Dragon Ball FighterZ Review – The Best Dragon Ball Game Hands Down

Dragon Ball is probably Bandai Namco's most famous franchise, but its games cater to certain tastes. All of the Japanese company's games are based on more or less popular anime and manga series, so they're rather niche titles with dedicated but limited public.

I'm not sure if it was intended or not, but with FighterZ, Bandai Namco turns a niche product into a widely successful franchise. A fighting game made for beginners, but equally fun for a hardcore audience is exactly what Dragon Ball series needed, and the execution is almost flawless.

For those who've never played a fighting game before, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a team-based 2D brawler where you create a team of three characters from the beloved franchise.

The secret to not make it too confusing for new players lays in the fact that all characters have the same combos, but their moves and finishers are very much different. Moreover, the characters are so different that there's no way that you won't be able to find at least three suitable to your playstyle.

There are many aspects that make Dragon Ball FighterZ a great game, such as the way the progression is implemented, the amount of content and how accessible it is to newcomers to the franchise, as well as the artwork and animations which are astonishingly close to the manga series.

Story

The first thing you should do if you have never played a Dragon Ball game before tackle the story mode. Despite the fact that Dragon Ball FighterZ comes with a more than decent Practice mode, playing the story does basically the same thing: it teaches you how to play the game progressively.

If I were to point out some of the game's downsides, the story would be one of them, but not because it fails to keep players immersed. Dragon Ball FighterZ's story doesn't feel like it's just filler for what's to come, but hardcore fans will probably find it a bit repetitive since it's been especially tailored to teach new players the basics of the game.

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And since repetition is the mother or learning, it's quite understandable why developers had to make sure the game doesn't become a chore for newcomers to the genre, while maintaining a certain level of engagement for veterans as well.

The only thing that Dragon Ball FighterZ devs are guilty of is that the story isn't on par with the rest of the game's other parts. However, I wouldn't blame them at all since the “other parts” are so greatly done that the story would have had to be stellar to say the least.

The bottom line is the story mode isn't just a tutorial that helps beginners learn to play Dragon Ball FighterZ – it's enjoyable to the point that it makes you want to know more about the Dragon Ball universe.

I especially liked that the player is an integral part of the story. You start as a spirit who inhabits the body of an iconic Dragon Ball character – Goku, allowing him to fight against an army of clones threatening to wipe out the entire planet. However, before conquering the planet, the army of clones controlled by a mysterious android is set to take on every Dragon Ball hero.

Your spirit will jump between Dragon Ball heroes that you naturally unlock as you advanced into the story. The cutscenes between fights are delicious as they mix humor and ridiculously good voice acting. You'll be making your way to the end of story line by choosing your fights on a map. Each piece of the map has a boss that you have to defeat in order to move to the next, but until you reach that boss, you'll have to fight various clones of Dragon Ball characters.

Story mode is the best way to learn to fight

There are different routes that you can pick to get to the boss faster, but you'll be missing a lot of experience points for your team of fighters. On the other hand, it's not recommended to tarry for too long since the enemy fighters level up almost each turn that you move.

Once you're done with the story arc, you can start tackling the arcade arc, which is harder and should prove a challenge for new players. You'll have to put everything you've learned from the story arc to use in order to overcome the challenges the arcade mode throws at you, but if you're mildly decent at fighting games you won't have too many issues completing it.

Gameplay

Making a good fighting game is very hard especially when you think about balancing all the characters. But that's just one piece of the puzzle, as developers must streamline the gameplay mechanics, animations, combos and everything else that make a good fighting game stand out.

The folks at Arc System Works, well known for their work at Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, have really outdone themselves. Their ability to merge the 3D assets into 2D animations continues to be unrivaled. Playing Dragon Ball FighterZ is like virtually starring in a manga episode and that's owed to the well-done animations, artwork style and special effects.

The Ginyu Force in action!

Combat-wise, Dragon Ball FighterZ is easy to play but hard to master. The game offers the best of both worlds, so regardless of whether you're a fighting game veteran or a newbie, the latest Dragon Ball game will get you hooked for many hours to come.

But how's Dragon Ball FighterZ different from other fighting games and why is it that good? Its main advantage is that it allows players to achieve stunning combos easily if they click the right buttons at the right moment.

Even if you suck at fighting games, including Dragon Ball FighterZ, Bandai Namco's game will put you against players with similar skill level when you go for PvP mode.

Aside from the online PvP fights, which are the bread and butter of the game, Dragon Ball FighterZ includes a Practice mode that does exactly that – it teaches you the basic combos that you'll be using with all the characters in your fighting team.

The first time you fire up the game, and every other time you do that, you'll end up in the so-called Lobby, a place where you can meet with other players and show each other your small avatars. It's also the hub from where you can access every part of the game. If you're not into socializing, you can get directly into the game's main menu and access story mode or online multiplayer directly from there.

The loot box system isn't intrusive at all

These avatars miniaturized representations of Dragon Ball characters, which can be customized. The customization part comes in the form of a loot boxes system, which doesn't imply spending real money. You can only buy the so-called Z Capsules with in-game money, which you gain by playing the story mode and online multiplayer.

By the time you finish the story mode, you'll have plenty of virtual money to buy loads of Z Capsule, so I don't think adding the customization aspect brings takes away some of the fun the game has to offer.

Graphics and audio

FighterZ is clearly the best Dragon Ball game every made when it comes to graphics. Everything from animations, artwork and conversations are top-notch thanks to Arc System Works, the team behind Dragon Ball FighterZ. Only after you've seen at least a couple of the manga series, you'll be able to truly appreciate the level of polish Arc System Works managed to achieve.

The special effects after each combo or finish move are stunning, while the animations during fights look absolutely impeccable. Dashes, teleports, double-jumps and every other combo that one can achieve in the game are graphically flawless.

Bring it on!

The voice acting and sound of every hit characters land against each other contribute to the immersion. It's one of the many reasons that FighterZ is more fun than any Dragon Ball game ever released, I think.

Multiplayer

The bread and butter of the game, online multiplayer is well balanced as to not frustrate newcomers by putting them to fights more experienced players. The online matchmaking made by the game's servers is set up to pair up players with the same amount of knowledge about the game.

Basically, if you suck at fighting games, you can be sure that you'll be fighting players that have no experience with the genre or at least players who've just started to play Dragon Ball FighterZ.

I'm as ready as you are!

Although you don't have all characters at your disposal from the beginning, unlocking them doesn't take too long. It's either finishing the story mode or hoarding a certain amount of in-game money that will get you the rest of the characters that aren't unlocked when you first start the game.

The secret behind a managing a decent trio of fighters is knowing when to trigger assists and switch between them so they won't die after taking extensive damage. It's true that it mostly comes down to how well you're timing your combos, but what what makes Dragon Ball FighterZ unique is that you'll have fun no matter how your online match goes.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion