Gameplay

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a tag-based fighting game in the vein of Marvel vs Capcom 3. You’ll pick three characters to form your team, and utilise their assist moves and tag ins in the middle of fights to make your combos longer or pull back a character that’s close to death. Unlike traditional fighting games, FighterZ doesn’t operate on a rounds system; the match is over when all three fighters from one team are down.

The core gameplay is a four-button set up with light, medium, hard and special attacks. In the case of FighterZ, that special attack button basically functions as your Ki blasts. One of the best things about FighterZ is its accessibility; new players can pull off pretty much a whole combo, complete with a super move to finish things off, if they mash on just one of the attack buttons. More experienced players, however, will easily counter this. In fact, FighterZ has a surprising amount of depth for a game with such a low barrier to entry. You’ll see even the best players out there effortlessly weaving in the auto combos along with their manual ones for extra damage.

Single Player

Well, let me just preface this section by saying that if you’re buying a fighting game for its single player content, you’re probably doing something wrong. A fighting game’s strengths will always lie in its multiplayer, both local as well as online. Having said that, however, I am pleased to say that the single player offerings for Dragon Ball FighterZ aren’t all that bad. There’s a story mode, an arcade mode, a combo trials mode and, of course, a practice mode.
The story isn’t anything to write home about – hell, it’s about as Dragon Ball as a video game story can get – it still serves its purpose as a decent tutorial. The logic for why Krillin or Yamcha can go toe-to-toe with Super Saiyan Goku is downright absurd, but in typical Dragon Ball fashion, it gets the job done. The real star of the story mode is the banter between Gotenks and basically anybody, with special mention to his arguments with the Ginyu Force about poses. Aside from the sometimes-fantastic comedy, however, the only reason I’d recommend playing the story mode is to finish it quickly and unlock a character especially made for the game: Android 21.
The arcade mode is where I personally chose to spend most of my time spent playing single player. There are quite a few options, ranging from the length of the arcade mode to the difficulty being gauged by your performance in the previous match. Finishing the arcade mode on the toughest of difficulties is also how you unlock the Super Saiyan Blue versions of Goku and Vegeta, which brings us the perfect segue into…

Roster

What is a fighting game with a weak roster? Aside from the obvious Marvel vs Capcom Infinite joke, the fact stands that the strength of the roster alone can make or break a fighting game. And the roster, while not as expansive as I would have personally preferred, is still pretty good. Except for the depressing omission of Mr. Satan, all your favourite Dragon Ball characters from Z onwards are present. There are even a few characters from Super, including Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta, Beerus, Hit, and even Goku Black. Plus, DLC’s coming along adding even more characters, with the newest ones being Broly and Bardock. I just wish they’d cool it with the Saiyans and bring Mr. Satan into the fold.

Multiplayer

There isn’t really any real way to sugarcoat this: playing FighterZ online sucks right now. But this isn’t really the game’s fault. In general, lag is the bane of fighting games, and the genre being insanely niche in India means I’m getting matched up with players all over the world after literal minutes of waiting. There isn’t much developer Arc System Works can do about this, really, since it stems more from the lack of a player base than any actual problem with the netcode.
On the other hand, local multiplayer is some of the most fun I’ve had with friends over in ages! Everyone recognises Dragon Ball, so everyone will easily be able to pick out their favourite characters. And the newbie-friendly auto combo system is a godsend when you’re playing with people who haven’t really spent any real amount of time playing fighting games. Sure, there may not be much in the way of different game modes for you and your friends, but the versus and tournament modes are honestly all FighterZ really needs. Besides, when a fighting game looks and plays this well, you don’t really need much else.

So, should you buy it?

Before Dragon Ball FighterZ, the best you could really say about any game based on the classic anime is that it’s alright. At best, it’s better than average (Budokai 3), and at worst, well, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 exists. Dragon Ball FighterZ has finally remedied this problem. It’s a downright fantastic fighting game with a low barrier for entry and a high skill ceiling. And hell, even if you just like button mashing, you’re guaranteed to have a great time with FighterZ. The only problem, really, is getting your hands on a copy. The simplest way is to grab it from a retail outlet like Games the Shop, but they have limited stocks and a hefty price tag. You could also use VPNs to buy it from a different Steam region, or make a second account on your console for a different store. Ultimately, it’s going to be worth i