Characters Do you miss the anime-styled pre-DOA5 games had?

[Sotherius]

The only possible problem, is that to me it seems the jann, hayate, ryu and zack are sharing the same body model and the same for kasumi and helena, but i might be wrong.

About the anime arstyle, i really like how it looks in DOA 2 U, and in DOA D, but the character faces in DOA 4 always felt weird to me, i like the way doa 5 and now DOA 6 is handling the artstyle of the characters.

 

[Tyaren]

The only possible problem, is that to me it seems the jann, hayate, ryu and zack are sharing the same body model and the same for kasumi and helena, but i might be wrong.

I'm afraid that seems to be the case, at least for Jann Lee and Zack. Like DOA5 they seem to reuse the same body models for all male characters, only slightly adjusted for slimmer characters like Eliot or heavier characters like Bayman and Bass. They will have to rework the base model though, because it is missing a belly button. Zack's should be visible, it is in DOA5 in the same costume. It isn't as apparent that it is missing (I think I am the only one ever mentioning it) here because of his dark skin. In other circumstances it would be very apparent and very weird though for male characters not having a belly button.

As for Helena and Kasumi we simply can't tell yet because Kasumi is fully suited up. But I guess this will be similar here as well. The same base model just slightly adjusted. Some have bigger breasts, some bigger butts, some a slimmer waist. And then there are Marie Rose and Honoka, lol.

 

[Macca Beam]

2U and 4 had the same faces. only the lighting, polycount and texture resolution changed
Dimensions was different from the others, however. shame that 5 happened right as they made some actual upgrades to the old style

(also the worst of the older games in both design and tone was 3; everything was off. too bad the guy behind that is now in charge of the series rofl)

 

[KasumiLover]

2U and 4 had the same faces. only the lighting, polycount and texture resolution changed
Dimensions was different from the others, however. shame that 5 happened right as they made some actual upgrades to the old style

(also the worst of the older games in both design and tone was 3; everything was off. too bad the guy behind that is now in charge of the series rofl)

Dimensions wasn't different, it used a scaled down version of the characters from how they looked in 2U or 4, I know this for a fact since Kasumi and practically everyone else uses their 2U hair models, and Ein and Jann Lee use their DOA4 models but they had their muscle definition downgraded. Anyone added in DOA4 tho they scaled down their models from that game, but I know they tied Kokoros hair in that yellow low ribbon since the 3DS couldn't handle the DOA4 hair physics, and Helena had her hair length gimped.

And the only upgrades Dimensions really did to the old style was showing emotion, Dimensions did a really good job making the characters way more expressive imo, if you compare for example the final cutscene between Helena and Christie from DOA4 in Dimensions, they did a much better job showing how Helena really reacted

 

[Juihau]

Dimensions wasn't different, it used a scaled down version of the characters from how they looked in 2U or 4

Incorrect! Dimensions actually had traces of the new art style that DoA5 would bring about. The most noticeable example of this is Hayabusa, who took on his generally-disliked, more rugged appearance a year before Ninja Gaiden 3, the game most people give crap for ruining his face.

Other examples are less glaringly obvious than Hayabusa, but just glancing, Brad's face also seems closer to his DoA5 appearance than 4, and Jann Lee just looks...really bad... But yeah.

 

[KasumiLover]

Incorrect! Dimensions actually had traces of the new art style that DoA5 would bring about. The most noticeable example of this is Hayabusa, who took on his generally-disliked, more rugged appearance a year before Ninja Gaiden 3, the game most people give crap for ruining his face.

Other examples are less glaringly obvious than Hayabusa, but just glancing, Brad's face also seems closer to his DoA5 appearance than 4, and Jann Lee just looks...really bad... But yeah.

It's not actually XD I own the Dimensions game and they kept alot of the faces the same, only giving slight updates here and there. and yeah for Hayabusa they updated his appearance from DOA4 and even gave him a new hair model since I don't recall his hair ever looking like that, even in DOA3, but he looks nothing like that in DOA5. Some characters did have their faces updated as well, like Eliot had a new face and hair model(Tries to maintain composure)

Idk about Jann Lee(Who I find to be a hot fucker) and Tengu and Raidou also looked different from how they did intentionally, which leads me to believe they just updated some characters here and there so they wouldn't look strange on the 3DS. Art style wise in general, the only thing they really used in DOA5 was the emotions they implemented in Dimensions

 

[Hayabusiness]

A lot of guys just looked different in that game, Eliot being the most glaring example. Which brings me to think the models are probably new again or heavily modified to work on the weaker hardware.

 

[KasumiLover]

They're not new, they're just downgraded to be able to be used on the 3DS since its not strong enough system wise to handle the Xbox 360 models or original Xbox models depending on which character it is

 

[Tyaren]

Some people seem to think there is a magical downgrade button and, voilà, a former high polygon and high resolution textured character model with advanced skeletal animation is suddenly fit for significantly weaker hardware (like the 3DS) and after that they look and work perfectly fine. It doesn't work like that! It's more effective and actually less of a hassle to just remodel, retexture and reanimate the model, especially if they are as comparatively simple as the Dimensions models. That's actually the full-time job of the 2D and 3D and artists. They are not paid to sit around twiddling their thumbs all day and once in a while push that magical downgrade button.
On top of that you can clearly see they are new models, because they often wear completely new costumes and different hair styles. You don't just go with a virtual comb through a character's hair and the hairstyle is different. It has to be designed, modelled and textured completely anew. That's not the same model.
The liberal reuse of character models from one generation to the next has also not been a big thing prior to this generation where the visual payoff gets smaller and smaller. The jumps in what you could do more with character models were significantly higher and artists and designers did make proper use of that. Hell, back then they even significantly improved models from one game to the next within the same generation. Team Ninja especially was/is famed within the business for their highly detailed and advanced models.

 

[Pn33milan]

I'm ok woth doa's graphics evolution.
If they had wanted a 3d anime-sttle game, they would have followed the tales of series' style, for example.

I like they try to have some kind of realistic graphics, with anime types of details (purple hair, archetypes for characters...)

 

[Teh69thSpartan]

I'm curious about how the new DOA5&6 characters would look like with the classic DOA art style

 

[TRid]

Tina face comparison by doshirouto

 

[TheHunterKiller692]

I'm wondering... do any of you guys miss the anime style old games had?

For me, I think they did a really good job with 5 and it's style change.Some characters look better and more alive now like Eliot than they did back then, which is a plus for a game where the character design is a important part (after all, we're one of the few fighting game fanbases where we can participate with our own character designs to become DLC, such as the halloween contests we've had for DOA5).

Well said. Most anime-ish games are either going to look like shit or they're incredibly niche. At this point, Source and Unreal paved the way for superior graphics that only a realistic art style can achieve.

 

[Argentus]

TBH I just kinda wish DOA had kept the anime style, but gone all in with cel shading and stuff, rather than trying to go for "realism".

 

[Rob]

I liked old Tina.

Man what was so great about old DOA era is it had such a VIBE and aesthetic to it and the music of course (outside Aeroshit)

Completely lost in DOA5 and DOA6. Do prefer how the models look in DOA5, don't care much for that anime doll look.

 

[KasumiLover]

The only thing I wish they retained from older DOA games was the volume and length of the hair. Kasumi, Leifang, Kokoro, and even Hitomi used to have such vivid and beautiful hair back then although in DOA4 the wind effects definitely made them look like paper streams at times, even Ayane had longer hair and it was so expressive, and Helena's ponytail used to go to her knees nearly.

DOA5 definitely did the girls dirty since their loose hair became shorter and thinner, DOA6 got it somehwat corrected since they reduced how transparent the hair was and added more weight to it but it definitely still was gimped. Kula definitely is what the standard for DOA hair should be moving forward

 

[TRid]

 

[deathofaninja]

I liked old Tina.

Man what was so great about old DOA era is it had such a VIBE and aesthetic to it and the music of course (outside Aeroshit)

Completely lost in DOA5 and DOA6. Do prefer how the models look in DOA5, don't care much for that anime doll look.


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I’m sorry, but you don’t like Aerosmith either? Come on!!! Dream On is considered a classic by most sane individuals. Perry is a legendary guitarist— one of the best. The band deserves more respect.

As far as Tina goes; I’ve always liked her but I could never go back to what she was. DOA5 and DOA6 was the birth of a monster. AS far as looks are concerned I think they did a much better job with her face for 5 and 6.

 

[inochinagi]

I've seen Aerosmith get a lot of hate, but I like them and their style I love how DOA managed to get their music. DOA2U's intro wouldn't hit as hard without Dream On. But that said, I like Bomb Factory even better, lol.

As for Tina and the graphical style of DOA5/6 in general, I am so damn grateful at how it turned out and that I ended up loving how well most characters transitioned into modern visuals. They did the upgrade better than most other long-running fighting games have. They look clearly different compared side-by-side, sure, yet they still feel like a natural evolution. But that said, I still love the old looks too. I always saw the old style as more "anime" not "doll-like". I liked how Tina's hair looked more thicker and curvier pre-5. I can play any DOA and feel fine with the visuals (even DOA1 gives off a cel-shaded vibe).

 

[Derock]

I missed DOA2 (vanilla to Hard*Core) "anime" look because that's when everyone was on point with polygons and lighting. Not mention, facial expressions! Yes, DOA2U and DOA4 trump the original models but the problem was that the characters, especially the females, began to lose their facial expressions and animations when Team Ninja moved to the Xbox for DOA3. Prime example I can give is with Kasumi's scene against her clone in original 2 era in contrast with her DOA2U version: you can tell Kasumi was pissed off in the original but in 2U, the scene was flat because of her expression was not showing properly (in actuality, her bangs were in the way!) You heard many people back in the day said that the female cast are nothing but dolls! Dimensions, thankfully, brought back the expressions.

Then 4 with the hair physics... (the spaghetti HAIR!) Lengthwise for Kasumi, Lei-Fang and others, great! Movement and physics... OH GOD!!! Kasumi's loose hair was not that bad but when you get to Lei-Fang, Kokoro AND Brad Wong... goodness gracious! That was horrible. Looks like strings of spaghetti flying, moving and sometimes clipping off-model, especially when they do their win poses! I had to select Lei-Fang's DOA2 hair because her loose hair wasn't even necessary to be default. As for Kasumi, braided ponytail and sometimes high ponytail FTW!