Why I have fallen in love with this game - A casual fan opinion

[DualWielding]

I am a very casual fighting game fan... I've loved them since Street Fighter 2 but never been good at them... at 32 years of age I don't really have the time to memorize combos and try to become good at games yet I still play fighting games casually... Dead or Alive 5 Last Round is my first DOA game and it has become my favorite fighting games of all time... just wanted to give my perspective on why I like the game.

1. It's very accessible even without massive dedication to the game I can go online and hang in there, I lose most of the time but I sometimes win and when I lose most of the time I at least win a round... Now I don't know if this due to DOA having a more casual player base or because the Core Fighters Edition attracts casual player but no other fighting game I have played online has been so casual player friendly. For example if I play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 online I don't even feel like I'm playing, I'm just there taking pummeling until I'm done.... yet in DOA 5 even when I lose I have fun.

2. In other fighting games I tried to play online there's always only 4 characters or so that see play online, it gets boring fighting the same characters over and over. In DOA 5 I´ve found that most characters do get used online, All Females + Jann Lee, Jackie, Elliot, Hayabusa, Rig, Bayman and Hayate. Again I don't know if this is because the game is indeed more balanced or because player base is more casual or because people play female characters because they like them and not because of their tier but, in any case, not having to fight the same broken characters over and over makes this game way more enjoyable.

3. I love the throwdown function, waiting until you get a match doesn't suck because you can practice and unlock costumes in the meanwhile...

4. I like that the Tag Mode has its own meta game with special tag moves ect, feels very different from 1 v 1 which other 1 v 1 oriented fighting games who offer a tag mode fail to accomplish... DOA 5 last round tag mode reminds me of Rival Schools, one of my favorite fighting games ever...

5. As someone who isn't good enough to play competitively single player content is important for me. Although LR is lacking in this department, I enjoyed the story mode and unlocking costumes gives some incentive to play offline modes. While DOA 5 is not on the same level of Injustice or Blaz Blue in terms of single player content, it at least beat every Capcom fighting game in this department.

6. The Graphics are Awesome, the best I've seen in the fighting game. And I actually find most of the fanservice to be in good taste and actually sexy, is not as tacky as what you would find in true fanservice games like Senran Kagura.

 

[Lulu]

I thought DoA5 Vanilla was accessible when I first played it..... but then DoA 5 Ultimate came with Combo Challenges, expanded training mode and a Comprehensive Tutorial..... now that was the best thing they've done with the series.

Yeah DoA is a fun game even when you lose, my theory is this is because you have alil more autonomy over how that happens thanks to the hold system. My experience with other fighting games is usually me getting a 30 percent damage combo or more because of a tiny mistake and then you just have to watch your character get beaten while you wait for the game to grant you control again...... Funny enough, DoA's Tag mode replicates this experience.... anyway, if you get damaged like that in DoA there are multiple points in the combo where you had a chance to turn things around. Thats what makes it okay if you lose..... atleast thats the theory... it should be the same with Killer Instinct.

I don't know if the game is genuinely balanced, I'm not that good to test that out but I'm assuming the reason you see alot of diversity is because when you find a character you like in this game you just get attached to them, I've tried leaving Tina for someone who I thought was better but I just kept coming back.... I like Tina (except when I change the language to Japanese).

 

[ninemil]

Triangle system is the key to DoA's accessibility, and it's balancing in 5 (after it being so biased against execution requirements in previous instalments,) is what keeps the skill ceiling high enough for even the most seasoned players to still have stuff to learn, without ostracizing new players in the process.

No other fighter like it out there. Just hope they don't go backwards for 6.

 

[Lulu]

Pretty much all fighting games use some Variation of: Attacks beat Throws, Throws beat Blocks and Blocks beat Attacks............except in most games you can't actually do any harm with a Defensive mechanic...... or the defensive mechanics (parries) are only reserved for specific characters like Rose or Gouken in Street Fighter and Lei or Aoi in Virtua Fighter.

 

[tokiopewpew]

Cool thing, nice to read such a positive statement!
Yeah, DOA has a lot of casual players, which might be because of the fact that it combines good graphics (that's what the younger generation is looking for), females and a combat system that does not require as much dedication as other fighing games do to get some wins.

I'm sure that most of the seasoned and competitive players would agree that the game is fairly balanced because all characters have basically the same defensive options available. However, the question of which characters you'll see picked by people online often really depends on who you're playing against and if you're winning or losing. Like if you're in a more casual lobby, you'll see the female ones and the "cool" males like Rig or Jann Lee picked first but as soon as this results in some losses, you'll often see a switch to characters like Helena, Alpha or Christie, which are considered as very good online.

While I don't want to claim that this is good or bad in any way (everyone can play who and what he wants to), I just say this out of experience and it might be that you will make this one too some day. The sad part about this is that the way of how people act to you often also depends on winning/losing but of course that's nothing unique to DOA.

Anyway ... in the end, all that matters is that you enjoy the game so don't waste time thinking about stuff like this if you do so.

 

[DualWielding]

Cool thing, nice to read such a positive statement!
Yeah, DOA has a lot of casual players, which might be because of the fact that it combines good graphics (that's what the younger generation is looking for), females and a combat system that does not require as much dedication as other fighing games do to get some wins.

I'm sure that most of the seasoned and competitive players would agree that the game is fairly balanced because all characters have basically the same defensive options available. However, the question of which characters you'll see picked by people online often really depends on who you're playing against and if you're winning or losing. Like if you're in a more casual lobby, you'll see the female ones and the "cool" males like Rig or Jann Lee picked first but as soon as this results in some losses, you'll often see a switch to characters like Helena, Alpha or Christie, which are considered as very good online.

While I don't want to claim that this is good or bad in any way (everyone can play who and what he wants to), I just say this out of experience and it might be that you will make this one too some day. The sad part about this is that the way of how people act to you often also depends on winning/losing but of course that's nothing unique to DOA.

Anyway ... in the end, all that matters is that you enjoy the game so don't waste time thinking about stuff like this if you do so.

I use Mila and Christie in tags those are the ones I do the best with