Today’s issue of Weekly Famitsu included a launch interview with Dead or Alive 6 Producer and Director Yohei Shimbori, and it included some interesting information about his plans for the game post-release.
Shimbori-san mentions that although he feels that the game isn’t as perfect as he would like yet, the game plays well. In the future, the team will continue updating and balancing the game. The plan is to add characters and costumes while also listening to the feedback of players. There are a lot of things to do after release, so the workload isn’t dropping by much.
Asked what improvements were done before the game’s launch, Shimbori-san explains that thanks to the online beta test the team could correct flaws and carefully adjust the balance while implementing feedback received from the fans.
Also, they have been able to implement sexy imagery. Although the aim is for the game to be played around the world, sexy imagery is still an indispensable element of the game. Until the last minute, Shimbori-san has been focusing on “Can we make it a bit more soft?” but he isn’t yet fully satisfied.
Asked if the body physics will still evolve from now on, Shimbori-san responded that even at release there is plenty of bounce, the level of “passion” he would like for the the bouncing movement isn’t there just yet. Alongside with other updates, he wants to improve the display of the bouncing movement after release.
As the interviewer mentioned that fans were worried because of the lack of bounce when the game was first showcased, Shimbori mentioned that his statements about being dedicated to eSports were probably misunderstood alongside the fact that the physics effects actually weren’t implemented just yet.
Previous Dead or Alive games used an engine that was improved from installment to installment, but DOA6 used a new one. This caused its own set of issues, and they took time to fix. Also, Kasumi’s new default costume is a rigid suit and doesn’t have much bounce caused further misunderstandings. Depending on the materials of the costumes, there is plenty of movement in different ways.
While the new engine is still a bit difficult to work with and improve, the team tried its best to deliver a high-quality product. Improving the development environment and the engine itself is the goal for the future.
We also heard that unfortunately, the team was not able to include Gen Fu. While nothing has been decided yet, the possibility of him coming in the future exists.
Shimbori-san also explained that Momiji and Rachel are Ninja Gaiden Characters (while Momiji’s appearance in the Dead or Alive Xtreme series might give the wrong impression), their inclusion needs to be discussed within the company. The same goes for Ryu Hayabusa, so there are internal talks about them, including costumes.
Although scenarios and even voice acting were done, about thirty episodes had to be unfortunately cut due to various circumstances, including some for the new characters. Shimbori-san would like to add them back, even if he is not able to make promises for now. If the game is a hit, it might be possible.
If you want to learn more about Dead or Alive 6, you can also read our own recent interview with Shimbori-san, and check out my hands-on preview of the latest build.
We also have a video providing a first look at the story mode’s cutscenes, and another showing all the costumes included in the base game, alongside images of all the Deluxe costumes, and the Lobby Match mode that will be added in March.
Dead or Alive 6 has will release on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC on March 1.
Source: Weekly Famitsu
