Dragon Ball FighterZ review

Reviewed on: PC

Year after year, one of pop culture’s most beloved franchises keeps its popularity intact: Dragon Ball. Proof of that is the success the “Dragon Ball Super” anime has achieved and the uproar this new game caused in the gaming community after its announcement.

There were months of waiting, countless videos that made us drool and testing periods that seemed to end in the blink of an eye, but at last, Dragon Ball FighterZ was released on January 26 and brought more life to our leisure time. With work worthy of a fanboy, Arc System Works delivered a wonderful game that (in my humble opinion) is the best Dragon Ball game ever made.

The game has already registered more than 2 million copies sold and the trend is to rise even more because it was only released today (February 1st) in Japan. Want more numbers? According to SteamCharts, Dragon Ball FighterZ registered 44,234 concurrent players on PC on its launch day, becoming the new record holder among fighting games (the previous one was Tekken 7, with 18,766 concurrent).

Want more numbers???? No… Enough numbers.

Dragon Ball FighterZ delivers frantic 3-on-3 combat in beautiful stages with a fitting soundtrack. There is so much light, shouting and beating that you will spend hours having fun without noticing the time pass.

The fantastic world of Dragon Ball

It all starts in a friendly lobby, where you can easily access any of the game’s modes. The coolest part is that you can interact (even if using preset phrases) with all the players using the same room and can start fights and goof around.

Your character can be changed at any time, and to unlock any of them you just need to earn some Zenis (Dragon Ball’s currency) and hope to get your favorite character when buying a capsule at the city shop. Besides characters, the capsules unlock items for you to customize your “business card” (nothing more than a little panel that shows other players who you are). Getting Zenis is simple: just play and you will be rewarded. There are even small daily missions that pay well and are always refreshed.

And if you like watching replays of players who are winning everything and learning a bit more by osmosis and observation, there is a special corner for you too!!! By talking to the monk who is holding the candle for a TV you can watch your own replays (and get angry remembering that YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE FIRED THE KAMEHAMEHA AT THAT DAMN MOMENT) and also those of the boys and girls who really know how to play.

Once upon a time, there was a Saiyan…

Dragon Ball FighterZ’s “Story” mode features a completely new adventure created especially for the game, meaning no revisiting past events as we got tired of doing in “Xenoverse”. Although simple, the plot is quite fun and is divided into three arcs with nine chapters each. It sounds like little, but it will take up a good part of your time if you want to unlock Android 21 (who was created especially for the game).

It all begins with Goku waking up possessed by a mysterious entity (which happens to be you) and after a (not so) brief chat with Bulma, he decides to rescue his missing friends and fight an endless number of dark clones that have been popping up and spreading destruction around the world. What makes it all harder: mysterious waves have appeared that prevent our beloved warriors from using their full power!!! And yes, friends, it is because of these waves that we can use our dear Yamcha (also known as “the man who was killed by a Saibaman”) to flick the God of Destruction on the nose.

Want to learn game mechanics and not start in multiplayer right off the bat? I recommend this game mode. Although long, it entertains well and works as a tutorial. In addition, the way you build your team triggers special scenes between the characters, bringing dialogue that is a feast for anyone who likes Dragon Ball.

Training on King Kai’s little planet

This is the best place for you to get to know the characters and build your perfect team. By practicing each one’s combos you can identify the ones you master most easily and thereby increase your chances of winning when you challenge friends and strangers in multiplayer. SERIOUSLY!!! Take advantage of the fact that you can do other things while the game looks for an opponent and keep training!!! This game is easy to enjoy, the commands are simple and the gameplay is delicious, but the way you connect one combo to another and use the mechanic of calling for help from your team will make all the difference. Train, train and if you can, train a little more.

Local Battle and Arcade Mode

Local battle mode lets you play with friends who are at your place taking advantage of your hospitality and set up fun tournaments. There is even a virtual trophy worth no more than money as a prize, but it revives the little championships we used to hold when we played Dragon Ball on 16-bit consoles (fueled by soda and greasy food). But if you are a bit of a loner, or if your wife doesn’t allow you to bring your nerd friends home, you can play against the CPU, but let’s face it, it’s not the same thing.

As for Arcade mode… Kami-sama!!!! How I hated and loved this game mode. The deal is this: there are 3 different paths to choose from, with 3 fights on the first, 5 on the second and 7 on the last. What makes this mode highly replayable is that your rank at the end of each fight sends you down a different path, so if you want to fight the “right boss” of each path, you’d better put in the effort during the fights. What drives me possessed (in a good way) is taking a twisting somersault combo to the ear right in the second-to-last fight (and thereby dropping my rank) and being forced to do the whole run again… But fine… I SHOULD NOT HAVE FIRED THE KAMEHAMEHA AT THAT DAMN MOMENT!!!

Fists flying across the 5 continents!!!

Before talking about multiplayer mode I have a criticism to make: the game gives your opponent 1 minute to accept the fight. Now imagine getting 5 opponents who don’t accept the match… Yeah, you lost about 10 minutes (I count 10 minutes because an instant match rarely happens) of your life waiting for a guy (who deserved to be thrown into the arms of an evil entity) who probably went to do number two and left everything running in the room. Seriously… 1 minute is a lot…

[youtube link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLgywAIRa_4″ width=”800″ height=”440″]

Anyway… There are four online multiplayer modes: Arena, Ring, Casual and Ranked.

In Arena you face random players in the best “loser steps out” style and while you wait for your turn you can watch the others having fun. In Ring you create your room and can play against your friends (but they need to be in the same room as you) or other players wandering the lobby. In Casual mode you face any random person and winning or losing doesn’t matter (except to your ego). And in Ranked your status counts. Win or lose, your information will be visible and with each victory you climb the path of fame and become more famous. And if you lose them all it’s no problem… Remember that the important thing is to compete and not let the little friend you don’t know lose 1 minute of his life.

Besides that, the game has Portuguese subtitles and BANDAI NAMCO’s promotional work in Brazil is commendable. To make it perfect, it would just need a Portuguese dub as well.

In short: Dragon Ball FighterZ is a must for those who like the anime or enjoy fighting games. There are no excuses for not getting your hands on this game. Trust me, fun is guaranteed.

NARRATIVE: 9
AUDIOVISUAL: 10
MECHANICS: 10