The rocking aesthetics and metal infused soundtrack the series is famous for is of course present and accounted for. With the Revelator DLC and two new character inclusions of busty samurai Baiken and business ninja Answer, the diverse roster is up to a healthy 25 fighters. Each and every cast member has a fantastically unique feel, playable style and identity that you immediately identify through their design alone.

"Each and every cast member has a fantastically unique feel, playable style and identity that you immediately identify through their design alone. "

While he debuted in the story of the first Xrd game, Answer finally gets his hands dirty here in Rev 2. Fitting of his business ninja heritage, he’s a character that excels in mind games and mix ups, flitting all over the screen by jumping to business cards he’s able to place, able to get in and launch a combo and get out before his foe ever saw it coming.

Baiken is far more conceptually straight forward, but demanding of a cool head all the same. She has a suit of abilities inspired by her design, such as a devious mat block that catches low and opens enemies up to her assault if they’re not watching their own spacing. Her offensive options is balanced by lower health, demanding that the player know when to balance offence and defence to make the most of her.

"If you meet it halfway with the training tools it provides you and learn the systems, there are few fighting games that can be more rewarding."

While there are only two truly new fighters for series fans (3 are DLC released for Rev 1), it’s really hard to knock the balance Arc System Works has managed to strike here. The newcomers tend toward being heavily technical and ideal for those players who are already intimate with the game, but the fantastic learning tools at your disposal such as challenge mode and the unqualified best tutorial in the genre still carry forward to Rev 2, somehow unchallenged by its contemporaries.

Battles themselves are high octane clashes that put a premium on being offensive and meeting your adversary head on. If you meet it halfway with the training tools it provides you and learn the systems, there are few fighting games that can be more rewarding. Rushing into and landing a crushing multi-hit combo is a rush, but using the tension gauge you built to cancel that super and immediately destroy your helpless foe with another combo is just as fantastic as it was before, with balance tweaks and new fighters giving everybody something new to learn.

"What could easily be mistaken for hand drawn animation in a typical fighting camera angle gets freely rotated for match intros and glorious freeze frames when a match reaches its climax."

While the straight fighting is still at the top of its class, the side modes on offer have seen very little in the way of updates. M.O.M. mode is reminiscent of the RPG Abyss modes in sister series Blazblue and received a handful of new items, while the combo and mission modes that help you really dig into each of the characters bring a few new challenges each. Story mode once again, remains unplayable, instead remaining as a lengthy series of cutscenes that move the overarching plot of the Guilty Gear world forward, which is unfortunate. But the amazing art direction is leveraged to its best here and at worst, you can totally ignore it.

The wizardry of the Xrd art style is still as impressive in 2017 as well, and I would be remiss not to mention it. Forcing a few double takes as these gorgeously animated fighters burst forth from the screen as what could easily be mistaken for hand drawn animation in a typical fighting camera angle gets freely rotated for match intros and glorious freeze frames when a match reaches its climax. Active lighting effects that not only reflect off the fighter that launches a move, but the one that eats said move brings an amazing third dimensional feeling to matches in a small way, with great effect.

Yet, for all the fun I had with Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 there is the nagging fact that for those who jumped in long before, there isn’t a lot of new to dig into here. When I consider it as a $20 DLC for Rev 1, with myriad balance tweaks on top of the pair of newcomers, I still struggle to give it an unqualified recommendation. For the total newcomer, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is an amazing value that with its suite of colourful, fantastic characters and amazing training options will make a fighting game enthusiast out of anyone.

This game was reviewed on Playstation 4.

ead or Alive is a fighting series that is a fighting series that is known for good graphics and most of all good core fighting mechanics. Dead or Alive 5 is the 5th main game in the series, however, Dead or Alive 5+ is a well-done port that adds exclusive additions such as training +, touch fight mode, portability, more costumes and quicker load times. At its core, it is a fighting game with a somewhat interesting story mode, 24 characters to play with and cross-play features. In this review, I will cover the core gameplay, graphics and its overall appeal.

The Core Gameplay and Content:

Dead or Alive 5+ continues the trend as it always did with the previous titles from the series. The core fighting system of the series is the countering system. A skilled player can easily counter any opponent’s move and punish them in return, that is how most Dead or Alive games are played all throughout.  The gameplay is fast-paced and the fighting always feels fluid and fun. I don’t really have that many complains about its gameplay system, if you enjoyed previous Dead or Alive games then you will enjoy this one just as much and you will know what to expect.

Dead or Alive 5+ introduces environments that have something called “Danger Zones”. If the player manages to combo their opponent into a danger zone, they will trigger a cool dynamic environment change. These environmental changes add a nice cinematic feel throughout the fight and add tension to the game. The game also has an option to turn on/off the danger zone, which is nice if you just want to play traditionally.

The game features a somewhat lengthy story mode that feels overall cheesy and obnoxious most of the time. With a ton of in-game cut-scenes, it is nice to see developers trying to have an interesting story in a fighting game, but to be completely honest; I could care less about the story. I am more interested in beating the crap out of my opponents in single-player campaign to unlock new outfits, play against other players online or try to beat my friends in a versus match.

The touch fight mode is an interesting addition for the PS’s Vita touch capabilities. As the name implies this mode will take you in first-person, perspective and you can start swiping and tapping your fingers on the screen to deal damage to your opponent. The touch fight mode feels gimmicky while an interesting concept, it does not really work that well and just feels kind of cheap and dodgy. I tried this mode a couple of times and just could not get into it, maybe someone else will find a better way to implement touch mechanics in the future.

Training + mode is much better than the original console version and the addition of combo trials is awesome. If you are trying to practice and perfect your counter-moves and learn your character’s frame-date then Training + is the place to do it.

Dead or Alive 5+ does have cross-Save and Cross-Play features. With Cross-Play, you can play against PlayStation 3 players on your PlayStationVita and vice versa. Cross-Save let’s you save your game content/progress across both systems without a hassle. However, the game does not support Cross-Buy unfortunately, but if you buy DLC for one version, the other version gets it too.

Graphics and Sound:

The graphics of the game suffers a little bit because the developer tried to achieve a smooth buttery frame-rate of 60 FPS. Lack of Anti-Aliasing and lower-resolution textures are noticeable, but the game still looks good for a handheld system. The 60 FPS really make up for the small compromises of the console graphics, but I personally think they still could have achieved higher resolution textures and had a better-looking port. However, since the core of the port is good then I cannot really complain much.

The game provides both English and Japanese voice-overs for all of the characters, the soundtrack fits the game well and all of the sound design is well done. The Dead or Alive 5 + version also adds the ability to completely change the music suite to your liking.

Overall

Dead or Alive 5+ is a great fighting port. I really do not have any big problems with it, my only complaint is the cheesy story mode and the dumped down visuals. If you like Dead or Alive then you will like this, if you do not like Dead or Alive then you will not like this port either. However, if you want a good fighting game on the go, then give this game a chance for your PlayStation Vita. Fan of fighting games, but never played Dead or Alive? Training + will help you to get into the series and understand the fighting mechanics of the game.

In a nutshell, Dead or Alive 5 + is a successful port that any Dead or Alive fan should consider purchasing.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation Vita.