There’s no denying that Dragon Ball Z was one of my favourite television shows as a kid, honestly it’s still one of them as an adult. Anytime a new Dragon Ball game comes out I’m the first one to jump for joy and start planning my character set and who I’ll main with. The chance to play Bandai Namco’s upcoming release Dragon Ball FighterZ was something I was super excited for. After two 3 hour sessions I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is going to be one epic fighter!
After I eagerly awaited the Beta to download I was in there and making sure I soaked up as much Super Saiyan goodness as I could handle. The whole battle roster (announced so far) was there to choose from and I was amazed with how much difference there was with each selectable character. Each of the Z Fighters had their own style of battle and were a treat to analyse; it didn’t take long to learn who I was certainly partial to, play style wise. I lost countless battles and won a fair few my second round, but both in wins and loses I had a blast!
Beta players were granted the option to either play against one another or watch on the sidelines and view others in the same beta testing room duke it out. Either choice led to some furiously fast fight scenes, making you feel like you were actually there in the series. Unlike other Dragon Ball fighters I’ve played, FighterZ really pushed my limits. I had to really play smart and defensive, and when up against other seasoned fighting veterans I felt very humbled at times, suffering some pretty nasty defeats at the hands of Golden Frieza.
Depending on who you chose to play with, your three-man team would battle one another until all three were knocked out. Players had the option to switch out when one character was not doing well, or chain special attacks to really punish their opponents. Special attacks required Ki which you either gathered by powering up or through fighting your opponent. You could charge head onto your challenger or instantly appear behind them for a swift sneak attack. There was just so much going on all once sometimes that I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on.
There was not a whole lot wrong with the game that I noticed. However, there were the occasional lag issues that came up every now and then which made the online battling feel slightly choppy and did throw me off. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, my hands were certainly sore after the first three hours and my left thumb needed an ice pack of its own with the flurrying of movement I have to make – I think I may have even developed a ‘gamers blister’…
These issues aside I certainly enjoyed my opportunity to play, it was an awesome experience and I’m so pleased that I have my copy pre-ordered for next years release. Dragon Ball FighterZ is due for release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC February 2018.
About the Author
Kieren Munn
A typical gaymer, I enjoy most RPG's, Platformers, and Fighting games. I started gaming early with Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat and Alex the Kidd on my Sega Mega Drive. This started a "healthy" obsession that has spanned 5 generations of consoles, and I won't be stopping anytime soon.
