The free-to-play business model is something that fighting games are beginning to dabble in. Tekken Revolution was the first out of the gate, which provided a smaller Tekken experience that limited the number of times you could access each mode. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Core Fighters takes a different approach by primarily gating characters instead. Does this approach provide a less scummy experience?
If you’ve played the vanilla version of Dead or Alive 5, everything here should look and feel very familiar. It’s essentially the same graphics, sounds and even the menus are virtually unchanged. The most notable changes here are a beefed up tag team mode, balance changes and 5 new characters. I did not play enough DoA 5 to notice how the balance changes impact the game, though I do know that this is still at its core the same gameplay I grew fond of the first time around.
With the core game, every mode except story mode is available for free. As someone who found the system in Tekken Revolution to be overly limiting, this is great news. I like having the ability to use a training mode for as long as I like or play as many online matches as I want. You also have unlimited access to arcade mode as an alternate to the paid story mode. If you can’t do without it, story mode is available as a paid add-on for $15. I don’t know if they’ve made any changes to it from its predecessor, but it may be worth it as a meaningful solo experience and as a continuation of the franchise’s nonsensical storyline.
The catch is that of the 30 characters available in the full game, you only get access to four of them. In case you’re wondering, those four are Kasumi, Ryu Hayabusa, Hayate and Ayane. As someone who plays as Ayane exclusively, this is great news for me. I basically get to play everything I want for free. If you want to buy Helena (and I don’t blame you for wanting to), she and the others cost $4. Buying the remaining 26 characters at that price is a bit much, so only go with the a la carte way if you only need access to a small portion of the roster.
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is still a great fighting game that’s now packaged in a way that’s more accessible. I hope that people give this game a fair shake because I think it’s really fun. Even after playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2, this is still my favourite 3D fighting game. It’s approach to free-to-play is also much more consumer-friendly. For those wanting the full experience, the complete game can be purchased for $40, which is a pretty decent deal on its own.
In Third Person 