Dragon Ball FighterZ Hands-On Impressions: A Trailblazing New Contender

For years, I was wondering what Bandai Namco was trying to do with its Dragon Ball Z game line-up. 3D fighters that involved tactics from the anime series are hardly the worst thing in the world, but I took a good look at the fighting game market and realized that open-world brawlers aren’t exactly what the world wanted. “What I wouldn’t give for a DBZ fighting game that was made by Capcom!” I told others as they would snicker and go, “Yeah, like that’ll happen.”

But leave it to Bandai Namco to get the last laugh. Earlier this year, the publisher made the startling announcement that it was teaming up with Arc System Works, the team behind the cult favorite Guilty Gear series, to produce a new 2D Dragon Ball fighting game for the community to enjoy. And, no, nothing like the old Super Famicom fighting games of old. We’re talking about a trailblazing new contender that could become the hottest fighting game on the circuit since Injustice 2. And maybe even beyond that, believe it or not.

That’s because Arc System Works has Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s fighting system dialed in to 11. No, wait, I take it back. They have it dialed in to 22. The game feels excitingly frantic, as you make your way through tag-team match-ups akin to the classic Marvel vs. Capcom games, unleashing hordes of attacks, multi-punch moves and other super techniques ripped straight out of the anime. It’s got a bit of a learning curve to it, but by just a few matches in, you’ll be kicking ass and taking names – even with someone along the lines of Krillin. (We won’t pick on Krillin.)

Anyway, the game features a splendid animation style that directly channels the anime, instead of trying to shoehorn it awkwardly into a 3D open world. As a result, it comes across looking more natural, and enables Arc System Works to play around with the animation style so that some of the supers actually resemble those from the cartoon. For instance, with the Android characters, they get a zoomed-in shot before unleashing their horde of super-hits, and it looks absolutely remarkable. And the game is loaded with cinematic moments like these, such as Goku taking a moment to calm down after he just unleashed the equivalent of a nuclear explosion. Hey, the guy needed a breather, what?

This Fighting Game Looks Nuts

The general animation style is something else, too, with tons of explosions, beams and other neat attacks that resemble the TV show at its fullest. It really looks like a lot of fun to watch, and that’s probably something Bandai Namco is counting on when it comes to building an EVO contender. The people watching the matches in line here at PAX had just as much of a blast as the ones screaming at each other as they unleashed counters and super moves.

The backgrounds look great, too, with a number of locations stemming from the show. Even though they may not be as wide open as the 3D ones we’re used to, they still look excellent, and provide a level of depth that players will certainly appreciate.

The volume was a bit loud on the show floor, so the in-game audio was tough to hear at times. Still, Arc System Works’ reliance on rock tunes is welcome here, as it really amps up the action of each round that you go into. The character voices are a lot of fun as well, as Bandai Namco has once again turned to the familiar voice cast we’ve come to expect from Dragon Ball. A wise decision, to say the least.

Then there’s the actual fighting, and, whoa, hang on tight. Arc System Works has channeled the classic MVC style set-up with FighterZ, including classic move execution and stacking up supers like a champ. As a result, it may have given us the best Dragon Ball game in years, even though we have yet to see its, ahem, final form.

Bandai Namco Has A Fighting Hit On Its Hands

The game just feels tremendously cool, with special moves coming off with ease (though it wouldn’t hurt to study up what each character is capable of), and movement feeling perfectly natural for each character. The supers are really something, with their cinematic touches and executions feeling just right. And player switch-outs work like a breeze, so you can rest up crucial characters like Buu and Cell, in case you feel like saving them for later on in a match.

Local multiplayer is a blast, and the game will also feature online options as well. We have yet to test out the net code for FighterZ, but I doubt Bandai Namco will screw it up, especially considering all the hype that’s been pouring into the game since its original debut at E3. The publisher wants to keep this train rolling, so of course it’s going to deck it out with the best features imaginable.

Earlier on, I talked about how fun Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was when I played it on the show floor earlier, but stopped short of calling it my game of show. And FighterZ is the reason why. Everything about this game just screams “remarkable”, from the gameplay to the presentation to the options, and it just makes me want to play it even more.

We’ll all get to do so when it arrives in February 2018 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. That’s not too far off, so start practicing your “Kamehameha!”s now.