Dead or Alive 6: Last Round

"Time has moved on and the fighting genre has evolved, but Dead or Alive hasn't."

This is what my colleague Jonas wrote when Dead or Alive 6 released seven years ago. What we probably didn't know is that the same feeling would be applicable to the "Last Round" edition of that game in 2026.

Naturally, if the base game felt outdated at launch already, a definitive version could do little more to fix it, right? However, we've seen other fighting series have their same main entry improve drastically over the years, so there's always hope. What if they tweaked the combat system to make it deeper and more engaging? What if the graphical upgrade to the newer generation made a huge visual difference?

However, you shouldn't expect much of that. There's some of the beautifully choreographed combat you know and love from the series beneath the ugly surface, with agile moves, ninja feeling, and interesting combo possibilities, but everything else will make sure to drag you down every now and then.

We understand it was an Xbox One/PS4 original, but that original was lacking behind already and looked like a late Xbox 360/PS3 title. As the graphical update here is so shy, it kind of looks worse on a bigger screen and resolution. Don't expect added effects, higher-res textures, let alone increased geometry. It's an upscaled effort, with no HDR support and, weirdly enough, the option to choose between performance and graphics fidelity. We've captured the following 10-minute video on the latter, for you to tell for yourselves:

The video captures an early section of the story mode. While I don't mind the very Japanese "dropping timelines" menu for the mode's navigation, there's no single cutscene that doesn't look incredibly old, cringe, or embarrassing. And I don't mean "cringe" as in, "look, another scantily clad young lady with oversize wobbling breasts". That's always been the artistic choice for character design in the series, and you know what to expect. I mean that those cutscenes could very well come from one of the early Ninja Gaiden games on the OG Xbox, with plastic low-poly characters, clumsy-to-no lip sync, poor animation and cinematography, and of course grating voice acting based on silly writing.

The DoA Quest Mode remains interesting though as a single-player experience, as it encourages you to learn and master the mechanics as you go through specific challenges. I like DoA's combat system, it's Aikido philosophy where you can use your opponent's violence to your advantage, and the way it's always mapped buttons. However, some older entries felt smoother to me, as the combat pace sees weird cuts at times. Besides, new gimmicks like Fatal Rush keep failing to modernise the formula, and without blatantly copying, devs should take a page or two from the books of Capcom, Namco, SNK, and even Riot.

With all this on the table, what the Last Round offers is basically five new characters (Rachel, Tamaki, Nyotengu, Phase 4, Momiji) and a bunch of costumes, but for some reason DLC such as KoF's Mai Shiranui won't come included Day 1. At the very least, you can also carry over anything you unlocked or purchased for the base game.

Oh and it also adds a comprehensive Photo Mode where, other than rotating the camera freely as body parts, well, wobble some more, you can switch between different position, poses, and faces even if you froze the moment mid-combat. With Kasumi and Mari Rose getting five costumes inspired by games such as Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation, we can see where many fans will spend most time on and where those fans' summer bikini calendar for the back of their dorm door will come from.

At the end of the day, Dead or Alive 6: Last Round means a well valued package for hardcore fans to enjoy the latest entry they probably own already, but on newer hardware. And little more. Even if accessible and unique, the combat system feels even more outdated after seven years, and the same can be said about cutscenes, narrative, graphics, animation, and pretty much everything else. With Dead or Alive 7 teased already, and looking at both the traditional and the upcoming competition (Virtua Fighter Crossroads, Harada's new game with SNK...), Team Ninja needs to work hard to make a complete, convincing reboot of the series.