Dead or Alive 5 Last Round is the complete, fully loaded version of the fifth official entry in the fighting game series by Team Ninja, following the "Plus" and "Ultimate" editions released shortly before it. The original title hit the market three years earlier and serves as the core foundation of the game: the music, graphics engine, and most of the characters are taken directly from it. Last Round reaches an impressive roster of 36 fighters by adding four brand-new ones alongside roughly 300 additional costumes, making it effectively the definitive version to buy.
There are plenty of game modes to dive into: Story, Fight (which includes Arcade, VS, Survival, Time Attack, and Team Battle), Online, and Training. The latter offers the chance to learn the basics of combat according to Tecmo, as well as specialize in a specific character's move list. The tutorials are meticulously designed and feature over 40 lessons ranging from basic movement to counters, holds, and combos—complete with an exam to pass—making it a great way to improve and hone your skills.
When it comes to gameplay, there are a few new features. The first is definitely the "Power Blow," a hit that can only be used once per round when your health drops to 50% or lower. Your chosen fighter will charge a powerful combo attack and finish it by launching the opponent in whichever direction you choose (including danger zones). The second addition is the "Power Launcher," an uppercut that sends your opponent spinning high into the air, allowing you to follow up with a juggle combo as they fall back down.
Graphically, the game is simply an enhanced version of what we saw on PS3 and Xbox 360, so it won't blow you away like other fighting games released later on. Resolution has been bumped up to Full HD, and gameplay runs at a rock-solid 60 frames per second. However, cutscenes unfortunately drop to 30 FPS, which feels jarring and is quite noticeable. The character models are highly detailed—especially their faces, despite a lack of expressivism—and clothing shows no clipping issues. Some stages look great, while others are fairly average. As for the audio, the soundtrack has some solid tracks, though none of them particularly blew me away; the most memorable one is Kasumi’s theme, which is especially pleasant.
Overall, the sheer amount of content is impressive, the technical execution is top-notch, and the game manages to remain accessible even to newcomers to the genre. Compared to franchises like Tekken or Soulcalibur, it remains the most acrobatic, fast-paced, and flashy of the bunch.
That said, a few things were lost along the way. The Story Mode, with its ambition to weave almost the entire cast into a single narrative, fails to deliver a plausible plot. Dialogues boil down to a few silly lines, and fights follow one another in a rather generic fashion—with the exception of those centered around the ninja clans. Something was also lost in terms of atmosphere: blending modern stages with Asian-themed ones (which are by far the best) results in a mix that lacks a clear artistic direction.
Ultimately, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round remains an excellent fighting game in terms of gameplay. It offers a wide variety of fighting styles, lightning-fast action, spectacular counters, the presence of Virtua Fighter most famous characters and extreme tag-team holds. These are the real reasons to pick it up.
My score: 8.0
