Have you ever looked at a game, seen how it plays, and realized it wasn’t ready yet? As excited as you may have been, you know it would have benefited from some more time in the developmental oven? If you’re a fighting game fan, that thought probably hit you the moment Dead or Alive 5: Last Round was released, because this PC port is a hot mess. Some serious work still needs to be done to make this game worth its $40 price tag.
You know it’s bad when Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo admit everything that’s wrong with the game. How does Dead or Alive 5: Last Round fail us? Let us count the ways. It isn’t as pretty as the next gen counterparts, so it’s one of the few situations where a PS4 version of a game looks better than the PC port. Two stages are missing. Even though the console variations have achievements, the PC version does not.
Most egregious, however, is the lack of online play. You can’t play Dead or Alive 5: Last Round online. A fighting game where one of the best and most appealing elements is facing off against friends lacks that most crucial element. All of the online modes are absent at the moment. They’ll be patched into the game within three months. There isn’t even an exact date for one of the most important aspects of gameplay yet.
Game delays are unfortunate. They make people unhappy. But they serve an important purpose. These delays give developers a chance to ensure the product is as strong as possible at launch. Dead or Alive 5: Last Round ‘s PC port really needed that. While I’m sure many would have been upset about it not releasing around the same time as the console releases, I guarantee they’re more upset about getting something unfinished immediately.
Think about it. Would you rather pay full price for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round now, knowing you’re doomed to an offline experience that isn’t as pretty, won’t reward you with meaningless acknowledgements as you play, and has two fewer stages than the full game? Or would you have rather seen it delayed, launched in perhaps July, and gotten a more complete experience. I’d much rather have gone with the latter.
The only thing the current release of Dead or Alive 5: Last Round has going for it now is timing. It launched at about the same time as the console ports, which I suppose some may consider important. But even more critical is that it being released now makes for a good chance of it getting some sort of delightful discount during the 2015 Steam Summer Sale. Which would work out perfectly for people, as by the time it may be discounted then, the online multiplayer might be patched in.
In short, delays stink, but they’re acceptable. We know they serve a purpose. It’d be better if a game like Dead or Alive 5: Last Round were delayed. The final product would have been better, people would have been more willing to pick it up, and there wouldn’t have been any hard feelings about the console version being initially superior to the PC port.