Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Year: 2019
System Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
The Dead or Alive series has been around now for many many years, featuring a memorable and diverse cast of fighters, and most notably, a bunch of bodacious beauties.
What started as a beach volleyball spin-off game on the original Xbox has now spawned multiple entries across many generations. Released on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch across Japan and Asia only and featuring an English subtitle translation, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet is the latest release in the series and an updated and expanded version of Xtreme 3, featuring up to date graphics and a whole new selection of babes and bikinis to choose from.
First things first, if your’re playing this series, you know what you’re in for and you know why you play these games and there’s absolutely no shame in that, you’re a volleyball expert and want to showcase that in gaming form, that’s all. This is a game which doesn’t take itself too seriously and knows exactly what it is; a relaxing island romp featuring poolside and beach games with a bevvy of buxom beauties. The game is obviously aimed at a specific audience and in doing so questions the over sexualisation of women in gaming, but that’s a serious topic for another time.
With 11 characters to choose from, all stats and measurements accounted for, most of the series favourites are here including one character created specifically for this game. The aim of the game is to pick a girl and then spend 14 days participating in beach games, playing poker at night and watching your chosen waifu posing for poolside photo-shoots. As the resident host, Zack, another DOA mainstay has urgent business elsewhere he needs to attend to it’s up to you to act as host. After the 14 days is up you achieve a ranking, level up and improve your partners satisfaction and then guess what? You lucky so and so, you get to do it all again, over and over.
The game is very visually pleasing, with vibrant blue skies, golden sands and fantastic crisp character models, the game looks great on the Switch which is the platform the review is based on. The music is fine, nothing too memorable but very chill, suitable for your visit to the picturesque New Zack Island.
The game is split into two main parts; Girl Mode where you control the girls directly in their activities and beach frolicking, and Owner Mode, where you creepily watch keep an eye on your chosen bosom beauty, giving them gifts and taking photos to try and win their favour, making sure that they are having the time of their lives.
Although there multiple activities to choose from, ranging from race to the flag to butt battles, most are very short mini games and offer no real substance, and while fun at first don’t make you want to replay them over and over.
To explain a few; Pool Hopping is pretty much a quick time event which sees you pressing the corresponding button shown on the block in the pool to cross faster than your opponent, testing your button reflexes and offering quite a challenge.
Butt battle sees your character and opponent face back to back on floating platforms with the aim to knock each other using only their behinds, first to three and you have a victory. The water effects are especially good after falling into the pool, some bikinis have their wearer grasping onto them, desperately trying to keep them from slipping off, known as a “malfunction”.
The biggest and best activity goes to Volleyball. It’s by no means a complex affair but it is the longest and probably most fun, especially when spiking the ball back for a point but again it’s not very meaty and not really much to it.
After the day is done and you head back to your room for the evening, you can take photos of your tanned companion and her multiple poses or you can head to the casino for a game of poker, roulette or blackjack, hopefully winning some money for your chosen gal. The poker here isn’t anything special and quite frankly is rather bland. This could’ve been the perfect opportunity to show off the cast in some sleek dresses and elegant evening wear. Instead what we have is character icons on the screen, sure the cards themselves have various pictures of the characters but there could have been so much more done to make it a bit more exciting, even the background visuals are generic and uninspired. Thankfully this is a good way to win cash to buy items from the store or bikinis to gift you holiday partner.
Speaking of bikinis, there are loads to earn, unlock and purchase but to do so is a bit of a grind. You can’t just buy bikinis and have your chosen partner wear them straight away, you have to gift them and then they choose whether to wear them or not, sometimes rejecting your gift.
Other items can be purchased directly from the island shop such as tanning lotion and sunblock as well as other lotions which ahem enhance the “assets” of your chosen holiday associate.
The Final Say
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet, whilst very visually appealing, featuring some of the best character models on the Nintendo Switch, is a shallow affair. The 6 activities available quickly become tedious and the goal of buying more bikinis for your chosen busty beauty becomes a grind. That being said, the mini games are fun whilst they last and the casino whilst bland offers a distraction from all the beach fun. The spin off series seems to have veered away from the volleyball aspect and more about tending to the girls satisfaction and item collecting. There is fun to be had with this game if played in short bursts and the Nintendo Switch is the perfect console for this. If the game offered as much substance as it does style, we’d be on to a winning title but for as it is it just misses the mark.
Verdict – 6/10
The screenshots are taken by me and are for review purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended. All images contained within the screenshots are copyrighted by their respective owners. The screenshots are unaltered and taken from the Nintendo Switch release. If however you feel I have infringed any copyright, please message me and I will happily remove all images.
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