When Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate releases September 3 in North America and September 6 in Europe, the PlayStation Network will receive an exclusive bare-bones iteration entitled Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters for free. The free download includes the four mascots, or “Core Fighters,” of the series (Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa), the full array of stages and costumes available in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (excluding DLC) , and every game mode besides story mode. This free download will be available tentatively on September 9. Now, all of the missing content can be bought separately for the complete package. Any missing character can be bought for $3.99, and story mode will be available for a whopping $14.99.
As out-of-the-blue as it may seem, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Core Fighters, if anything, could be taken as a companion to sway you one way or the other if on the fence about whether or not this fighter is for you. A non-forced “freemium” edition could prove to be a good experiment for future titles. What do all of you think? Has Tecmo Koei fallen off their rocker, or is this something worth exploring?
The standard version of Dead or Alive 5 is available on Amazon:
