← Head back
← Head back
Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
Okay, so, Dragonball Fighterz is about… well, it’s about Dragonball and it’s about fighting. Go figure, right? Anyway, I’m not going to get into the minutia of the story mode – or most of the other modes, for that matter; no, instead this whole article is going to be about the mode I’ve spent… just… so much time playing. Online Ranked Matches. And I’m not even remotely kidding when I say that I have invested a ridiculous amount of time in this video game. Like, I don’t think that I have ever played a game as much as I have played this one. Hell, you might honestly be able to add up the time I spent on any other game on my PS4 and it still would be less than the amount of time I’ve spent on this one game. Like, those numbers you’re looking at are just from my PS4 – that doesn’t include the hours I spent on my Nintendo Switch. It’s honestly just… it’s… it’s ridiculous. But, that’s kind of beside the point.
The point of this article isn’t to assign the game a grade or anything like that – if you want a formal review you can head to my website to read the review I wrote back in 2018. No, this article is really more for me to gush about how awesome this game is for the next four minutes or so; because, honestly, I cannot stress just how much I love this damn game. And, seeing how I just hit Living Legend status not to long ago – something I’ve been working towards achieving for damn near three years, now – it felt like the perfect time to make such an article because, guys, I just, this game is just so f**king awesome. It’s just… I mean… ughhhhh. As someone who’s played his fair share of fighting games, there’s just something about Fighterz that feels very… unique. Something about it that just serves to separate it from other games in the genre. It’s difficult to explain. On the surface it feels very much like any other fighting game; it’s got a 2-d(ish) 3v3 fighting mechanic similar to games like Marvel v. Capcom 3 or Skullgirls – which, to be honest, kind of turned me off when this game launched. All the Dragonball fighting games I had played prior to this one were 1v1, so the idea of 3v3 really just didn’t jive well with my idea of how a Dragonball game ought to be played. Silly 22-year-old me.
Anyway, the gameplay lends itself to Bushnell’s Law of being “easy to learn, [but] difficult to master.” You have three attack buttons; two of which can be used to perform auto-combos that can deal a substantial amount of damage. Hell, I used to abuse the hell out of that when I first started; stringing together auto-combo after auto-combo – thinking I was hot shit. In fact, it wasn’t until someone called me out on my ‘spamming’ of auto-combos that I finally took the time to learn how to do manual combos – which basically just consist of using the three aforementioned buttons in conjunction with the directional pad to go to work on your opponent – and, let me tell you, taking the time to learn how different characters operated and how I might use certain characters in tandem to cultivate a string of attacks that would deliver tons of damage was fun as hell. Currently my squad consists of Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta, Adult Gohan, and Trunks (though I will sometimes switch it up to the other variations). I swear, it took such a long time to figure out exactly how to make these characters work together as well as they do; and, even now, I’ll sometimes stumble upon a way to extend a combo an extra few blows – which can literally mean life or death at the level I’m currently at.
But yeah, the gameplay itself is also insanely quick – making games like Injustice, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and basically every other fighting game that I have – feel sluggish, in comparison. Fighterz has a fluidity to it that I feel other games in the genre lack – and its that fluidity, mixed with the high-octane nature of the fighting system, that serves to make it stand out in the fighting game community. I mean, I get off even watching others play the game – and that’s not something I can say for any other fighting game. I’ve spent hours watching tournaments, and honestly, it’s my hope to one day test my own mettle in one. I know the likelihood of me winning is terribly small, but the idea of participating in one of these just seems… I don’t know, it just seems like it would be a really awesome experience. I mean, you can just feel the energy radiating from the crowds and I feel like it would be insanely awesome to experience something like that at least once.
But, yeah, aside from the gameplay itself – there’s also the nostalgia factor for me. Playing Fighterz reminds me of when I was young and my dad and I would play the original Budakai – a game he has always insisted on simply calling ‘Kamehameha.’ While I’ve never watched Dragonball Super, I, like many other children of my generation grew up on Dragonball Z. So, the unique character interactions that occur before and after certain match ups; along with the awesome cinematic cutscenes certain character match ups can trigger, add an element of nostalgia that no other fighting game can quite compare to – at least for me. It’s just.. it’s a lot guys. This game does it for me in a plethora or ways and, as I speak, I can’t wait to wrap this script up so I can squeeze in a few more rounds before going to my 9 – 5.
Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, Fighterz is a game that practically anyone can enjoy; and if you’re someone who likes competition, then this game will definitely scratch that itch. Also, if you ever find yourself on Reddit, the r/dragonballfighterz community (as well as the r/dbfz community) are pretty awesome; the former is more meme-centric, which is right up my alley, but the latter focuses a lot more on strategy and showing off. Both are great, though. But yeah, that’s all I have to say on this game… for now. I have another article in mind for this video game – and really just fighting games in general – that’ll be… well, less than flattering. But, more on that another time.
No comments yet. Be the first!
Comments are reviewed before they appear.
