E3 2018: Hands on with Dragon Ball FighterZ for Switch
Trends come and go in gaming and ever since Switch exploded
and became popular, one trend has been asking when a game is coming to Switch.
Dragon Ball FighterZ was announced back at E3 2017 for other platforms and the question
appeared right away, well a year later, Bandai Namco announced it is coming,
but having played it, does it hold up?
The game was on hand at Bandai’s booth and proved to be
quite popular, so it was not until the final day in the media only area that I
got to play it and it proved to be as fast and chaotic as it was on the other
platforms. The only option available to me to play, was standard 3v3 fights,
but all the characters were available and I believe all of the stages as well,
so playing a few rounds against the computer and one against someone, who
thoroughly kicked my butt, I was able to get a solid feel of the game.
For a fighting game, the most important thing, is not how it
looks, but how it plays and I can say that the game is as fast and fluid as I
recall the other version being. There was not lag from characters, not in any
command inputs, fighter rotation or even on the menus, the entire game ran
smooth as butter the entire time. Even when pulling off combo’s throwing a Kamehameha
at the end, resulted in no noticeable slowdown, at least that I could see with
my own eyes. Given how important that it is for fighting games to get that
right, I would commend Bandai Namco for making sure it works as well as it
does, but that is not all that matters here.
There is no denying that Dragon Ball FighterZ has a wicked
art style, basically being a playable episode of the anime, that is what really
got peoples attention at first and I am happy to report that the visuals hold
up on the Switch. Now Bandai Namco have announced that the game is being ported
to Switch by Arc System Works, the creators of the game, so no third-party
studio here, the same studio that made the recent BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle,
also on Switch, so they know the hardware quite well. The only time that I
could see a drop-in quality, is in one specific sequence, when defeating one
opponent, if it was done with a solid attack, it would send them flying away
through a mountain behind them, then the next fighter would jump in and away we
would go, however the textures whenever the camera got closed to it were muddy
and even lacked proper geometry. This was a single instance though and was the
only time I noticed it, so hopefully it was just something from build at the
show and not for the final release.
When I was playing against the computer, I was able to
achieve a few victories, but I lost just as many as I won, it was an even
playing field. If I was able to begin a combo, it would usually result in a
nice amount of damage being dealt, but just the same, they could bash me just
as easily if they got a good combo going. Playing against a human opponent,
well the less said about that the better, I was well and truly destroyed, but I
blame my horrible fighting game skills and of course the other guys formidable
skills.
Those who have been hanging for FighterZ to come to Switch,
don’t appear to have any fears as the game plays and looks great, how it goes
online, only time will tell, but for now it looks like it will add another
notch to the great fighting game collection that Switch is building.
Luke Henderson