14 DAY TRIAL // After initially announcing that the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 will use the three-point hold system of the third game in the series and dealing with feedback from the fan community, the developers at Team Ninja have decided to reverse their decision and use the four point hold feature from the fourth game.
Yohei Shimbori, who is the game director working on Dead or Alive 5, has told fans on Twitter that, “We got a lot of feedback on holds from around the world.”
He added, “Four point holds work really well for game balance, but I was worried that beginners couldn’t pull off mid kick holds. But all of the feedback we got from players with the alpha demo gave me the final nudge to go with 4-point.”
Shimbori, who is one of the most passionate players of the Dead or Alive series in the development team, says that in the past he has also struggled with the hold system, but that he chose to focus on it and perfect his moves because it adds a fun element to the game.
The developer concluded, “Of course, we will make it so new players can still have fun with 4-point holds. I had some beginners on the team try it out, and they said that they could use 4-point holds with a little practice.”
Shimbori has also claimed that there are other changes coming to the mechanics of Dead or Alive 5, but that the information will only be offered after E3 2012.
Team Ninja has promised that Dead or Alive 5 will remain familiar to fans of the fighting game series while also adding some humanity to the characters and introducing more story elements.
The game is expected to launch on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 on September 25 of this year.