Dead or Alive VI

Dead or Alive VI is the next sequel to the Dead or Alive fighting game series after Dead or Alive 5: Last Round that is developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. It is available for the PlayStation 4 and XBOX One consoles, the PlayStation Vita handheld and the PC. Overall, it is the 19th video game made in the fighting game's franchise.

The story behind Dead or Alive VI will feature the conclusion of the leading characters feud with the antagonist leader of MIST, Victor Donovan. However, unlike the previous games, the plot behind Dead or Alive VI will contain a much darker and more shocking side to the plot of the series. The character roster for Dead or Alive VI will feature a roster of 30 playable fighters to choose from, not including the final boss of Dead or Alive VI who is unplayable.

Among the 30 playable characters, 4 of them make their debut as 'Guest' characters hailing from the Tekken series (Asuka Kazama, Lili, Yoshimitsu and King), much to the surprise and shock of many Dead or Alive fans due to the fact that the game franchise has long been considered as a major rival to the Dead or Alive series for many years.

Prologue
There exists an ancient story almost forever lost, it recounts an event that occurred eons and eons ago.

Once there was a sinister being of chaos. It lead an army around the world with one purpose in mind: to destroy all of humanity. However, the sinister being's conquest was cut short when its servant suddenly turned on its master. The sinister being's servant succeeded in defeating its master, thus saving humanity from utter annihilation. It is said that the servant felt compassion for humanity, and thus decided to protect humanity from the armies of the sinister being, even if it lasted for all eternity.

It has been one year after the events surrounding the Fifth Dead or Alive Tournament. The mysterious and enigmatic leader of the secret organization MIST, Victor Donovan, is just one corner away from completing his Project Alpha plan and create the ultimate weapon. The Mugen Tenshin ninja clan were preparing for their final showdown against Donovan for the crimes he's committed against them, but MIST made the first move by attacking them unexpectedly, everyone in the village was killed except for Ayane, though the leader of the clan, Hayate, was nowhere to be seen in the aftermath. At the same time, the CEO of DOATEC, Helena Douglas, announces the Sixth Dead or Alive Tournament to the world.

Fate is beginning to come full circle, the final showdown with Victor Donovan has begun.

Game Menus
Here is the list of game menus to choose from when you are playing Dead or Alive VI.

SCENARIO MODE - A mode where you traverse through the story of Dead or Alive VI.

ARCADE BATTLE MODE - A mode where you choose a character and fight a series of CPU opponents before facing the sub-boss and final boss of the game.

VERSUS MODE - Where you can freely fight the CPU opponents or against another player. You can choose whether you wish to fight in a single battle or a tag battle. You can also save replays of your matches in Versus mode and view in the Theater section in Gallery Mode.

TAG BATTLE MODE - An Arcade-style mode where you choose two character and fight a series of tag team CPU opponents.

SURVIVAL BATTLE MODE - In Survival Battle mode, there are three options to choose from. Normal Survival Battle lets you take on a endless gauntlet of opponents in a one-on-one fight until all of your health bar is completely reduced. Second, making a return from Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate is the Danger Zone Survival, fought only in the Danger Zone arena stage, you must defeat your opponents one by one until your health bar is completely. Meanwhile, when you hit your opponent on the walls, a barrage of items fly out of them, obtain them and they will be available to view in Gallery mode, but be careful though because the opponent can also do the same to you and you will lose those items that upgrade your chances of survival in this gauntlet. The last one is Survival Tag Battle, which you use two playable characters and use them to fight an endless gauntlet of tag team opponents until only one of their health bars is completely reduced.

TRAINING - Here, you can practice with your chosen character as well as being able to go through a trial of performing all the techniques in their moveset.

GALLERY - The Gallery mode in Dead or Alive VI lets you see the media content available in the game.
 * Artwork - Lets you see the CG Artwork of the playable characters of Dead or Alive VI and the posters (promotional and non-promotional) for the game. There is also the option where you can choose one of the 30 playable characters in full body view, and view them with any costume you have unlocked for them as well as having them do certain animations. This also gives you the option to use the camera view/picture take mechanism.
 * Items - Here you can view the playable characters specific items that are obtained when you play the Danger Zone version of Survival Battle mode.
 * Cutscenes - Where you can watch the movie cutscenes of Dead or Alive VI as well as viewing the character victory/lose poses and Fighting Exhibition videos. For all the female characters, you can view their Private Paradise videos in the Cutscenes area. For the Character Win/lose poses, Fighting Exhibitions and Private Paradise videos, you have the option to use the camera view/picture take mechanism.
 * Soundtrack - Here, you can listen to the soundtrack of Dead or Alive VI. (See Soundtrack section below)
 * Movie Theater - Here, you can view all your saved replays of the matches you played in. Here you also have the option to use the camera view/picture take mechanism.

ALBUM - A mode where you can view all the pictures you have taken with the camera mechanic.

OPTIONS - Where you can change the settings of Dead or Alive VI, as well as being able to load or save your progress.

Gameplay
As with the previous installments of the Dead or Alive series, the fighting system to Dead or Alive VI has is based on the Triangle System which is like a Rock-Paper-Scissors format. In the system, there are three methods of attack: Strike, Throw and Hold, Strike is where you use your chosen character to attack with punches and kick and also has the most buttons to use from whilst Throw and Hold only require one. Strike is superior to Throw and inferior to Hold. Throw is your grappling attacks and is superior to Hold, while inferior to Strike. Hold is your counter-attack function where you stop and opponents Strike but not their Throw. All playable characters are able to perform combos using a variety of commands while performing Strikes, Throws and Holds. They are also capable of side-stepping and perform special moves with a combinations of buttons pressed and the D-pad. Critical Bursts and Critical Stuns also make a return.

Debuting from Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and making a return again in Dead or Alive VI, the Power Launcher attack mechanic, which enables you to launch your opponent in the air, has been improved on slightly. The moment your character's Power Launcher connects to your opponents, the gameplay slows down, giving you the opportunity to perform a sequence of specific, unique combos your character possesses made for such an occurrence before the opponent hits the ground.

While you are fighting against an opponent, you will have the opportunity to use the environment of the stage the battle is set in to your advantage. There are various specific areas in a stage called Danger Zones that are capable of damaging either you or your opponent during the midst of an attack. In some occasions you can you can get damaged or damage your opponent even further in a sequence moment called a Cliffhanger, quite a number of stages in Dead or Alive VI have them, three examples being the Desolate Cathedral, Torre de la Niebla and Shinsekai Area stages.

New to the Dead or Alive series and debuting in VI is the Power Strike, a super special move attack that replaces the Power Blow mechanic from Dead or Alive 5.

The camera view/picture take mechanism also returns and has been upgraded a lot better compared to the previous mechanic version in Dead or Alive 5. You are able to use the mechanic in the video game's Gallery Mode, most especially the Movie Theater which lets you watch replays of any battle you've saved. The pictures you take can be view in the Album Mode.

Characters
NOTE OF WARNING (MUST READ): The character roster for this game idea has already been decided so any comments about adding any characters, whether they are from the Dead or Alive series or not, will be ignored. Also, the act of editing a character into the roster for whatever reason  will not be tolerated and will very likely result in you receiving a ban. You are free to praise or criticize the decision, but please respect the wishes of the author who made this game idea when it comes to the character roster. With gratitude.

In Dead or Alive VI, there are 30 playable characters to choose from to fight against the CPU or another player. The playable roster features 20 returning characters (from Dead or Alive 5: Last Round), 6 new characters making their fighting game debut and 4 characters making their guest debut from the Tekken series. There is also the final boss, though that character remains unplayable.

DEAD OR ALIVE VI CHARACTER LIST

Stages
These are the 18 stages that are in Dead or Alive VI. The venues where you fight either a CPU opponent or against another player.

 DEAD OR ALIVE VI STAGE LIST 

Plot
As Helena Douglas, CEO of DOATEC, announces the Sixth Dead or Alive Tournament, MIST launches an attack on the Mugen Tenshin village and a small English town (where Kaiden lives) with an army of Kasumi clones. The attack led by a powerful clone massacres everyone in the village except for Ayane, who manages to escape the onslaught and runs to Hayabusa about what happened. With MIST’s attack on the English town, Kaiden faces the many Kasumi clones alone before his friend Zhang Tai shows up and assists him. After surviving the ambush, Zhang Tai tells Kaiden of MIST being behind this, which prompts Kaiden to swear he'll make MIST pay. Meanwhile during her search for Victor Donovan, Kasumi returns to the Freedom Survivor where Helena and Zack are waiting to greet her. She is also reunited with Hayabusa, Momiji and Ayane who tells her sister the grave news about the village, Kasumi declares that this is the last straw for MIST and that they will finally pay for what they’ve done.

Kaiden and Zhang Tai head to Japan where they are planning to meet with someone, an Interpol agent named Jung, helping the two about MIST, during this time Kaiden causes trouble which gets noticed by a mysterious woman who eventually appears before him as Nyotengu. The two fight and Kaiden’s resistance impresses Nyotengu, she compliments his fighting prowess but warns him that he may easily become a threat to humanity because of the power hidden within him before she leaves. Meanwhile, Kokoro (Helena’s half-sister) is approached by Helena’s servant Marie, who tells her that she has been assigned as her bodyguard per Helena’s instructions, after being told why, Kokoro decides to see Helena for herself, while Marie accompanies her. As fighters gathering for the tournament show up, Kaiden meets Honoka and has a friendly conversation with her. Honoka reveals she saw Kaiden’s battle against Nyotengu and admits her interest in his abilities, she tells Kaiden (who is bothered by what Nyotengu said) that she also feels the same way about her own mysterious ability to copy other people’s fighting techniques.

At the MIST hideout, Victor Donovan reads an ancient book that tells of an evil being that desired to wipe out humanity until its servant, Nasaru, betrayed and defeated it in battle, thus saving humanity. His servants arrive along with the criminal Psycho Butch, who Donovan tests using a Kasumi clone against him, the fight is cut short when the powerful Kasumi clone from the ninja village attack appears and kills the sister clone. The powerful Kasumi clone, known as ERIS, senses the power of Nasaru from afar, Donovan tells her to calm down, because the reincarnation of Nasaru will come to her. At the Freedom Survivor, Helena gathers the ninjas (Kasumi, Ayane, Hayabusa and Momiji) along with Zhang Tai, Kaiden and Jung for a meeting over MIST making their presence known during the tournament. Both Kaiden and Kasumi argue over who gets to take down Donovan, which Helena decides for them to fight it out in the tournament. After the meeting, Hayabusa unexpectedly comes across Christie who reveals she’s betraying Donovan and tells the ninja where MIST is hiding, and that Hayate (his friend and the brother of Kasumi and Ayane who went missing during the ninja village attack) is also there. Hayabusa tells the others about Donovan’s location and takes Ayane, Momiji and reluctantly Bayman with him while Kasumi, Kaiden and Zhang Tai stay behind.

The Sixth Dead or Alive Tournament finally commences and both Kasumi and Kaiden make it to the final where they face each other. Kaiden wins the battle and thus the tournament, but at this point they now respect each other and their resolve, Kaiden says that he’ll help Kasumi take down Donovan. While the tournament commences, Hayabusa, Ayane, Momiji and Bayman head for the Patagonian Andes where Donovan is hiding, they meet Christie who leads them to the labs, but ERIS suddenly shows up with an army of Kasumi clones and kills Christie. The ambush forces Hayabusa and the others to split, Bayman and Momiji are knocked out by Rig and Miyako while Ayane ends up seeing and defeated by her thought-to-be-dead father Raidou. Hayabusa meanwhile sees Hayate from the end of the corridor and follows him to a lab, which reveals to be full of Hayate clones, Donovan appears and reveals to Hayabusa that the real Hayate died from the injuries he received from Raidou years ago, Donovan took a DNA sample of Hayate during his final moments in order to make a double of the ninja. Unable to fight due to the news of his friend, Hayabusa is suddenly apprehended and knocked unconscious by the Hayate clones.

At the Freedom Survivor, Helena congratulates Kaiden on winning the tournament before she suddenly holds a gun at him. Zhang Tai arrives, finding out what Helena was planning to do, and ends up taking the bullet meant for Kaiden to the chest. Zhang Tai prevents Helena from escaping before he dies from the bullet wound, not before telling Kaiden that MIST kidnapped Honoka during the tournament. Kasumi interrogates Helena, who turns out to be a clone of the real Helena, who is in fact dead, revealed to have been assassinated by Miyako as confirmed by Jung. Kasumi comforts Kaiden over his friend’s death while Kokoro becomes the new CEO of DOATEC with Zack helping her to manage it, Jung reveals that not only is Kasumi’s brother Hayate dead as revealed in some of Miyako’s notes, but that Hayabusa and the others were held captive by MIST as well as Honoka. Since they know where Donovan is, Kokoro helps Kasumi and Kaiden to get them to MIST’s hideout in Patagonia via helicopter with Zack, Marie and Hitomi coming along with them.

At MIST’s Hideout, Honoka regains consciousness and finds herself in a sealed chamber along with Ayane. Raidou enters the lab, having regained all his memories from his fight with Ayane, Raidou reveals to Honoka that he is her father (making Ayane her half-sister), which horrifies Honoka when he tells her some of the terrible things he’s done. Kasumi and Kaiden arrive at the entrance to MIST’s hideout and immediately break in, intending on finding Donovan while Kokoro and the others goes to free the captured. Kokoro ends up facing her own mother Miyako in battle and manages to defeat her while Zack, Marie and Hitomi free Hayabusa, Bayman and Momiji. Kasumi and Kaiden arrive where Honoka and Ayane are imprisoned, Kaiden comforts Honoka after hearing the truth about her origins, giving her the same enocouraging pep talk like she did for him earlier. Raidou then shows up, much to Kasumi’s shock, but Ayane and Honoka get in Raidou's way. Ayane tells Kasumi to leave Raidou to her as Victor Donovan needs to be brought to justice. Ayane and Honoka double team Raidou but despite their efforts lose. However, just as Raidou is about to do something horrible to Honoka, Ayane manages to strike down Raidou, finally slaying him. Ayane and Honoka leave the lab where their father’s corpse now lays.

A large battle inside the hideout begins as Kasumi and Hayate clones are deployed to stop the intruders, Kasumi and Kaiden, after defeating Psycho Butch, make it to the main lab where Victor Donovan is. Rig and Kaiden fight while Victor Donovan and Kasumi confront each other face to face for the first time, Donovan then removes his mask to reveal (to Kasumi’s shock and horror) that he is in fact none other than her own father: Shiden. Shiden reveals everything to Kasumi about the Mugen Tenshin clan, that for many, many years it was all part of an experiment to create the ultimate warrior that the evil being, ERIS, could possess and take her revenge on humanity and the one who betrayed her, Nasaru, all those eons ago. The reason Kasumi was chosen for Project Alpha was because she has the potential to exceed everyone in the village and become stronger than even Hayabusa and Kaiden, but her personality prevented her from ever reaching such potential. Seething with rage at her own father, Kasumi fights him and wins.

However, before she can get to her father, ERIS appears and seeing Shiden weakened, stabs him and drains his life-force, saying he has served her well. ERIS declares that humanity’s time is now at an end. Ayane, Honoka and few other fighters show up and assist Kasumi in battling ERIS, however they are all defeated by the evil being. Kaiden then shows up, and all of a sudden, memories of his reincarnated self Nasaru comes to his mind as he sees ERIS with his own eyes. Kaiden faces ERIS, their battle ends up destroying the lab around them and forcing their battle outside of it. The fight between Kaiden and ERIS becomes so intense, Kaiden begins to take the form of his past self. Despite all of Kaiden’s efforts, ERIS wins the battle and wounds him, Kasumi arrives and battles ERIS in Kaiden’s stead. Kaiden/Nasaru gives Kasumi a portion of his own power to combine her own, with it Kasumi manages to kill a weakened ERIS with a new technique: Kibou no Yakuharai Megami Ken (希望の厄払い女神拳, translated as 'Exorcism Goddess Fist of Hope').

After these events, while their family and clan are forever gone, Kasumi and Ayane still have each other and also Ayane accepts Honoka as her sister too. Marie and Zack help Kokoro out in her new duties as DOATEC’s new CEO. Kaiden though has to deal with the fact that despite ERIS being defeated, he is now potentially humanity's greatest threat, but Kasumi and Honoka assure him that he will never become that way. Meanwhile Nyotengu observes Kaiden from afar, interested in what he will do with himself now. The epilogue shows Rig standing amongst the rubble of the MIST hideout, holding the mask that his father wore in his hands.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Dead or Alive VI, There are 58 songs for you to listen to in the game, you can also listen to them in the music section of the video game's Gallery Mode.

---DEAD OR ALIVE VI TRACKIST---

Trivia

 * The song Open Your Eyes by American heavy metal band Disturbed was chosen as the opening theme for Dead or Alive VI. It was chosen due to how the song explains how people take a blind eye to things without realizing whats in front of them and that this isn't how things should be, which is something that relates to the plot of Dead or Alive VI, especially with the major antagonist Victor Donovan.
 * The name of the new character Kaiden is pronounced "Kay-dahn" and is an Irish name meaning "Warrior". Originally, he was going to be an Austrian or German character called Wilhelm until it changed to Goddard. Team Ninja decided to change Kaiden's nationality and name to Irish and give him the name he has now.
 * Zhang Tai was originally named Zhang Tong during development, the name was changed later.
 * While they debuted as playable characters in later Dead or Alive 5 updates, Dead or Alive VI will be the first game that Nyotengu, Marie Rose and Honoka debut in regards to the story behind Dead or Alive series.
 * Recurring Dead or Alive character Christie was originally not going to be included into Dead or Alive VI video game, but ended up being added for plot reasons.
 * Brad Wong was originally going to be in the game instead of Miyako. However, Team Ninja felt that Brad Wong didn't have much of a bigger role anymore compared to Kokoro's mother, whom the creator of the Dead or Alive series Tomonobu Itagaki had originally intended before he left Team Ninja.
 * The Shadowspring stage is an unlockable bonus stage that is originally from Koei Tecmo's Zero: Nuregarasu no Miko (Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water in US/Canada and Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water in PAL regions).
 * The story of Dead or Alive VI confirms that Lisa Hamilton (also known as the luchadora La Mariposa) is in fact deceased and did die from the explosion in MIST's offshore rig laboratory during the events of Dead or Alive 5.
 * While Kaiden's fighting style is considered to be Self-Style Street Brawling, Honoka and Raidou confirm that Kaiden uses a raw form of Sanshou (Chinese Boxing) in his fighting skills.
 * Many of the stages in Dead or Alive VI were heavily influenced from that of real-life locations in the world. For examples, the Cuahtlal Ruins stage (Cuahtlal being the Nahuatl word for 'Forest') is based on the ruins of Yaxchilan in Mexico, while the exterior of the Desolate Cathedral stage is loosely based on the Rock of Cashel in Ireland. Various towns in the north-eastern part of England, United Kingdom were used as a basis for the Ablaze stage.