Ryu Hayabusa versus Zack during Ryu's Story Mode in Dead or Alive 4.
Story mode is a gameplay mode in the Dead or Alive series that explores the selected character's story within the game. Story Mode consists of seven to eight fighting matches that contains cutscenes, a final boss, and as of Dead or Alive 2, a CG ending for each character.
In Dead or Alive: Dimensions, story mode was renamed chronicle mode, as it covers the entire story from the first Dead or Alive to Dead or Alive 4, rather then featuring a completely new story of its own. Its gameplay also differs greatly from story modes in previous titles.
Gameplay Concept[]
Dead or Alive 2[]
Story mode was first used in Dead or Alive 2. There is a total of 7 stages in the Dead or Alive 2 Story Mode. Basically, the player starts stage 1 by fighting a random selected character. After stage 1, cutscenes will begin to appear at different points for different characters. Characters will have around 3-4 cutscenes. Opponents relevant to the player character's storyline will always be faced at the same stage in story mode whilst the rest will be random. The one thing all the fighters have in common is that they will fight a random opponent in the Danger Zone.
After the last cutscene fight, the character will face the final boss, Gohyakumine Bankotsubo. After the fight with Bankotsubo, the character's ending will appear. The endings are shown in gameplay graphics, not in CG graphics. The only ending that will show after the credits, and not after the fight with the tengu is Kasumi's ending.
Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive 4[]
The concept of story mode in Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive 4 are very similar. However, the Dead or Alive 3 story mode has 7 stages and the Dead or Alive 4 story mode has 8 stages. Dead Or Alive 3 story mode has 2 cutscenes and a CG ending while in Dead Or Alive 4 story mode there will be usually 3 cutscenes and a CG ending. In Dead or Alive 3, the player will fight two random characters in the first two stages. In Dead or Alive 4, the player will fight three random characters in the first three stages. Cutscenes will only appear after fighting the first few random characters and on the second to last stage. In the final stage, you will fight the final boss. Not every character's cutscenes will correspond to one another, for instance when playing as Christie, she does not fight Bayman like he does in his story mode.
However, in Dead or Alive 4, not everyone has the same final boss. For most characters the final boss will be Alpha-152. For others it will vary depending on who is involved in their story. For instance, Eliot's final boss is Gen Fu because in his story, Eliot must prove his martial arts skills to Gen Fu. After defeating the final boss, the ending will appear. Also in Dead or Alive 4, most of the characters will be up against Helena at some part in their story mode.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions[]
Chronicle mode is like story mode, but follows a canonical storyline of the Dead or Alive series, and includes new details never touched upon before. Unlike previous titles, instead of featuring individual stories for each playable characters, there is one, linear story split into five chapters, plus a prologue. In each chapter, the player fights everybody who entered the part's associated tournament at least once.
The player cannot choose which character to play in chronicle mode, and for the most part, the role of the player-character often changes between Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate, and Ryu Hayabusa, as they are the main characters of the story. In the final chapter, the player-character is always Helena Douglas, as the focus of the chapter is on her.
Dead or Alive 5[]
Like Dimensions, Dead or Alive 5 features one whole story mode instead of individual stories. It will narrate the story of Dead Or Alive 5 through a series of character swaps. As a result, it isn't possible to unlock character-specific endings.
The story remains the same despite the latest updates.
Dead or Alive 6[]
Dead or Alive 6 story mode follows the same premise as the previous game's, however, the player can now choose character order or chronological order. In addition, unlike Dead or Alive 5, the story mode gets altered with various character additions.