyes never left the screen. Those strange yelps from Jann Lee never stopped; but looking back at it now, no doubt everyone was annoyed at this kid hogging the demo machine and causing a rackus. I feel kind of sorry about it now. But thanks to that experience, I was able to collect my allowance and save up for the PS2 version of Dead or Alive 2; so all's well that ends well.
Having bought DOA2, I played it each and every day. At that stage I didn't play with any deep knowledge of the system, and lost a lot out of nowhere thanks to getting held, but none the less I kept playing without worry. The essential elements of the series were already all set by 2, and it was after all my first 3D fighting game. I think myself it might be weird for a kid to start with 3D fighting games not with VF or Tekken, but with DOA. Probably, the graphics being so close to anime in style helped for a kid like me to get into it. Thanks to the fond memories from that time, I'm still playing DOA to this day, I think.
But there was a problem with the game for a kid, and a big one at that. The issue of 'where do I look'? The bewitching women swung their full-to-bursting melons all over, and during intense fights the amply sized limbs would be exposed by the clothes, flesh sparkling white from the gaps. And Kasumi's clone even appeared tantalizingly naked for a glorious moment. Looking at it now, you can't exactly see the modelling as inflaming, yet for a young boy in primary school who could barely even bring himself to select the female characters at all, the stimulus was too much.
Still, while it was embarrassing, it didn't reach to the level of feeling any guilt, and so in fact I continued to play DOA2 for some months. After getting used to the game, I gathered in a friend’s house with 5 or 6 people, used the throws on the women over and over while we all cheered for "panties, panties, panties!". I was in deep enough to buy DOA2 Hardcore on release by now. To unlock the new costumes, I have fond memories of playing over a hundred matches in a day with a friend. Those additional costumes were basically all sexy, so you could say we were showing our credentials as young perverts quite shamelessly. Since there weren't any CERO ratings, it was 'safe' after all.
The Southern Island Dazzles with Blinding Radiance
Soon after in 2003, the Paradise series, or the Xtreme series, finally began to form its pairing with the fighting games. This was a game were you played the women of DOA as they played volleyball on a tropical island, while collecting over 300 swimsuits; a downright gallant shift to the sexual. Even those who don't know DOA as a fighting game at all will know about "Oppai Volley", or one of the other nicknames. The first game had other minigames such as the skipping game (jumping over blocks across water), which you did to get money and buy even more swimsuits. In fact there was no goal other than that, so if I played now I'd probably get bored out of my mind quickly - though the sequels are perhaps no different in this respect. Anyway, this game, which abandoned fighting entirely for enjoying the girls' vacations, was deeply impactful for me in that impressionable time, and shone like a 'paradise' indeed.
However, the Xbox having such a minor presence in Japan, so I didn't care for trying any games past DOA3 and Onimusha Warlords; it remained outside the grasp of a junior high student like me. At least, until the power of DOAX blew that way of thinking away. My worldly desires provoked precisely and powerfully, I knew I had to get my hands on an Xbox.
Perhaps the Xbox being so minor in Japan helped me out at the end, as in the shop where I'd bought DOA2 here was a used Xbox for 9000 yen on sale. I thought that I could make this work. I couldn't just ask for a new console out of nowhere from my parents, but I did come up with a plan. I absolutely would not accept failure: I needed the console. I first lent the PS2 to them, taking advantage of it playing DVDs; and in exchange I asked for the Xbox. I carefully brought up the price and how for a game console, it wasn't really that expensive.
You might think, 'wait, that's it?', but to me, it was the best my junior-high brain could do. It seems a pretty shallow plan doomed to failure now, but somehow it worked out just as planned. So I was able to get an Xbox and DOA3 together without any major issues. I may have been a fool who neglected studying to play all the time, but thanks to my parents not putting any conditions on me, even getting good results, I was able to. Probably they didn't know the dark urges behind my desire to get it.
Wait a minute, I expect you're saying. What has this got to do with Xtreme? But think about it. Would you be able to ask your parents for a game filled with bikini-clad girls? Someone in puberty values their privacy more than that. So while playing DOA3 I continued to stock up my allowance. But this turned out well. As in the process I met with a love that continues to this day.
The Boy Who Fell In Love With The Karate Girl
Since I had for a short time studied karate myself, in DOA2 I went with the amnesiac karate user Ein -- though his cool BGM theme was another reason. As listed in the last part, I had succeeded in my plot to get an Xbox. Getting it and DOA, I had at first planned to continue using Ein, but unfortunately he is not in DOA3 (more exactly, he is a hidden character in it). In DOA3 Ein regains his memory and returns as the leader of the ninjas Hayate; his fighting style also changes. As someone used to the beginner-friendly Ein's inputs, I found it hard to get into using Hayate.
But though I was discouraged by this, it was also the reason I discovered Hitomi. First appearing in DOA3, she's established as having trained with Ein, and so she could be thought of as a substitute character of sorts for him. At first I was pretty unsatisfied with that, resigning myself to it while wishing that it could have been Ein while I was using Hitomi as a substitute; but before I knew it, she had acquired a hold over me to the point that I was obsessed with her.
The beauty of her long brown hair, the cool casual style based on denim, the cheerful attitude and smile, the way she never forgot respectful manners before and after matches... though she didn't match the kind of girl I was usually interested in, everything about her just resonated with me; before I knew it, I had fallen for her. Ever since, she's been my main in both the fighting and Xtreme games. My DOAX hours amount to around 200, and of that about half have been solely devoted Hitomi. In the new Warriors All-Stars game by Koei Tecmo DOA has a few representatives, but the absence of Hitomi is a gaping omission (we're all hoping for DLC right?)
Finally Reaching Paradise
After fighting with Hitomi for a few months, I'd saved up enough of my allowance, so I went -- not to the usual shop, but to another that took about 30 minutes to get to by bike. While I wasn't that familiar with any of the staff at the regular store, I still didn't dare to buy DOAX at a place I was at so often. A student at that age will get a lot of attention just from the gravure images on the front of a manga magazine; I suppose I didn't want to be seen buying DOAX in an environment like that.
I went uphill while panting my heart out on the way there; and on the back, I was so eager to get started playing that I went at a speed altogether dangerous. Since starting saving months earlier, my desire had happened until it had reached the level of a real craving; now it was time to quench that thirst. I never entered into club activities and never liked sporting; it was that craving that drove me. Can you think of a more idiotic sort of puberty?
Coming to Know The Value of Moderated Exposure
And since I'd finally gotten my hands on my long-awaited DOAX, of course I played it without end. Of course, I mainly used Hitomi, but to acquire all of the swimsuits, I played all of the characters many times. I got to the point of being able to win at volleyball pretty much every time, and I knew every character nuances inside and out. Even though I played PS2 games too, I played DOAX so much that hands fit themselves to the big Duke controller and I couldn't hold the PS2 controller easily. It was precisely because I was a child that I was able to play such a game to the point where that happened... but then again, I've also played DOAX3 over 200 hours, so perhaps nothing has changed.
DOAX had 300 swimsuits, the designs ranging from standards to things closer to cosplay. Boys of that age are likely to assume that the more a swimsuit exposes, the better, and in fact the first thing I did was expend all my efforts to get the most extreme one, the Venus. But in the process of playing so long trying to get, I had come to realize how good a more moderate level of exposure could be. To realize that in junior high might be a little too precocious, but for me, who had indulged in drawing so much that I dreamt of becoming a manga artist, that principle has become a boundless source of design ideas.
On a tangent, I remember being seen by my father once while playing. Since it's the age where you try to hide stuff like that, at first I was desperate. However, I rushed to replace the Venus with a more normal bikini and continued playing while feigning calm. Probably the way I reacted was pretty sad-looking. My being so flustered was probably plain to see, after all. But it doesn't end there. Having had some thought or another, my dad suddenly asked 'what kind of swimsuit do you like?'. I hurriedly pointed out the one I'd changed into, and responded 'just a normal one like this', trying to end the conversation quickly. He was probably trying to gloss over the fact that in some way, he had intruded on an aspect of his son's private world. Still, what a question, dad.
Separation, Reunion, and Revival
After that, I become estranged with the DOA series for some years after having gotten so into it. It wasn't that I stopped playing games in general. just that with part-time work and a band, I had less and less time for it. I spent most of my money on musical instruments and the like, so I couldn't buy games as much. I also had a PS3 but not a Xbox 360, so I couldn't get a chance to play the Xbox exclusives DOA4 and DOAX2. Yet I still saw them on the shelf every time I entered the game store, giving me a painful feeling of missing out. I don't regret my experiences of that time I general, but as a gamer, I have nothing but regrets.
Then time went on, until 2012. I'd stopped being in a band so I had more free time, and spent much of it on games. The seventh console generation went on, and great titles were coming out a lot by then. And just at that time, as I began my life as a gamer once more, Dead or Alive 5 came out. I remember getting excited just from seeing the name. The debut trailer that came out then, just as the time was ripe, featured the even more beautifully rendered Hitomi and Ayane.
The designs which had tended towards stylistic deformation had become much more realistic, and as if to symbolize battle itself sweat could be seen on their bare skin as dirt accumulated over the course of the fight. At the time of announcement, it's certainly true that the fans had fights over the virtues of this redesign. For me, I welcomed the change with open arms. The old design was good, but it showed its age. and the new design, which matched the changes over the years, was just what I wanted. The sexiness of the limbs covered in sweat was another reason. Not that you can pay attention to that during a match.
When You Don't Have to Save Like a Student To Buy A Game
Unlike DOA4 or X2, 5 was multi-platform for the 360 and PS4; so I celebrated finally being able to play DOA again. I waited eagerly to be again to throw myself into the battles of DOA along with the new improved Hitomi. I probably would have bought a 360 for it without a second thought had it been exclusive again.
Meanwhile, Ninja Gaiden 3, also developed by Team Ninja at the same time, had a demo code for DOA5 on the original edition. I thought about buying NG3 just for that. However, there was a difference between the demos on the PS3 and 360 versions. They had different playable characters, and Hitomi, who I was aiming to play as, was on the 360 version. If I waited for the release I could of course play as anyone, but I was still disappointed because of how keen I was to play the new reborn Hitomi as soon as possible. After doing some research, I found that on an expensive collector’s edition was a demo that had both sets of characters. 'How dare you, Koei Tecmo!!'... I didn't say it out loud, but I did feel a certain degree of indignation about it. But by then I was an adult myself. I thought how nice it was to have the small degree of freedom of an adult, when you don't have to save like a student to buy a game. By the way, I tried NG3 but didn't like it and hardly ended up ever touching it again.
While I like fighting games, I don't go as far as serious players do in labbing and going through many sets; so I'm closer to what is called the casual player. Still, in DOA5 I studied combos and neutral movement and the like, and went out my way to do a lot of online matches. From long-time fans, there were arguments about the weakening of holds and emphasis on combos, but for it it was the first DOA in so long, and I ended up getting friends who had been exclusively 2D players to also join in matches. I also played games like Street Fighter 4 at the same time, but I preferred DOA as a game where you could leave more to intuition and play in a more carefree manner.
After this DOA5 had Ultimate and Last Round, additional upgraded versions; I bought them all and got all the trophies and bought the large numbers of costume DLC for a long while. There are a lot of other games coming out now, so I have less chances to play and have ceased to follow DLC, but I still occasionally play it as long of my favoured fighting games.
The Eagerly Awaited New Game is... Ascetic
As already stated I didn't play DOAX on the 360. I also didn't play Dead or Aive Paradise which came out for the PSP, so DOAX3 was the first time I'd gone back to the Xtreme series in 13 years. For this reason the sense of anticipation was great, and I remember celebrating like the old days when the news of its production came out. Among fans people eager to see the characters in their new DOA5 state in the Xtreme games were commonly seen, and as Team Ninja had often said 'we'll possibly be able to make one if we see enough requests from people', we were pleased to see that our requests had gotten to them. But as information was released close to launch, things got more suspicious.
They Demanded The Players Choose Between 16 Beautiful Women
From the first 'election', there was resistance. At the time of DOAX2, all 9 female characters that were in the series was playable. In DOA5, over several instances, the number of female characters had increased to 16; naturally everyone assumed all would be in the new Xtreme. However, what came out of Team Ninja was this: 'We put out paid custom themes, and according to the sales the top nine characters go into the game'. A harsh thing indeed.
Can you believe it? Even though there were 16 characters, all wonderfully attractive, they demanded that the players choose between them. And at a price of 300 yen just to vote. That's what we call selling out your characters cheaply. Where was the love for characters built up over so long? Where was the pride for their creations? One couldn't help feeling indignation at their plan.
And I felt a degree of danger as well. Hitomi may be a popular character, but with the up and coming extreme force behind Marie and Honoka, it was a dangerous situation for her. Desperate to prevent Hitomi from not getting in, I ended up buying her theme and that of another character I liked Mila, getting brought into TN's nonsense. And only Hitomi got selected of the two. The failure of Lei Fang and Tina despite their presence from the first game disappointed a lot of fans too. The themes that acted as the voting right for this vote didn't have any animation or even BGM, and after checking what it was I haven't ever used it since until using it as a screenshot for this article.
Plainly Put, The Gameplay of DOA3X is Asceticism
And in addition, the removal of series standbys such as the Marine Race and Imitation Gravure, and the decrease in number of the swimsuits meant that it hardly even felt like a sequel as more information came out. When it was released, in addition to the decrease in content, Owner Mode and Owner Level, two unneeded features, were added, players were stressed by the addition of upper limits to money, and the price of downloadable outfits also brought negative responses from fans.
At IGN Japan we gave the free edition of the game a 6.8, but judging from how in the premium game with all feature unlocked I've spent 200 hours, I'd like to call it a lukewarm score. Playing DOAX3 is a form of asceticism. It's like the folk tales of children in the Buddhist Child's Limbo, endlessly building stone towers and having them torn down by oni; like this you must continue on working in the game forever. This no doubt makes it inferior as a game to the original of 13 years prior. If you asked for the worst game of 2016, I'd name this no doubt, so much was I disappointed by it.
After release there were many features added or improves in updates, but even now it's a game that demands a huge amount of patience in doing its routine work, the basic cause of the stress it causes to play it not gone. Though the hotly-awaited Photo Paradise Mode where you can pose in any swimsuit you've given the girls was added, you have to take so much time getting the poses unlocked. And further, just like the swimsuits you have to use the present function to give them poses where they may not accept. It's all just work, and the reward you get is nothing in comparison. It's a very sterile game. like blood from a stone. Even so I bought just the Hitomi part of the periodic outfits. But because of the money restrictions I had to work for it every time, and eventually I got so annoyed by this I stopped playing the game at all.
The Sudden Paradise Opening Announcement
It happened on the 24th of the first month of 2017. On the island that could be called 'a hell made to look like heaven', the players who had prayed for remuneration for their asceticism for so long, had the doors to paradise opened to them.
VR Paradise... It should have come out with PSVR on 13 October 2016. Before release there was a delay, and a while later there was a sudden release of information as it was announced for release the next day. There was even paid DLC, but as an apology for the delay those who bought it would have it free for download for 2 months. It'd faded out of attention for a while, but I had still awaited it hotly, and thought 'it's finally come' at the time.
It WAS A Paradise
You're probably thinking that's a bit much for all the complaints. But the game I'd spent 200 hours with had VR now. Perhaps to put it another way, without such a bait I'd never have been able to deal with this game, truthfully.
On the day, I started the PS4 to try as soon as it was released. But what was there was an alert for starting file downloads. Damn it, I thought; but don't rush it, since waiting the final moments just adds the spice to something like this. I calmed myself and waiting carefully. I could have done something, but I simply waited. It felt like an eternity while being mere minutes; it was like going back to the student days of craving for DOAX, the golden age.
Open the game and the words 'VR Paradise' are there. But even that's enough to stoke up excitement. Finally, the days of asceticism will be rewarded with a paradise... to which I opened the door. And what was waiting there for me surprised all imagination. The boundless sunlight of a tropical southern island, a beach upon which hit waves of not just water but freedom. And then they appear in front of you. Swimsuit-clad beauties showing their gorgeous bodies. When I say this vision... I could say only one thing. 'This truly is... Paradise'.
Paradise After Ten-Odd Years
The first time you begin, a VR-specific tutorial starts. You use Kasumi as a model and get taught the basics of changing viewpoint, and when I saw the screen turn to her I couldn't stop myself from uttering a sigh. She was too vivid, too sensual, and too beautiful not to.
I'd played a fair amount of PSVR titles up to that point, but DOAX3 made the largest impression of the lot. This was because I'd been unhappy with the resolution of the games prior to this. Since for VR motion sickness is such a problem, stability becomes an absolute need, and to decrease load on the machine, resolution is often sacrificed. So no matter how new and interesting the experience was, the sense of immersion they worked so hard to build would be hurt by the lacklustre nature of the image itself. My being excited by the Pro compatibility was because of this. The look of VR Paradise is marked by this: though the background is simplified compared to non-VR play, the resolution itself is high and satisfyingly beautiful. The liberating sense of the surroundings extending so far away, combined with the way this highlights the women themselves, is one other aspect that leaves an impression. That beautiful look of the game, and the vivid depiction of the game's beautiful women who I had come to know so well, are enough to make you panic when they suddenly appear in front of you.
They say 'More Beautiful in Person than on TV', But Isn't That Just Flattery?
I was constantly excited due to the quick succession of announcement, release, and the great quality of it, but I remember something here. I'd like Kasumi as far as it goes, but to be so struck by her: what would be my response to see Hitomi, who'd been the object of my affections for over ten years, in this degree of vividness, with this daringness and closeness? To figure out the answer I opened the closet Hitomi. I was ready. With expectation in my heart, I went to her.
Then I was in front of her, Hitomi herself. To tell the truth, the aspect of surprise was gone since I'd already seen Kasumi. It's somewhat sad I couldn't experience my first time with someone I liked more. Even so, after seeing her so many times, the girl of my adoration was more beautiful than ever. People often say of actresses and idols, 'they look more beautiful in person than on TV', but doesn't everyone think that's mere flattery? I thought so too. But it's true so far as I can tell. VR is also through a screen of course, but that's not the point. Even through it she was there. the visuals were unchanged and yet she was unspeakably cute. It's a new and unknown experience, impossible to describe with mere words!
The girl in front of my eyes with her glamorous body and beautiful to the point of losing verisimilitude facial features, was unmistakably marked as fiction by those qualities. Fiction... unreality... falsity... no matter what words you use, it means 'impossible to reach'. Over ten years since her creation, that was still an unbreakable truth, and I of course understood that... Or I should have. Yet my brain couldn't comprehend her not really being there. She made a pose, and I instinctually moved despite the impossibility of us touching, because I felt 'reality' from her. I want to get closer, but is it right? I didn't expect in my wildest dreams to get this impression from a game, to be made to feel this way. And one of the most beloved characters of my gaming career of a quarter century; to feel her as if she was right there also provoked a certain sense of embarrassment.
Still, as a man I couldn't help wanting to see her, now that I was here, from the closest possible distance. With some embarrassment still there, I stood from my sofa and advanced right up to her. And then I realized something important. Height difference. Hitomi is 160cm and I am 173cm; comparing the height of our eyes, there's a gap of about 10cm. Because of her amazing proportions, I'd imagined her to be taller, but when standing there myself, she was shorter than me. I thought about how if she really existed, she would be like this. This lucky experience remains one of the things I always remember when recalling experiences I've had in VR.
Thankful That I Am A DOA Fan
As if it had all been for that moment, all the many hours worth of swimsuits and poses I'd collected for Hitomi I went over one by one. No doubt it was a mere fraction of the time I'd spent paying penance, in my ascetic playing up to that point. Yet it was filled with much more happiness than all of the rest combined. I thought once more how happy I was that I was a DOA fan. After all my DOAX3 complaints, VR Paradise had given me surprises and discoveries, but it was still after all material to be visually appreciated and nothing more. The visuals have impact, and even if you aren't a series fan you'd probably be surprised, but there's nothing beyond that. The originally planned features of touching and causing wind to blow were considered problematic, perhaps, and were not included; but this meant it was an exhibit, something just for looking that couldn't be called a 'game'. The amount of content simply wasn't there.
Still, even so, that I still felt it to be a 'Paradise', is perhaps because I've been a series fan for so long. Even if there were blanks in the middle, it had been over ten years of being involved in DOA. So my affection for the characters and the games increased the impact of the VR. Precisely because I'd spent over 200 hours in the game even while complaining about it, to have it appear in front of me, simply increased my emotional response. to be able to use all the items that I'd spent so much time getting gave me a sense of superiority. And because it gave me Hitomi, I remain a fan of DOA, and was able to withstand the asceticism of the game. All of this together is what made VR Paradise a true Paradise for me. Hoping that it will give me something like this or even greater, I continue to follow the DOA series. But I am serious when I say I am sick of the ascetic gameplay of DOA, so seriously, knock it off Team Ninja.
With that the column is over. There's some harsh things in this, but it's all because I'm a fan that I say it, so forgive me.
Finally let me say this. DOA is a series with many hidden charms. But if you've read this and thought you wanted to try VR Paradise despite not having any DOA, I can't recommend it. Even if you spend the time to complete all the content, there is no proof VR Paradise will become a true paradise to just anyone. Only the hardened fans and those with peculiar dispositions (perhaps a perverted constitution) will be able to hold on through the gameplay that seems interminable. But I won't stop you if you still want to. If what waits for you past the hours of asceticism is paradise, I don't know; but as a fellow player I will hope it is. I hope that DOA6 and DOAX4 will, for fans and for new players, not demand such things, and be a work that grants Paradise to everyone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll see you again one day -- in Paradise.
