It was recently revealed that the upcoming fighting game, Dead or Alive 6 , would mark a slight departure from the rest of the franchise insofar as it will depict its female characters in a less sexualized fashion. Presumably, this move is in the interest of establishing the game as a serious fighter and not a matter of taste because the female characters that appear in the free-to-play PC game, Dear or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation , are super sexualized. A recent trailer highlights that this is practically the point of the game.
The trailer is in Japanese, but the visuals make it clear what the developer is trying to communicate. The video opens with a subtle “booooing” noise before cutting to giant, heaving, cleavage. Then a cursor is depicted pulling on the bikinis and skirts and skimpy outfits of the girls who, really, don’t seem too pleased to have their clothes stretched by some mysterious, invisible ghost hand. The entire commercial is dedicated to this feature.
The game was released in November 2017 in Japan, which is recent enough to suggest that there has been no philosophical change for the developers. Overall, it’s a simple enough volley ball game that allows players to walk in on girls in the shower. Also, while the game can be played from the United States, there is not an English translation available. That said, there are guides all over the place to make navigating the game a relative ease and, odds are, the game’s players aren’t playing it for the deep gameplay. The real takeaway here is that Dead or Alive isn’t a series that has necessarily moved away from scantily clad women and impossible boob physics.