Sit down and let UNC tell you a story, A story about a series that had no idea what it wanted to be.

DOA 2 in 99 on the ps2 had brought this series to a light that had the potential to keep pace with the best of them. Yes, Tekken, Streetfighter, Mortal combat, King of Fighters, it had the potential to outshine them all.

Doa 3 had us locked in, this was going to be the fighting game people will want most, this is the one friends came over to play, Flashy combos, Area transitions, counters, The Tag-System, More Characters, A dark story. IT WAS READY.

So, what happen? What happen Itagaki-san? In 03 The girls of DOA also took a vacation. Rivalries be damned. Zack was ballin and invited all the girls to an island resort where they could Rest, Race & Gamble. It was then that we were lost. The young impressionable millennials of 03 knew what they wanted more of from DOA. It wasn't fighting.

Following DOA extreme beach volleyball on xbox we were met with DOA 4 on the 360 a nice return to formula but it was already too late, we didn't care about the story at this point, none of it mattered. "DOAXBV2 When?" And then we got it...Zack put a cork on the volcano and invited all the girls back so he could peep on them from his mansion and profit. This time with more games, better graphics, more volley, and a strip club. Oh yes. If you got a "special" invitation from gambling, you could invite one of the girls to the backroom. You think the controversy around Stellar Blade was bad? I'd love to see Extreme Beach Volleyball hit the western market in 2025.

And that was it, Doa 5 Didn't Matter, Doa 6 Didn't Matter, we wanted more girls in more bikinis the leadership changed and now we have Venus Vacation. A gacha game where people can gamble on swimsuits for the girls AND the roster is still increasing, the "Canon" is now volleyball, The "fighters" are now "players" and more are on the way, but this series is as good as dead.

The fighting is an afterthought. It's a fighting game, hell it's even a "decent" fighting game but the THOUSAND dollars in DLC isn't going to improvement, no no no its going into Venus Vacation. It's going to the Creation of more gacha swimsuits and IF we are lucky doa 8. However, that's very unlikely.

TLDR: Getting old sucks & This series has long since been abandoned but if you happen to be looking for a solid 3D fighter that isn't Tekken, MK, SF, this is a solid last option but be sure to keep what I mentioned above in mind.