At the end of the day, before we went out for Indian food in the Ichigaya district of Tokyo, Itagaki and I spent more time talking about the other features in the game, particularly the awesome CG endings. Like many of the previous DOA-related games, DOA4 features music by Aerosmith (Steven Tyler should be thankful), which appears in more than one area for added effect. Unlike past DOA CG endings, which were throwaways with little coherence, DOA4's actually make sense if you've followed the saga until now. Some are comedic, some are serious, and I won't describe any of them to you so as not to spoil anything. I will say, however, that many of them dovetail into the true, final ending, which belongs to Helena, the main character of DOA4. Helena isn't even playable until you beat the game with all of the default characters, guiding you towards the lengthy and surprisingly moving final CG sequence in the game. Why do I say moving? Well, judging from what the CG ending's story line seemed to suggest (although it could easily be construed as open-ended), I got sort of a sad feeling from it, like something was over. I asked Itagaki about it. He says he's done everything he set out to do in making the best fighting game he's able to make. Before, in his war against Tekken, he'd first trumped Namco on a visual level, and then as the DOA series went on in terms of multi-tiered stages, fast action, and a rewarding reversal system (this is, of course, subjective to the player -- I'm just the messenger here). Then came the fast tag-battle action, which preceded Tekken Tag Tournament. Then came the online play, which Tekken has never offered to this day. And now, a reinvented combat system, online lobby (with virtual houses for each player), and high-quality CG endings, all in a launch title for Xbox 360. Itagaki thought his game had surpassed Tekken long ago, and now DOA4 -- in his eyes -- confirms this fact on every level. His feelings don't extend to Tekken only. He really believes this is the 3D fighter that offers it all -- it's the game to beat, and based on the evidence it's hard to argue with this logic.
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