Quick DOA5 Impressions

I feel I must give my standard disclaimer - I suck at fighting games.  I enjoy them, but I am terrible at them.  Sure, I'll try to memorize moves, and execute them, but invariably, I will get panicked and resort to button mashing.

That out of the way - I do like playing fighters - as long as I can play them against my lady or the computer reasonably well.  I've always liked the DOA series - can't lie, it's fun playing with well-endowed chicks I guess.  I got DOA5 and popped it in the Xbox last night.  I did a few stages of the story mode, and played some arcade mode and survival.  Arcade and survival are pretty much what you'd expect.  You fight people, you clear a stage, you unlock something. This should keep me occupied for a while.  The story mode, which in DOA always requires a bit of acceptance is okay as well, but it's changed.  No longer are you selecting your fighter and then going through a series of other fighters to win DOA.  Now, the game selects the fighters for you as it tells a story about them.  I'm not very fond of this,  as there are some fighters I naturally do better with in my button mashing - Hitomi for example.  However, it does tell a whole story across all (or most) of the fighters, so I guess there is some merit to it.

For the real fighter fans out there, I can't really provide any valuable insight into the mechanics.  Push buttons and hope for the best is my only winning strategy.  The story mode does offer only 2 difficulties - casual and pro.  So far, I've been okay on casual, but not sure what higher levels will bring.  I did find grabs to be a little more difficult to pull off, but mostly, the fighting feels like other DOA games.

All in all, it seems like it will be fun.  I suppose that's what matters.