Story mode

First of all, playing through really proved to me that Dead or Alive 4 was a sophisticated fighting game rather than a button masher. The final boss, Alpha-152 is very quick and powerful with one of her moves capable of taking away a little over half of your health. The first time I faced Alpha-152, it took me almost 2 hours to beat her – and that was pure luck. As I systematically went through the characters, I noticed that I began to be better at the game. I started to recognize combo patterns as they were happening and was able to more effectively use my holds/counters. By the time I finished, I was beating Alpha-152 anywhere between one to three matches.

The other advantage was that playing through all of the characters really solidified the sense that each character is unique. Traditionally, the characters in the Dead or Alive series have been very similar. This was far from the case. Each has their own unique personality and fighting style – it's probably as diverse a group of fighters as Street Fighter II once was. With all the main characters unlocked, I could finally figure out which character would match my gaming style the best and go from there.