The story of Story Mode is a mixture of repetitive, pointless fights to expand its length, and a plot comprised of gibberish and fluff that changes from Arc to Arc. The combat teaches the basics, but these can be found in Boot Camp. The enemy is programmed to fight so poorly they pose no challenge. The strength of Story Mode is the banter between characters. The three characters in the player's party talk to each other before and after battles. They make relevant comments about their relationships, along with past events from previous Dragon Ball manga. They joke, discussing the shape of their lives since they last met. The voice acting is perfect, Dragon Ball FighterZ employs the original cast. It's not enough to make Story Mode worth playing, but it reduces the discomfort.
Then there's the Link mechanic. Playing repeatedly with the same character in Story mode strengthens the Link between the player and that character. Repetition unlocks Link conversations. Each character has seven Link conversations. These are too difficult to unlock. After completing all three campaigns, my best Link achievement was level three. Unlocking the seventh level of Link would require exclusively playing a single character.
Story mode also includes other odd, but insignificant mechanics. Characters level up after they fight battles, and the player unlocks team bonuses, like defense, attack, or faster experience gain. These mechanics do not appear in any other Mode.
I tried Arcade Mode next. In Arcade Mode the player picks three characters. Then the player picks an Arcade mode campaign. It's a series of three on three battles with no plot. The player picks between a three, five, or seven battle campaign. After each battle the campaign grades the player's effectiveness in battle. The resulting grade determines the next fight. An S or A pushes the player into a higher difficulty, a B or C keeps them on the same level, while a D drops them down a rank. The campaign awards an aggregate grade after the last battle. Winning a campaign unlocks a hard version of the campaign, and a randomized version of the campaign. The meaning of harder is obvious, but what does Randomized mean? In the Snake Way Course (Regular), the opponents of the first battle are always The Three Great Super Saiyans; Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks. The second battle, if the player earned an S or A score is with the Tournament of Power Participants 1 (Vegeta SSGSS, Krillian, and Android 18). Each battle location includes a title and the same opponents. In Snake Way Course (Random), the opponents have no title, and the three foes are randomly determined.
Arcade mode is significantly harder than Story mode. The first battle is easy enough, but scoring an S and winning the hardest path isn't easy. The Extreme Gravity Spaceship and Hyperbolic Time Chamber, because of their length, are even tougher. If Story mode teaches the basics, Arcade Mode tests the player. As of this article I've beaten the highest battle in Snake Way, Snake Way Random and Extreme Gravity, but only earned As. In the Hyperbolic Time Chamber I finished in the third spot, with a B. Extreme Gravity Random I finished in the second spot with a B.
Before and after a battle, the player's starting and winning character speak. Occasionally the two starting characters refer to each other. At the end of a battle the player's winning character speaks to another member of his team.
Dragon Ball FighterZ also includes a local versus mode. My sons tried playing against me. Because of my practice, and their lack of, I beat their three person teams with a single character.
I've covered how some of the modes
work, but not the actual fighting mechanics. Dragon Ball
FighterZ seems, to someone with only a vague understanding of
fighting games, as using normal mechanics. Each character employs
four basic attacks, associated with the X,Y,A, and B buttons on an
Xbox controller; light, medium, heavy, and special. For most
characters, the special attack is a weak projectile. The player can
move backwards and forwards, jump, and block (by pressing back on the
controller). The player calls in allies for an assist, or to swap
them in. Each character can perform the Dragon Rush, which looks
like a quick punching combo. Actually, it is DBFZ's version
of a throw, because it ignores blocking. Another unique maneuver is
the Super Dash. Clicking the right trigger causes the character to
rush through the air at the opponent. On contact it inflicts a small
amount of damage. Once used, Super Dash can't be canceled. While in
Super Dash the character is immune to the special attack, allowing
them to quickly close distances.
The characters each have individual yellow health bars. Enemy attacks change the color of part of the health bar. Any part of the bar that is red is ongoing damage from a combo. After the combo ends the red health changes to blue or gray. Gray health is permanently lost. Blue health is recoverable. To recover health the player switches the injured character out without another character. Any character with blue recoverable health that is not in the battle, slowly changes the blue health to yellow health.
Each three person team shares a Ki
Gauge (or energy bar). It can be filled seven times. The Ki Gauge
is charged by dealing or taking damage, or performing a Ki Charge.
Every character has at least one Super Attack that consumes one Ki
Gauge, and one Super Attack that consumes three. All characters can
also spend one Ki Gauge to perform a Vanish Attack, disappearing and
instantly appearing behind the opponent while performing a kick
attack.
With this basic knowledge, and some practice with the Arcade mode I tried World Match, the ranked online mode. And I loved it. Despite the age of this game, there are still people playing it. In twenty matches I fought a wide variety of players. A few I beat with no difficulty, most were even matches, and others tore me to pieces. The latter were clearly players with significant experience, but made a new account to play against lower level players. They could perform combos that I had no idea how to defend against. I failed to land a single blow on them. I had a brief problem with disconnecting which I think had to do with my anti-virus program. The best part of playing against other players, even when they are too out of your league, is what you learn. I got to see all kinds of things I didn't know about. There were combos I didn't know existed. I experienced a wide variety of combat styles, with some players favoring defense, others with a preference for ranged specials, and some that could use aggressive combos to juggle the opponent effortlessly.
World Match led me to my final
realization. Dragon Ball FighterZ embodies
Dragon Ball. The battles feel like earth-shattering brawls. The
visual elements compliment the mechanical design. The characters are
vibrant, the action clear and energetic. The artwork is reminiscent
of the best of the anime and manga. The opening cinematic for DBFZ
highlights the developer's dedication to the original material.
During a World Match, the elements of art, of voice acting, of
mechanical skill and knowledge merge into an eye popping spectacle.
In Conclusion,
Dragon Ball FighterZ suffers from a problem. The Story Mode is a waste of time. In counterpoint, the Arcade Mode and Ranked Modes are fantastic. Use Boot Camp to learn the basics, refine them in Arcade mode, and jump into Ranked Mode. Don't worry about losing, but focus on learning from the opponent, then practice against the Computer in the Arcade. Choose which characters appeals. Though half of the characters are locked behind a paywall, those that are available offer a diversity of moves and combos.
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