Dragon Ball Z Fighter Z is an amazing action-packed game. Incredible combat, awesome specials, fantastic team specials, and good switch out moves. The game has a lot of rich characters and a lot of techniques to combine with each character’s move set. The game is stunningly beautiful and combines everything good from all Dragon Ball Z games. It gives us everything we want, and takes away all the sloppy combat, fighting mechanics and redundant storyline from 3D Fighters. An amazing storyline from a first person point of view, beginning the game with you (the player) as a unknown soul inhabiting bodies. Incredible characters each with unique interactions (like Gotenks arguing with Gohan about who looks cooler, Gotenks or Great Saiyaman), which is really nice. It makes the game very immersive; you feel like you are actually part of the Z Fighter universe which is really cool for someone thats familiar with the game. It doesn’t make you feel out of place at all when the other characters interact with each other, even when they talk to you in the soul link. The villain makes the game very interesting because theres more of a story behind that character that everyone can dissect for themselves. Android 21’s character design is super sexy, super hot (a personification of beauty and scariness) and to top it off her move set is really awesome. She has combination attacks with her tail mixed in with her beams. Her move set feels really natural and not out of place, like she was already in the show. Android 21’s character offers a new world to explore. With the announcement of Bardock and Broly, and more DLC characters on the way, we can only guess who those other characters are(Check out my predictions here). These characters can be better fleshed out in the game with combos, incredible move sets, hopefully special moves we haven’t seen yet, and anything else they can take from the manga or anime. Hopefully they can put in characters that we miss from the old Dragon Ball and DBZ or even the movies, as long as they make them more interesting. Honestly, seeing who’s missing from the roster, its obvious who’s gonna be put in the game and who’s not just by seeing the series and the older shows. The game is very immersive, but has it’s drawbacks. It’s disappointing how easy you can pick up moves. Anyone can feel like a pro just by picking up the controller and learning the simple move set with square for light, triangle for medium, and circle for heavy. There are basic combinations mixed in with specials and that somehow makes the game seem too easy. But if you play it on hard mode it’ll feel more like a challenge and you’ll advance and probably pick it up faster. The skills you learn fighting story mode on hard can be used to predict how people fight online, helping you on all fronts. The Beta may have come out way back, but people who played it learned quicker than people that couldn’t play the Beta. There seems to be a struggle fighting other players, but thats the best thrill in the game; getting your ass kicked and going back in the game to get better. Android 16, Goku Black, Blue Vegeta and Blue Goku are the most overused characters in online matches. Android 16 has a lot of grabs and is a missed character because he was destroyed so long ago in the series. Goku Black is hack for his 3 specials (while most characters have 2), his instant transmission that doesn’t take up a bar, a Kamehameha which summons his Kai to grab you and his far special that can reach you across the field. And, his sick entrance. Blue Vegeta has flashy combos with a hint of bravado which is true to Vegeta’s character. Blue Goku has an easy mix up and an air wave that angles well to support combos. Even though you may feel like you can’t go five matches online without seeing these guys, they’ll still be fun to use playing with friends without feeling pressure to rank up. All in all, this game is incredible. If you were a fan of the Budakai series, this game will deepen and reinvigorate your love for the series and make up for the disappointment that was the DB Xenoverse Series. This game feels like a new beginning for the DBZ universe. It’s the game fans deserved after the Playstation 2 era DBZ Tenkaichi series. If you know someone who is a fan and they love this series, they need to play this game. If people are interested in it, they need to play it. Overall the game just feels likes it’s giving new life to something that you grew up with. There’s a fun story mode, fun character interactions, awesome specials, explosive finishers, and just crazy fun no matter who you are, or matter what character you play. It makes you feel awesome. Transcriber and Editor: Atiyana Ringling
