At Gamescom on August 25th, Bandai Namco debuted new details about their upcoming video game Dragon Ball FighterZ. In a live webcast hosted by IGN, fans who couldn’t attend the convention in Cologne, Germany were given the opportunity to see a glimpse of the game.
In the webcast, the game’s developers, Mathieu Van Kemenade, Gary Gillet, and Marcello Carlino demonstrated some live gameplay of Trunks and Androids 16, 17, and 18, while answering some questions about what to expect from Dragon Ball FighterZ.
One aspect about the upcoming video game that has fans excited is the superior graphics. According to the product manager, Mathieu Van Kemenade, “it’s basically [like] playing an anime episode.” The developers of Dragon Ball FighterZ have been working closely with the studio Arc System Works, a video game developer famous for their expertise in 2D fighting games, to create the exemplary graphics.
Kemenade stated that Arc System Works is “using technical stuff called 2.5 D graphics, meaning that the moves of the characters are actually 2D, so they can only move left and right, but the characters themselves are made out of 3D models so you can see them turn around and do moves that wouldn’t be possible with just 2D graphics.”
One other feature that fans are already praising is the presence of environmental damage to the stages, caused by the characters during gameplay. During the live webcast, the developers demonstrated this feature, showing that the environment changes depending on the attacks being triggered.
When describing this new feature, Kemenade said, “if you manage to guard an attack, sometimes you can throw it in the background and it destroys a house or whatever, and it stays during the whole fight.”
It’s safe to say that the developers of Dragon Ball FighterZ invested a massive amount of detail into the game, not only into the environment surrounding the characters, but into the characters themselves. Kemenade stated in the live webcast, “on top of the graphical identity, the game is really faithful in its content, so you can see all of the characters, the way they move, the way they speak… everything is so faithful and so true to the original masterpiece.”
While a full character roster has not yet been announced, it has been confirmed that there will be thirteen characters present in the game, some of them iconic fighters. When asked about the character roster, Kemenade stated, “the interesting and important thing to keep in mind when talking about the roster is the fact that there’s no two characters playing the same or feeling the same when you get your hands on a controller.” Each character comes with different move sets, and is intent on staying faithful to the original anime.
There will also be a story mode available that will include a new story that is different from the original Dragon Ball scenario involving androids, especially Android 16.
With the growing demand from gamers who want to compete online, Dragon Ball FighterZ will also include an online feature called party match. Players work together on a team in a game of three versus three, allowing each player to switch from character to character within their team. The online features will be voice chat supported using stems.
There will be a closed beta that begins on September 16th, allowing the development team to test the gameplay and the balance of the characters. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players still have time to register for the closed beta and can find applications here. The open beta is planned for January. This beta will act as a stress test for the game to see, on a broader scale, how the servers will support the online features.
Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in Europe sometime in February of 2018. Bandai Namco has not yet confirmed a release date for the game in the U.S., but it will presumably be released shortly after the European release. A Collector’s Edition will also be available for sale for $140, that will include art boards, a Goku statue, and other collectibles.
Sources:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-dragon-ball-fighterz-trailer-shows-off-first-f/1100-6452876/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sz9eOyf7TU
Featured Image via denofgeek.com
