Dragon Ball FighterZ (ドラゴンボール ファイターズ Doragon Bōru Faitāzu) is a Dragon Ball fighting game developed by Arc System Works and published by Bandai Namco. It was released on January 26, 2018 for North America and Europe, and was released February 1, 2018 in Japan.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay-wise, Dragon Ball FighterZ borrows concepts from several other fighting games, primarily the Marvel vs. Capcom series' control scheme and team mechanics, with three primary attack buttons and one unique action button plus a few others. The game plays out in a similar scheme toward many other of the traditional Arc System Works-developed fighting games. The basic controls of combat consists of multiple buttons: L (Light Attack), M (Medium Attack), H (Heavy Attack), S (Special Attack), A1 (Z Assist 1), A2 (Z Assist 2), and the the control stick/d-pad are used for movement.
Players each select three characters to form a team. One character is controlled, and can be switched with one of the other characters at any time. Players can also call one of their other characters to perform an "Assist" move, allowing simultaneous attacks and combos with the entire team. All three of a team's characters must be defeated for a match to end.
The universal "Vanish" and "Sparking Blast" moves resemble the Roman Cancel system commonly found in Arc System Works games and the Guilty Gear series' Dust attacks respectively (styled akin to both before Xrd and after Xrd), while the "Super Dash" move resembles the Homing system of Arcana Heart and is akin to the Homing dashes seen in other Dragon Ball fighting games. Just like in the said classic Dragon Ball fighting games, characters can "Ki Charge" to raise their power level akin to other fighting game mechanics that allow for gauge-charging. Also added are the ability to deflect Ki blasts or other projectiles via a parry mechanic, as well as being able to use a Dragon Rush that acts akin to a basic throw that launches the victim away while the attack flight-dashes after them.
Other mechanics involve the usage of the auto-combo system utilized by fighting games as of Persona 4: Arena (tap one button for an automatic preset combo), which now also applies to the medium attack button as well (giving all characters two auto-combos). Forward + medium attack is also a universal overhead attack for all characters, which cannot be chained out of.
Nearly all characters are also planned to have differing playstyles/archetypes apart from each other akin to more contemporary fighting games as opposed to using recycled base movesets such as in the Budoukai games.
An Instant Kill-like cutscene known as “Dramatic Finish” is only for two certain characters on certain stages, if one of them won the match with standing Heavy attack button or Vanish Attack (as of Season 2) as an ender.
Season 3 adds two new systems:
- Being a game for having a similar gameplay as Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - 3, players can now change three different assist types while selecting their chosen character(s) before the match.
- Sparkling Blast state increased whether the players only have one member left standing.
The story modes explanation for why all fighters are able to fight on even grounds power-wise and thus must rely on technique (or the player's soul inhabiting them to allow them to use more power) to win is due to the waves that inhibit strong people down to a set level.
Characters[]
The base roster includes 24 playable characters, 3 of them having to be obtained, with 20 additional characters being available as downloadable content.
Bold are characters that are unlockable.
Pre-Order Bonus and Editions[]
CollectorZ Edition
The CollectorZ Edition
- The game
- Three Art Boards
- An Exclusive Steelbook
- A 7" statue of Super Saiyan Goku
The FighterZ Edition
- The Game
- FighterZ Pass
The FighterZ pass
The Ultimate Edition
- The game
- FighterZ Pass
- Anime Music Pack (11 songs from the Anime)
- Commentator Voice Pack
Pre-Order Bonus
Pre-Ordering the game grants purchasers
- Early unlock for two characters Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta
- 2 Exclusive Lobby avatars
- Early access to the Open Beta
- Pre-Order Theme PlayStation 4 Digital Only
The First Day Edition
- Goku (SSGSS), Vegeta (SSGSS) and Android 21 unlocked at the beginning of the game.
Trivia[]
- The gameplay mechanics of flight combat and transformations - similar to previous Dragon Ball games like Arc System Works' Extreme Butoden and the Budokai and Xenoverse series - were considered. However, these gameplay mechanics were ultimately not used, making Dragon Ball FighterZ similar to most traditional fighting games. Additionally, different characters' transformations are incorporated as separate characters.
- Every character's "Color 02" variation in Dragon Ball FighterZ is an alternate costume that either references another outfit worn by them or the color scheme of another character throughout the Dragon Ball franchise. They are as follows: