Dragon Ball FighterZ: A Story In Need of A Wish

Time Played: 21.4 Hours

Fighting games aren't my preferred genre, nor am I super fan of Dragon Ball Z, but I do retain fond memories of watching the show as a middle schooler. Like many people pre-Netflix, I never watched the entire series. Nor did I read the manga. Yet, these memories influenced my decision to purchase Dragon Ball FighterZ. I enjoyed it enough to read Dragon Ball, which filled in background gaps.

Dragon Ball FighterZ isn't the newest Dragon Ball fighting game. Released in 2018, by Arc Systems Works, it's already been superseded by Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, released in 2020. Steam contains a glut of Dragon Ball Z fighting games, including Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, released one after the other in the mid 2010s. That's just the fighting games on PC. Wikipedia lists twenty Dragon Ball games on home consoles and handheld systems since 2010. Of the four fighting games, all released in the past nine years, the reviews favored FighterZ.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a tag team fighter game, popularized by Marvel Vs. Capcom, with two teams each composed of three fighters. Victory is achieved by defeating the other team's roster.

When the player boots up DBFZ they might be overwhelmed by the options. Their avatar appears in a large, but bland looking lobby. It contains a dozen receptionists, all simple avatars of the same dumpy man, wearing orange robes with purple accessories. Each has a different complicated symbol over their heads. These symbols mean nothing to the player. Only when the player approaches a receptionist does the symbol transform into a word. To do anything in the lobby the player has to activate a receptionist. There are too manyreceptionists. They include; Boot camp, Information, Arena Match, Replay, World Match, Gate, Z Trophy Room, Local Battle, Ranking, Practice, Story, Shop, Party Match, FighterZ Cup, Z Union, Arcade, and Tournament Mode. Where should the player begin? The best options are Boot Camp to learn the basics, Arcade Mode to fight against computer opponents, Story Mode to explore the game with a plot, and World Match to play against other players. Local Battles are only for players on the same screen, and I never tried Arena Match (which lets players create customized battles against other players).

I assumed the best path was to learn DBFZ through Boot Camp. The trainers teach the player the obvious stuff, like how to move, perform a three punch combo, before transitioning into complex maneuvers. After learning the basics in Boot Camp, I ventured over to Story Mode.

The plot of Story Mode occurs partway through the Dragon Ball Super manga, which I've never read. A basic knowledge of Dragon Ball Z is sufficient for understanding the events of FighterZ. The plot starts with a meta twist. Goku, the protagonist of Dragon Ball, is visited by Bulma, his friend and genius inventor. She warns Goku of an attack on Earth. When he fails to respond she approaches. She talks to Goku's body. The player has two nearly identical dialogue choices. Both choices imply that the player isn't speaking as Goku, but as themselves from outside the game, talking to Bulma. The player is a character in the game, a soul which links to Goku. Some device, event, or power, has cut Goku off from his abilities. But when the soul (the player) links with Goku, they are able to use Goku's body at its full power. Without the soul link Goku is as weak as a child, but with it, he retains his power. It's explained that the player isn't fully attuned to Goku's body, and will become more powerful as they practice together.

Under the pressure of the loss of his abilities, and an unexplained threat to Earth, Goku sets off to gather his scattered allies. Initially the player can only play as Goku. The story mode is separated into stages. Each stage is a map of battles connected to each other. Most maps include a battle to rescue an ally, and all have a final battle. Not every space on the map includes a battle. Players can chase down every battle on the map, or avoid as many as they want. Each final battle has some story relevance. Non-essential battles include short banter.

To fill up these maps with enemies,DBFZ introduces clones. The world is inexplicably packed with clones of Goku, his friends, and his foes. Early battles introduce the same learning mechanics included in Boot Camp. Teaching battles use the same mechanics as the Boot Camp. Some training is ok, but DBFZ repeats the same lessons over and over, disrupting the player's the immersion. Some advice for anyone planning to play FighterZ's Story Mode: skip Boot Camp. Boot Camp is only beneficial for players jumping directly to Arcade Mode or World Match.

As the player rescues Goku's allies; Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, and more, they find they have the same affliction. They have lost their abilities. The player can link souls with them too. Every time the player rescues another character, Goku, Bulma, and previously rescued characters explain the situation. It is terribly repetitive. It also isn't a story. Once the player rescues three characters so they can form a full team. 

Eventually Goku encounters his former foes, Cell and Frieza, and a new foe, Android, 21. In Dragon Ball Z, Androids were invented by the Red Ribbon Army and their mad scientist, Dr. Gero to fight Goku. Not evil, only deceived, they joined Goku to battle greater, and eviler, threats. Apparently Android 21 was overlooked. The game tries to pretend the identity of Android 21 is a mystery, but it's the only character that isn't a well known character. As soon as I saw this person, I knew they were responsible for the crisis.

Android 21 revisits a common trope in Dragon Ball stories, absorbing enemies. Like Cell and Majin Boo, Android 21 turns its foes into candy and eats them, adding their powers to its. This is a tired reuse of an ability already done by popular villains. Couldn't the writers have thought of something else?

Once the player has collected Goku's allies, they confront Android 21, and defeat it.

Defeating the Super Warrior Arc unlocks the Enemy Warrior Arc. And it's the exact same story (!), except that it contradicts elements of the Super Warrior version. In Enemy Warrior, the player links with Frieza, and plays through the story, except this time, instead of being eaten, allies with Goku and the Super Warriors. Together they confront Android 21 and defeat it.

The final story arc, Android 21 Arc, is no different. It replays the same refrain, but with a few additional details and alterations. The player links with Android 18. This was the worst story arc, because the player is limited to only two characters, Androids 16 and 18, for ninety-five percent of the campaign. At the end the Androids unite with Goku to confront Android 21. In another tiresome repetition of Dragon Ball plot, Android 21 splits into a good and bad version. In a final indignity, the player is forced into a final battle as Good 21 vs Evil 21. Across the dozens of battles in the three campaigns I didn't lose a single battle, until this final of final bosses. It's even fair to say I didn't really win. Against Evil 21, the player only has to survive until the timer ticks down to zero. Normally this means defeat, but because of a story element it counts as a win. Defending against a strong opponent is difficult, and I lost five times before I was able to outlast Evil Android 21.