DOA5 Ultimate Knockouts and the Future!

No KOs in DOA5U? No problem! Add your own (with XPS)!

Over the holidays, I've been having a TON of fun rediscovering Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate.  I have to admit, while I've been a fan of the DOA series in general since the godly PSX version (which is, I believe, one of the first ever games to include unlockable barefoot swimsuits for the babes), my relationship with the franchise has been a rocky one. The game endlessly teased us with seemingly countless itinerations of DOA2, most of whom had absolutely zilch barefoot babe content at all. DOA3 came and inttroduced Hitomi, but other than that again was a dry bone. DOA4 pretty much lost me, and it wasn't until DOA5 Ultimate that FINALLY someone at Team Ninja apparently realized that there are people who like seeing the girls barefoot (usually in their swimsuits).



That the game is pretty challenging and some of the girls kinda hard to beat makes the KO sequences that follow that much more... satisfying.

Aside from that, I truly enjoyed at least the way they updated the girls' looks in the latest game- transitioning from the more anime-esque look of the past models to the slightly more realistic style of today- at the very least the girls have more unique looks from each other (Helena is truly a goddess).

My two big gripes with the game still bite though- one, the character models' feet are still far from looking the best. While the feet look great from above, at the sole view the girls' feet lack detail and could do with more life-like skin texture (Tekken 6 did this awesomely I think), and the toes seem to stick together. Also there's that weird issue of how the feet bend far too high up above the ankle, which is of course unnatural.



The loser's fate, getting ogled and admired from every angle...

The other problem I have with DOA5 is the seeming lack of proper knockouts. This irritating bit started in DOA4, where every round ends usually with the losing character looking dizzy but basically still CONSCIOUS even though they may have been finished off by a fall from a hundred feet or a brain-busting suplex. This inability to render an enemy properly unconscious truly takes away a lot of the satisfaction in this game for me. To be fair, there IS an actual KO animation/frame in the game, but you need to hit the downed enemy with a certain hit to see it, and it is very, very brief to see (you literally have to hit them immediately after the actual KO hit or it to register without being cut off.

Anyway, thanks to my dabbling in the XNA Lara/XPS Posing program, I have managed to circumvent the lack of Knockouts in the game by, well, adding them in myself! Yep. DOA5, I REJECT your reality and substitute my own!



I guess this goes beyond just the foot fetish and crossing into the KO/sleepy fetish, but I believe these go hand in hand...

So I basically pose the models myself and add in these 'KO Endings' after the actual fights. The only limitation are, of course, the available models for both the characters and the models. I have at least one or two barefoot costume models of each girl, and about three stages- though I decided to use a bit of 'creative license' for some extra KO sequences.

For example, an Alternate KO Ending usable for the urban stages has the loser's unconscious bod being loaded onto the back of a mysterious van, to be taken away to some unknown fate (for the record, they're being sent to a spa to get a rejuvenating massage). I may add some more depending on what I think up. Yeah, it's kinda weird but hey, it's fun- like cooking up 'Fatalities'  but in DOA.



I can only do KO endings using the girls and stages I have models with, sadly. But thankfully I have enough...

Anyways, sadly there's nothing as yet I can do to remedy my second gripe- the foot model problem. Even sadder, it is quite apparent that this won't change in the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 Last Round release this coming February. However, I am looking forward to the prospect of seeing this gorgeous game in action in full 1080p.
Also, there IS the possibility that since it will be released on PC, there IS the possibility that modders may do the same wonders to the character models' feet that they did with Skyrim- that is, substitute more detailed, life-like foot models for the sub-standard ones from Team Ninja. Darn, just the thought of the DOA girls finally getting more realistic, detailed feet... wow. Please modders- someone like Sloth86 or such- PLEASE step up to this vital task! You are our only hope!

For now though,  take the time to watch the DOA5 Ultimate KO vids I've uploaded recently to the channel. I'll probably do more as I still am in the DOA mood for the time being. Here's to hotter and sexier babe battles (soon in full HD) this new year!