Dead or Alive 6 Won’t Use the Soft Engine; Director Explains Tech and Change to “Cool” Looks

Giuseppe Nelva June 9, 2018 10:53 AM EST

Dead or Alive 6 Producer and Director Yohei Shimbori talks about how the looks of Dead or Alive 6 are shifting towards a "cool" image.

Today the Japanese outlet Famitsu published an interview with Dead or Alive 6 Producer and Director Yohei Shimbori, talking about several aspects of the game.

Shimbori-san explained that the theme of the game is “fighting entertainment.” While the battles of the series have always been flashy, this time around the team wants them to be even more “fierce” challenging what was “taboo” before. For instance by adding dirt on the body and clothing of the fighters as they fight. One of such taboos was that the girls’ faces could not be hurt, but in this game, it will happen.

In terms of visuals, the skin will be rendered more realistically, with sweat, shadows, and wrinkles enhanced from previous titles of the series. 4K will be supported, improving the looks of both stages and characters.

Dead or Alive 6 won’t use the Soft Engine that powered Dead or Alive 5: Last Round and Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. Another rendering engine is being used, which supports physical lighting differently that could not be included in DOA5, adding more realism to characters and environments.

The number of moving parts for character models has been increased, adding expressiveness. You can see emotions like crying and laughing, but also reactions when hit in the face.

The images of the characters will focus on “cool” as the team heard from the fans at EVO 2017 the opinion that the girls were a bit too sexy and it was embarrassing to play, the request was to make a game that look cooler. Team Ninja wants everyone to be proud of playing Dead or Alive.

Shimbori-san also mentions a change in costumes, likening it to what happened to American movies, which he loves. Once upon a time female heroines wore sexy costumes that emphasized the curves of the body, while nowadays they’re changing to sharp and cool looks. That inspired how to pursue variety when designing the characters.

That being said, Shimbori-san mentions that this isn’t to say that the girls won’t be cute or they won’t have sex appeal, but the focus is shifted on coolness, and he believes this will be a turning point for the series.

We also hear that this time around there won’t be crossover characters at launch, as the team wants to focus on the worldview of Dead or Alive 6. As for what will happen post-launch, nothing has been decided yet.

Of course, the ability to change costumes will also be included, and the art team is planning to work hard to create as many outfits as possible to include at launch. There will also be a story mode equivalent or superior to that of Dead or Alive 5.

Training mode and photo mode are also in, but the gravure mode is not planned. This time it’s about taking cool pictures. There won’t be a tag battle mode, as the team is focusing all its resources on one vs one modes.

If you want to take a first look at the game, you can check out the first trailer and screenshots from yesterday. The next reveal is scheduled for January 11th, and the game will come in early 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.