This game I never thought I would acquire at this point. It’s been a few years and while it’s still available to purchase it’s not exactly cheap. I managed to win an eBay auction for a copy that was already in the UK in the end, so that was neat.
Note: The photos in this unboxing have been updated on 29th June 2019, but the content is identical.
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is the third spin-off installment to the fighting franchise Dead or Alive. Xtreme is a beach volleyball fanservice game where you interact with the female cast of characters and play a bunch of mini-games including beach volleyball. The spin-off series started off as an Xbox exclusive, however, for Xtreme 3 it has moved to PlayStation due to Japan pretty much skipping Microsoft’s current console. The game has two subtitle names between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita; Fortune for PS4 and Venus for Vita; both versions were released on March 2016. There is also a third version called Scarlet that is coming to PS4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019.
Before its release, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 received controversy in the west due to its fanservice content. Long story short, Koei Tecmo decided not to bring the game over to the west but offered a solution for those who wanted to play the game in English. The Asian release (Region 3 version) offers English subtitles as well as other languages in the region depending on where you download the game from (Region 3 covers Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea) plus the game is completely identical to the Japanese version in terms of content, so there’s no censorship or cut content whatsoever.
The Asian release also features post-game content including VR support which is only accessible via a VR Passport (which is available to acquire through the PSN store via the game’s menu after updating to the latest patches, or via a different full-game download that comes included).
Xtreme 3’s cast of characters included in the game was based on a popularity poll. In order of the most chosen were:
- Marie Rose (17.6%)
- Honoka (14.9%)
- Kasumi (12%)
- Ayane (8.4%)
- Kokoro (8%)
- Nyotengu (7.6%)
- Hitomi (5.9%)
- Momiji (5.1%)
- Elena (4.9%)
Pretty much as soon as you start the game, it is automatically available in English. You can switch to other languages in the options menu including Traditional Chinese and Korean. There are a couple menu options, but the main one to start with is called ‘Travel to New Zack Island’ where you then have the option to pick one of the nine girls who are included in the game.
Included with the physical edition release is the physical copy of the game with a disc and a mini-manual. For the physical copies, the game case is based on Taiwan (and includes the Taiwanese age rating) with the English name on the spine and front cover. There is a variation with the entire game case in English but it’s very rare and hard to find. Like all PlayStation 4 games (unless it’s JoySound from Japan), the disc is region free.
PlayStation 4 Specs:
Version: Asia
Exclusive: No
Local Players: 1
Online Players: 0
HDD Space: 24.53 GB (with Version 1.16 update applied)
Trophy Support: Yes
Physical copies are available over on Play Asia:
Japanese Version:
Venus PSVita, Scarlet PS4, Scarlet Switch
Asian Version:
Fortune PS4, Scarlet PS4, Scarlet Switch
If you can’t afford the physical versions, the game is also available digitally on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on the Asian PSN stores (Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan).
The Normanic Vault 
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