Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate 'Review'

As an updated version of its predecessor and a fighting game that already had many elements perfected by Tecmo Koei's developers at Team Fatalities' hands with Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4), we can't help but feel somewhat underwhelmed when diving into what promises to be more - yet ultimately ends up being less. There isn't much new here beyond some minor balance changes and the addition of two brand-new characters: Ryū Hayakawa, a samurai-inspired fighter with plenty of range; along side returning face Honoka 'Hunny' Wright.

Graphically speaking things haven't changed too much either - still running off last gen engines means we're stuck seeing those same old environments & character models that have aged poorly since launch day back in 2012. On consoles at least, frame rates remain solid enough though so long as you don't expect anything beyond smoothest possible action without any noticeable dips.

As for gameplay itself? Well...it feels exactly like Dead or Alive 4 but with slightly better animations on PS3/360 versions thanks to improved hardware support I suppose. The controls feel just the same, combos are still easy to string together and execute effectively during online matches against human opponents who clearly haven't updated their skillset since last gen either.

Overall though? Unless you're desperate for more DOA action with little-to-nothing else going on outside of some minor tweaks here & there across all platforms then perhaps skipping over Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate altogether might be best way forward until Team Fatalities decides to really shake things up again.

Fl studio vs mixcraft