Welcome back to the Dead or Alive Love/Hate series! In this entry, we’re covering the first game in the notorious Dead or Alive spin-off franchise, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. What can I say about this game that it doesn’t say for itself? Well, if you were interested in video games at the time this came out, there’s a good chance that this was your first impression of Dead or Alive. I had never heard of the series before, but I distinctly remember getting second-hand embarrassment every time I saw the box art for this game at the rental store. Despite that, the game reviewed shockingly well and this particular game has a pretty good reputation even to this day. How does this game hold-up in the face of its follow-ups? Read on to find out…

Once again, there’s only been one release of this game, that being on the original Xbox, so no need to go over alternate versions this time…

Love

• The Volleyball – DOAXBV seems like it’s an April Fool’s joke born out of all the jokes about this series’ sexy girl marketing. It would be like if Nier suddenly announced a wet t-shirt contest spin-off, or if Final Fantasy announced a female-only mud-wrestling game. In a lot of respects, this is kind of a joke brought to life, but Team Ninja execute that joke properly by making the volleyball legitimately enjoyable to play. The systems aren’t super deep, but there’s enough here that it’s fun to learn the ropes and playing a few rounds is quick, easy, and enjoyable.
• Very Relaxing Atmosphere – One thing that the DOAX games have always really excelled at is making you feel like you’re on vacation. Too many games can just feel like a chore to play, but DOAXBV seems designed to have you just chill and take it easy. In this regard, DOAXBV may be the most relaxing entry in this spin-off series. Since the only real activities are volleyball or lounging around, it doesn’t feel like you’re wasting time if you choose to skip a match and just watch your chosen girl taking it easy for a few seconds.
• Licensed Soundtrack – While I’m not really a fan of this game’s pop soundtrack, it’s hard to deny that the fairly large playlist of licensed tracks really enhance the relaxing atmosphere of the game. It’s also pretty cool that you can add or remove tracks from the playlist in-game.
• Exhibition Mode – It’s pretty cool that this game gives you the option to ignore all the constraints of a full vacation and just play a custom round of volleyball by yourself or with a friend. It’s also pretty cool that you can choose any of the girls for this mode and they’ll have any outfits that you’ve unlocked for them available to choose from. This mode is also particularly notable since none of the other Xtreme games feature this mode.
• Graphics – A game like this lives and dies based on its graphics, and it’s no exaggeration to say that DOAXBV holds up. The character models are as good as they were in DOA3 and the anime-like art style of these games helps to make this game still look pretty impressive more than twenty years after it released (the sand physics are especially cool to see in real-time).
• The Sexy Aspects Are… Tasteful? – Look, the Dead or Alive series, and especially the Xtreme spin-offs, have a reputation for being kind of creepy. Leaving aside the fact that Kasumi and Ayane are both underage, the sexy aspects of DOAXBV are… not that bad? I’m serious, there’s a voyeuristic element to the game, but it doesn’t really cross any objectionable lines in my opinion (again, ignoring that two of the characters are, according to the game designers, technically underage…). The girls are all on vacation, having fun, and playing volleyball while trying out various swimsuits. We just happen to get a look into this world to see what they’re up to, but we’re not intruding, or putting them in uncomfortable situations, or anything like that. As far as these kinds of games go, it’s downright wholesome to see and makes the game a lot easier to recommend.

Hate

• Content Wears Thin – As I said earlier, there is very little to do in DOAXBV: you’ve got volleyball, relaxing, pool hopping, buying items, or heading to the casino at nighttime. That’s it. This is a fourteen day vacation, split up into morning, day, evening segments. Volleyball’s fun, but I was growing a bit bored of it quickly. Like I said earlier, it feels like Team Ninja knew this and threw in sexy relaxation scenes to break up the monotony, but well-before the end of the vacation, I was getting pretty bored. This is the sort of game that benefits from short play sessions, because the repetition really starts to sour the experience quickly.
• Dating Sim Elements – Easily the worst part about DOAXBV (and this spin-off series in general) are the dating sim elements. Every girl has certain items that they like and, if you want to partner with them for volleyball or have them accept some of your unique swimwear, you need to gift them a couple times to make them like you. I just hate how rigid this system is: you either go in blind and basically just play a complete guessing game, or you look at a guide and it becomes a game of colour by numbers. It’s so tedious. Worst of all, you have to engage with it for a couple reasons: 1) in order to give character-specific bikinis to the other girls, and 2) if you lose a couple matches, then your partner will ditch you the next morning and you’ll have to find someone else to join you. Of course, you could just choose to play the rest of the game solo, but then you will be completely unable to play any more volleyball (which is where all the content in the game is).
• Tarnished the Series’ Reputation – I’ve long held the opinion that DOAXBV was the reason the entire franchise gained a negative reputation, but now that I’ve played through all the games to this point, I’ve pretty much confirmed my suspicions. DOA3 was pushing the envelope a bit, both in terms of in-game fanservice and its marketing, it still was certainly no worse than other fighters of the time. However, it’s like I said up-top: that cover art for DOAXBV made way more people aware of this franchise, and their first impression was that these games were porn. Even the title itself promises something far more salacious than what we actually get here. And, unfortunately, this perception would stick to the series going forward, to the point where even the developers embraced it.

For a joke brought to life, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball isn’t a terrible time. It’s enjoyable enough in short stints, but the lack of content really makes the game wear thin quickly. However, it provides enough of a foundation that you can see how they could potentially improve and expand upon its ideas in future follow-ups. Boy howdy, it sure is convenient that I just got amnesia, so I get to be excited to see where these spin-offs go in the future…