Dev claims Fanservice in Dead or Alive distracts Gamers, Plans to Tone it Down

Posted By: Rian Quenlin In: Gaming News On: 28 Apr

The Dead or Alive series since its inception has been known for its teasing outfits, swimsuits, and very nice boobs on very nice women. Plus bouncing. Dead or Alive 5 however is going to take a few steps away from this usual approach.

I will admit DoA is a pretty decent fighting game with some nice mechanics, but director Yohei Shimbori has said that they will be focusing more in improved presence for characters, the scenery, audio, and the experience of the game itself instead of the suggestive themes. Shimbori is quoted as saying “In DOA5 we are not only focusing on making the characters stand out, but we are adding more presence to the backgrounds and sound, etc. to add to the overall experience. In the previous games the more sexual aspects may have been a distraction to the fight and those were the only elements that made characters stand out. However, in DOA5 we are making sure that characters themselves have actual presence.”

I dunno, the fact Ayane has white hair, red eyes, and dresses in purple and being a very effective fighter made me go gaga for her.

Shimbori also stressed that the game is still in alpha, but the tone will put less emphasis on fanservice, not that a fighting game often has an actual storyline. I feel that him saying it’s a distraction is a bit of an overstatement, since even though I’m a straight male, I’m not going to be easily distracted by a pair when I’m trying to bring down someone who wants me dead. I’ll save the staring for the photo shoot mode.

I think this is a step in the right direction, I don’t mind mature themes in games at all since I play a lot of Japanese eroge in my spare time, so I’ve become desensitized to it. However I feel that some games try too hard.