DOA5 was supposed to come out on the 28th of September, but for me, it came the day before... however, due to the lack of people in my house at the time it was supposed to be posted, I ended up no different than the rest of the people who got the game. Anywayz, with nothing better to do than watch Hayate and Mila fight each other, I vill write some sort of review/what I think of the game.

STORY:
It was better than expected. I won't give away any [major] spoilers, but the story was cool! It was interesting to watch and take part in. I like the fact that the story is only one big story spilt into chapters (like in DOAD) so I don't have to go fighting Alpha-152 as Brad Wong or summat, losing like 30 times before I win, just for another costume... But it was better than Dimensions, because you weren't just playing as the ninja (as awesome as they are). Everyone was involved! It did play a bit like previous games though, because every chapter revolved around one character. But it wasn't hard at all.
Still, I would have liked the story to be longer. I didn't think I'd complete it in one evening (like DOAD...) Not to mention how jumpy and rather jumbled it was...
I hate Rig. So much. I've hated him since I first saw him, and now I only hate him more. Hayate and I had fun kicking his ass. We didn't get to kick Ryu's ass though, even though he was being such a TERRIBLE FRIEND. Hayabusa, friends DON'T leave each other for dead! Friends DON'T insult each other's clan! FRIENDS DON'T KEEP THEIR SISTER CAPTIVE DVFIEWHIX]VDP!! (Not giving away any spoilers...)

REWARDS:
During Story Mode, there are these little bonus missions (like Counter 3 Mid-Kicks!) that get you titles! Titles are just titles that you get by doing certain things (like Complete Arcade Mode!). By getting enough titles, you unlock Pai and Alpha-152. I haven't unlocked the latter yet, so whatever... They're pretty cool, and in Story Mode you don't have to do the mission, and can even come back to it!
I have a BIG problem with costumes. Here I was, all naive, thinking I'd have about 6-7 costumes for Haya-kun! I only have four. AGAIN. THREE GAMES IN A ROW TEAM NINJA!! THEY CAN'T EVEN GIVE ME SEXY BACK!! Don't even get me started on what the hell Ryu is wearing. And the VF guys only have two costumes each! That is until some pervert uses the special code to give Sarah and Pai bikinis. But guess what? I'M NOT THAT PERVERT. (I only got the Collector's Edition for the box! And it's a nice box too...)

FIGHT MODE:
This is where the Arcade, Survival, Versus, etc. are. Apart from Versus, you can use all the other modes of play to gain titles! It's like DOAD (again...), where you have to complete Arcade mode with the highest score on different difficulty levels sorta thing... It's also what you do to unlock costumes. Training mode is the same as DOA4, where you do the workout thing and complete it to get the character's system voice. (Which is why Hayate is my system voice. Raijin? That thing? Ha! No problem for me! Because they made it easier...)
Here I was, all naive, thinking I'd make a new Death Squad for DOA5! Only then did I realize there was no Team Battle... And then my heart sank. WHY TEAM NINJA!!! Y U GET RID OF TEAM BATTLE!! I loved it!! I had a Death Squad! I even trained up a new one!!

EXTRAS:
So far, my favourite mode. Here you can watch characters fight each other (like I'm doing now), and while they fight, you can take pictures. You could do this in DOA4 too, but here, YOU CAN PAUSE!! I've spent HOURS taking pictures of sweet Haya-kun, and even Mila, who has proven to look good for the camera along with Hayate! It's really fun, and like before, you can go to any stage and wear whatever costumes you just happen to have! And take dirty/funny shipping pictures too! Also, even if you don't pause, the picture won't blur like it did in DOA4. Also, you can save fights you've done in Versus mode, and either watch them again, or use them to take more pictures! You can view your pictures in a gallery, but I don't know if there is a limit... I've only taken 80 so far... You can get to 100, I know that!
However, because Team Ninja never fails to disappoint me, you can't rewind or fast forward when viewing a previous fight. Which means if you miss a really good shot, you have to wait for it all over again! At least in DOA4 you could fast forward, but not here... And you can't take pictures of starting poses. You can of end ones, but not much. (I only want Hayate's lose pose with his EYES CLOSED, but because it's a MILI-SECOND after they allow it, I CAN'T!!! ) And when your viewing pictures, you can't flick through! You have to go on one, go off it, then go on the other. I don't really mind, but when it starts FREEZING, then it gets annoying...
Also on Extras, you can view fighting progress and your titles that you've earned and stuff.

OTHER STUFF:
I approve the character models, stages, sweat, dirt and fighting effects! Also, some of the music... just YES!
There is an Online tab as well, but I don't have Xbox Live, so I wouldn't know or care about any of that. The languages the characters can speak in are Japanese or English. I prefer the Japanese voices, but it's nice to change to English sometimes. Sarah is the only one who talks English no matter what, because she's from Virtua Fighter.
Character's with long hair (like Kokoro) can be somewhat weird. When watching Kokoro in the cutscenes, it was like her hair slugged over her shoulder. It's much better than DOA4, but it's not the best in the world. Then again, I didn't expect the animation to be Disney smooth... It also would've been cool if their hair and clothes suck to their bodies when they got sweaty and wet. Also, why no blood? Blood isn't bad...
Some Danger Zones are crazy, so I turn them off. I like Danger Zones, it's just that sometimes, even DOA can be too extreme for me...
And speaking of extreme, the females' breasts physics can't be changed. They are how they are. You won't get them to jiggle any more or less than they already do. Personally, I don't like the physics. If you're not going to let us change the physics, then at least make them SOMEWHAT realistic (I swear, it's just jelly behind that skin)...
And there's no Ein. Because RIG replaced him (bastard). Hayate's parents weren't shown (I'd have loved to have seen Shiden and Ayame!). I am not the only fan disappointed.

OVERALL:
I'll give the game It's an impressive game, I will admit, with all this Fighting Entertainment. But I had such high hopes for it, and I was let down. It's more like a revised version of DOA4, with a different plot, better graphics, guest star characters, and power blows. Oh, and bikinis. If Team Ninja were to make a sequel (which they should, because the story ended in a cliffhanger), I'd hope they'd make it sooner for a start, and give Hayate more spotlight. He got quite a bit of spotlight in this game!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have pictures of Hayate and Mila to take...

Signed,
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