Guilty pleasure games are the hardest ones to review. It’s mainly an issue of trying to figure out if the guilty pleasure is good enough to offset the glaring flaw. This has always been my issue with the Dead or Alive franchise. So, in this game, does it rise above its issues?

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is the enhanced port of the fifth game in the series, including new features from the PSP version, bug fixes from the initial version, and  a roster boosted to a whopping 29 fighters, including characters from the Ninja Gaiden and Virtua Fighter series. As always, the fighting is fast, furious and addictive. With the addition of new online modes like Tag, it’s definitely a fun fighter. However, the fanservice is getting rather old. There’s only so much pleasure I can get from revealing outfits and…. bouncy bits.

The other weak link is the story mode. As with other fighters like the recent Mortal Kombat and Injustice, we have a story mode that forces you to switch out between different characters, giving you a chance to play with a lot of fighters. The sad thing is, even for a game whose story is an excuse for fighting, it is one of the most disjointed and uneven stories told in a fighting game. In one character’s run, suddenly the story jumps from a fight in a major city (presumably New York) to one in Antarctica, all while implying that only a day has passed between the two. And the reasons for the fights are often random. It’s like “Hey, I just ran into you, let’s just fight.” It’s really strange, and really is a weak point of this game. It would have made more sense to just have a story for each fighter on their own, instead of trying to integrate all of them in one very incoherent plot.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is a really good fighter, even with its copious amount of fanservice (hey, to each their own). Its modes and roster are really good, as is its gameplay. Its story, however, is a ridiculous, disjointed experience. But really, this isn’t the kind of game you play for a story. You play for the enjoyment. And there’s plenty to be had here.