The thing that sets Dragon Ball FighterZ apart from pretty
much every other video game in the franchise is that it is a rock solid
fighting game at its core first and foremost and doesn’t just rely on the
license to be appealing. I won’t be one of those fools who says “Finally, a
good Dragon Ball game!”, because that’s nonsense and there have been plenty of
good ones, but those other games almost always came with caveats and exceptions
and “It’s fun, but …” and were made with die hard fans in mind because they’ll
play pretty much anything with Goku in it. Dragon Ball FighterZ, on the other
hand, can stand on its own two feet as both a genuinely solid 2D fighting game
that will appeal to fans of the genre of pretty much any skill level whether
you’re a Dragon Ball fan or not, but it is also a passionately crafted love
letter to the franchise that fans will absolutely adore as well. Dragon Ball
FighterZ is a fantastic fighting game that both DB fans and fighting fans will
love. See our full Xbox One review for more.
Game Details
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
- Developer: Arc System Works
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Fighting
- Pros: Incredible presentation; accessible gameplay; deceptive depth; lots of content
- Cons: Relatively small roster; load times
- MSRP: $60
Buy DBFZ at Amazon.com |
The gameplay is so good because it is deceptively simple and
allows for anyone to pull of some incredibly flashy moves, but also has a lot
of depth and strategy to it that will keep player engaged long term. The basics
are that DBFZ is a 3-on-3 tag team fighter similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 3. You
can tag in teammates as well as call for assists during combos. Every character
has the same basic moves – everyone has auto combos if you tap the light and
medium attack buttons, every character has the same guard breaking burst combo,
etc. – but each character has unique special moves, projectile attacks, and
other abilities that make them distinct.
Tapping out different button combinations leads to different
combos and just mashing stuff out can lead to some pretty crazy results. Yes,
you can mash away and do cool stuff that looks awesome and really impressive.
The difference between casual players and skilled players will become obviously
pretty quickly, however. A casual player will mash out stuff and not know how
they did it, but it looks cool. Skilled players will actually know why things
are happening and, more importantly, how to counter them or prevent them in the
first place when their opponent tries them. Both styles of gameplay and levels
of dedication and seriousness can be equally satisfying and enjoyable, of
course, which is why I keep saying Dragon Ball FighterZ will have a long
lasting appeal despite your skill level. The game is just really, really fun to
play.
I don’t want to make it seem like the game is too simple or
mindless, however, as there is a surprising amount of stuff to learn. Like all
of ArcSys’ games, DBFZ has a whole system of counters and defensive tactics and
parries and situational dodges and contextual combo activators and all sorts of
stuff hiding just beneath the button mashy surface. It can honestly be
overwhelming when you’re trying to move up from scrub button masher into a
skilled player who knows why stuff is happening because there’s so much stuff
to learn that you (I do, at least) forget stuff you learned from one lesson to
the next. It would sure be nice to remember how I’m doing destructive finishes
(where you blast your opponent through a building or something) or other cool
stuff rather than doing it accidentally all the time, but that’s more my
problem than anything wrong with the game.
As far as modes go, Dragon Ball FighterZ has plenty of
content to keep you engaged. In addition to local and online multiplayer,
including being able to easily spectate online matches, there is a practice
mode, arcade mode, and story mode. I won’t go into story details, but I have to
say I’m thankful that the main story isn’t just a rehash of the same DBZ
storylines that every other game has done for three generations now. It’s
actually an original story centered around brand new character Android 21. The
story has you rescuing Goku’s friends to form a team of warriors and defeating
enemies like Cell, Frieza, and Buu all while earning XP and upgrades and stuff.
It’s enjoyable and surprisingly lengthy. The story mode also acts as a training
mode as many missions also teach you gameplay techniques.
The arcade mode is also interesting as it consists of
multiple difficulties and route lengths, like most fighting game arcade modes
do, but it is also dynamic in that it gets easier or harder depending on how
well you do. Earning an “S” rank in a fight leads to different / tougher
opponents in the next fight while doing poorly leads to easier opponents. It’s
pretty cool and kind of an addictive way to keep you playing until you can
consistently earn high marks all the way through the route.
I do have a couple of small complaints with Dragon Ball
FighterZ, however. First is that the roster of 24 characters (21 at first and 3
more you can unlock) is only so-so. We’ve been totally spoiled by previous DBZ
games that had dozens upon dozens of characters, so paring that list down to
just 24 means a lot of fan favorites aren’t currently present. There are also
only 2 women on the roster, too, though I suppose that is pretty much how
Dragon Ball is anyway so there aren’t a lot of women to choose from. More
characters will be added as DLC, but I do wish the initial roster was a little
better. Load times are also a bit of an issue as it seems to take forever to
load each match. This has become more of a problem with fighting games in
general this generation, though, but it is still disappointing. I’m also not a
huge fan of the faux MMO lobby system that takes the place of the game’s menu.
I guess it’s sort of cool to walk around as chibi characters and spam emojis at
other players, but it is totally and completely unnecessary.
The presentation in Dragon Ball FighterZ is absolutely
stunning. The characters look like they are ripped straight out of the anime
and are incredibly well animated. It’s clichéd to say, but it really does look
like the show brought to life. The sound is also fantastic with all of the real
voice actors, both English and Japanese, and all of the familiar sound effects
straight from the show. DBFZ is just plain gorgeous all around.
All in all, Dragon Ball FighterZ isn’t just one of the best
Dragon Ball games ever, but it is one of the best fighting games available on
Xbox One and PS4. The gameplay is the star of the show here as it holds
surprising depth and strategy underneath wonderfully accessible and impressive
and fun basics that mean casual fighting fans and tournament ready vets alike
can play it and have a great time. That immensely enjoyable gameplay also means
that this game isn’t exclusively for die-hard Dragon Ball franchise funs, but
anyone and everyone can pick it up and enjoy it as it really is a good fighting
game first and foremost. We’ve had a great time with it and can’t recommend
Dragon Ball FighterZ highly enough. Buy it.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: A review code was provided by the publisher.