Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball
Back on the Dreamcast I enjoyed a fighting game titled Dead or Alive. I bought it the same day I bought Soul Calibur and although I enjoyed Soul Calibur more overall, they each had their merit. A little while later I noticed a similarly titled game was released on the new Microsoft console, the Xbox. Though it shared the title 'Dead or Alive', it didn't appear to be a fighting game at all. I was kinda confused, but I also didn't look into it too much, Japan can be weird at times and this didn't throw me for much of a loop.
I had figured it for a sports game, since volleyball games weren't exactly a new thing at all in the video game scene. What I didn't guess was that volleyball is only a small part of what this game really entails. As it was explained to me by a co-worker at one point, the game is really much more of a dating sim. Something that only Japan really takes seriously. And apparently this was a really fun dating sim, according to this girl. So, with that, she let me borrow it for a little while at which point I became completely hooked.
It took me a bit to figure it out. The entire game is really bizarre and certainly not the kind of game I'm used to playing. I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting into when I started this game up, but after a while I couldn't out it down. Basically, here's the story behind it all: Zack, a character from the Dead or Alive fighting series, gets rich while gambling. He buys himself an island, names it Zack Island and invites all the girls from the DOA series over for a special competition. None of them realize that it's not a martial arts tournament and instead, volleyball. Moreover, the real goal of the tournament is actually to win over Zack's love and become his girlfriend. All the while fighting other catty girls and trying to win friendships.
So, really, there is a lot that is going on in this game. The game takes place over the period of two weeks, at the end of two weeks the game 'resets'. As in, the tournament begins all over again. But items you've earned and money made accumulates towards your final goal. You compete in volleyball games each day that passes, but how good you do has a lot to do with who you are pair with and how well you get along with each other. At first, it's difficult to get anyone to play with you, but down the road you buy the other girls different gifts and clothing based on their likes and dislikes, eventually winning them over and stacking the competition in your favour.
The entire game is so absurd and yet so addictive. There's something satisfying about how all the relationships play out and trying to figure out what each girl wants or what will accidentally cheese her off. The game also features a 'photoshoot' mode, which is a voyeuristic, kinda creepy side-game where all you do is flip through various poses and take photos (which you can't save or use for any purpose). It's the one part of the game that, though seemingly harmless, pushes the idea that this game is meant more for drooling boys than girls. Well, that and the over-the-top breast sizes and 'jiggly' physics.
DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball is like a kind of guilty pleasure as far as games are concerned. It doesn't have the value of a lot of other games, but it's still a blast to play and there's little else like it. And since it was recommended to me by a girl, I don't feel too terrible enjoying it. In fact, I'd like to see this kind of game rehashed and rebuilt ground-up by a female dev team with the overall idea to appeal specifically to women and see how they would be different.
Back on the Dreamcast I enjoyed a fighting game titled Dead or Alive. I bought it the same day I bought Soul Calibur and although I enjoyed Soul Calibur more overall, they each had their merit. A little while later I noticed a similarly titled game was released on the new Microsoft console, the Xbox. Though it shared the title 'Dead or Alive', it didn't appear to be a fighting game at all. I was kinda confused, but I also didn't look into it too much, Japan can be weird at times and this didn't throw me for much of a loop.I had figured it for a sports game, since volleyball games weren't exactly a new thing at all in the video game scene. What I didn't guess was that volleyball is only a small part of what this game really entails. As it was explained to me by a co-worker at one point, the game is really much more of a dating sim. Something that only Japan really takes seriously. And apparently this was a really fun dating sim, according to this girl. So, with that, she let me borrow it for a little while at which point I became completely hooked.
It took me a bit to figure it out. The entire game is really bizarre and certainly not the kind of game I'm used to playing. I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting into when I started this game up, but after a while I couldn't out it down. Basically, here's the story behind it all: Zack, a character from the Dead or Alive fighting series, gets rich while gambling. He buys himself an island, names it Zack Island and invites all the girls from the DOA series over for a special competition. None of them realize that it's not a martial arts tournament and instead, volleyball. Moreover, the real goal of the tournament is actually to win over Zack's love and become his girlfriend. All the while fighting other catty girls and trying to win friendships.
So, really, there is a lot that is going on in this game. The game takes place over the period of two weeks, at the end of two weeks the game 'resets'. As in, the tournament begins all over again. But items you've earned and money made accumulates towards your final goal. You compete in volleyball games each day that passes, but how good you do has a lot to do with who you are pair with and how well you get along with each other. At first, it's difficult to get anyone to play with you, but down the road you buy the other girls different gifts and clothing based on their likes and dislikes, eventually winning them over and stacking the competition in your favour.
The entire game is so absurd and yet so addictive. There's something satisfying about how all the relationships play out and trying to figure out what each girl wants or what will accidentally cheese her off. The game also features a 'photoshoot' mode, which is a voyeuristic, kinda creepy side-game where all you do is flip through various poses and take photos (which you can't save or use for any purpose). It's the one part of the game that, though seemingly harmless, pushes the idea that this game is meant more for drooling boys than girls. Well, that and the over-the-top breast sizes and 'jiggly' physics.
DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball is like a kind of guilty pleasure as far as games are concerned. It doesn't have the value of a lot of other games, but it's still a blast to play and there's little else like it. And since it was recommended to me by a girl, I don't feel too terrible enjoying it. In fact, I'd like to see this kind of game rehashed and rebuilt ground-up by a female dev team with the overall idea to appeal specifically to women and see how they would be different.
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