Next Time on Dragon Ball Z!
The most important part of any fighting game, is the controls and Dragon Ball Fighterz nails that. They give us Marvel vs Capcom controls and 3v3 battles wrapped in a beautiful Dragon Ball finish. . That being said the game isn’t perfect, the character selection is low, only giving you 23 characters to start ( if you got the day one edition, other wise 21) and one additional character once you finish the story. Giving the player more characters would have given them a more diverse story, allowing them to fight different characters instead of the same few over and over. The only other negative I have about the game is that sometimes the dialog is stiff, but that’s not a major issue, especially in DBZ. Aside from that I love this game, as a life time DBZ fan Dragon Ball Figherz scratches an itch that I didn’t even know I had.
First and foremost the story, It’s a standard Dragon Ball storyline, involving a new enemy and unlikely team-ups. However what Arc System Works has done to make the story unique is tell three separate perspectives on the same story each different but gives new information about the characters and situation. Each character plays a role in the story and and even the lower tier ones are given chances for redemption. The best example of this would be Yamcha, during a fight with Nappa, you have a chance to deflect the Saibaman attack, killing Nappa instead. The story is full of little in-jokes like that for fans of the series, with jokes about Yamcha being weak, or Gohan being jealous of the Ginyu Force’s posing. It’s these simple things that show the developers are fans who understand the series and know where to make jokes . Arc System Works’ treatment of the franchise is what makes this game great, they understand the characters, the world, and the fans.
Dragon Ball Fighterz is a beautiful game with tight controls and a good story, and where it lacks in characters it makes up for in the treatment of the franchise. Fans of Dragon Ball should absolutely give this game a chance, even if they are not fighting game fans the story is worth looking into. If I were to rank Fighterz with all other DBZ games, I would place it near the top with Budokai 3 still remaining my favorite, but Figherz is a close second. I only wish the game had a better roster, even though I liked the way everyone fit in the story, I just missed some of my favorite characters. All in all Dragon Ball Fighterz is a strong fighting game that pays homage to one of the most beloved animes of all time, so if you’re a fan do yourself a favor and play this game.
