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Dragon Ball FighterZ Review

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“By Your name I summon you forth, Shenron… Grant me a good Dragon Ball game!”

The Dragon Ball franchise has seen its fair share of video games over the years. From RPGs to 3D fighters, there is no doubt that the Dragon Ball universe isn’t hindered when it comes to creativity. But what about a true fighter? In Dragon Ball FighterZ, fans finally got a fighting game that is at par with the action that the series showcases. However, the question is does it measure up?

Story:

Dragon Ball has always brought a light-hearted feel to their stories and with most games, they follow some arc from the series. in Dragon Ball FighterZ, this is a brand new story nestled between the end of the Future Trunks saga and the beginning of the Universe Survival saga in which Android 21, a brand new character has launched an evil plan to destroy the Z Fighters once and for all in the name of the Red Ribbon Army.

The game begins where you (the player) have awoken inside of Goku’s body after a mysterious ‘pulse’ has locked all of the Z Fighters and some old enemies reborn (Frieza, Cell), but as you begin your journey, you begin to find more of your friendly neighborhood Z fighters as you encounter cloned versions of your favorite characters which have mysteriously appeared as you continue to push forward to determine what happened and how to stop this new threat. Dragon Ball FighterZ introduces us to the 3v3 mechanic that made games like Marvel vs Capcom so popular and during the story mode you assemble your team of Z Fighters and march across a couple of chapters looking for answers while fighting teams of cloned Z Fighters.

The most interesting part about the story is how they explain the team situation, as a spirit locked inside Goku you are the only one that has remote access to the Z Fighters abilities and by ‘swapping’ bodies during a fight, you are the only one that can help. However, with such an ingenious idea, there are some sore spots. As I played through the campaign, I was somewhat bummed that instead of giving the cutscenes the animated look of the show, they opted for something that reminded me of the bad Xenoverse cell shaded characters (sorry was never a fan). Another issue that actually could have been avoided was the latent RPG element that during these cutscenes, you can only move through the dialogue by clicking a button, which takes away from the experience.

Story

I give the Story a 6 out of 10. A great concept worthy of the franchise but marred by an unnecessary RPG element and cutscenes that took away from the experience.

Graphics:

When you ask someone (prior to this game obvisously) about the graphics of any Dragon Ball fighter, you will get some mixed reactions. Some would say they were good, others would say that they were bad. Since the days of Dragon Ball Budokai, the graphics have always suffered (imo) and they never seemed to get better. But With Dragon Ball FighterZ, a new team has taken over and noticed that a certain fighting game (Guilty Gear) has successfully blended an anime style to a fighting game that makes it look good and doesn’t look like a 5 year old did it.

Which is where DBFZ comes in, the game looks simply amazing. The team did an amazing job of making the fighters look like their anime counterparts and at times, you would think you were in the middle of an epic fight scene from the anime itself. There is one thing that seems to be ignored though when it comes to fighting games, and that is the background. But in DBFZ, they also went to great lengths to re-create iconic locations from the Dragon Ball Universe and as an added bonus, during a match, the terrain will change as you battle, giving it a new level of interactivity but more on that in the next section.

Graphics

I give the Graphics a 9 out of 10. A near flawless look but just like above, the look during cutscenes leaves much to be improved.

Gameplay:

When it comes to Dragon Ball’s history with controls, it has never fared well. However DBFZ does the impossible. Taking a page out of Guilty Gear and Marvel v Capcom’s books, DBFZ brings a fast paced that fans of the series will see, yet the controls are simple to manage that has been tailored for both casual and serious gamers. DBFZ employs simple commands that anyone can pick up and have a friendly match but also goes deep enough with combos and chains that gives those serious players that want to master the game the ability to.

Another bright spot are the moves themselves, from launching a simple Kamehameha wave to the more destructive Big Bang Attack, each fighter’s moves are tailored in a way that gives each player a depth that one would expect each player to feel like. Such as Yamcha being a speedy little [redacted] to Nappa being a slow tank, each character just feels unique and refreshing.

Gameplay

I give the Gameplay a 9.5 out of 10. Dragon Ball FighterZ has done what could be the impossible for the franchise. Make the game feel fresh and unique along with opening it up to the casual and serious fighting game fans.

Final Thoughts:

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a great step in the right direction moving forward. My only gripe would be to remove the RPG element from the campaign and add more of an anime look to the cutscenes, but all in all a bravo to the team for making a Dragon Ball fighter feel like the anime itself.

Final Score

I give Dragon Ball FighterZ an 8.2 out of 10.