Who does not know the famous manga Dragon Ball? Ask around and you will see that it is certainly the most famous manga in the world. Often available in fighting games, the Saga returns in the form of a turn-based RPG on 3DS. A change that makes you happy? Here is the verdict of the Potion for Dragon Ball Fusions.
Scenario where are you?
Good … Let’s start with what annoys: the scenario. Let’s not lie, the script fits on a post-it. In Dragon Ball Fusions, you and your best friend (and obviously rival) have grouped the Dragon Balls together for one goal: to make the wish to organize the biggest intergalactic and temporal tournament. Once Shenron has granted your wish, the adventure begins! It’s up to you to become the most powerful warrior known. But you won’t be alone. You must build a team of five warriors well known from Dragon Ball or created for the occasion. And this is precisely the first big interesting point of the title: its roster.
With this context and without counting your character, you have more than 1000 fighters to recruit to constitute your team. From young Goku to Goku SSB to characters created for the game, you really have plenty to do. Especially since to recruit them, you have to meet certain conditions or beat them with a “Zenkai” attack. This is the “Pokémon” side of the title: recruit them all! All the different arcs and versions of Dragon Ball are present. If you pick up the game today, the first update is an addition of character and story quests with characters from Dragon Ball Super. Something to delight the fans.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu-sion-AH!
Before talking about the central point of the game, let’s focus on the fights. In Dragon Ball Fusions, you are in the presence of a turn-based RPG. Well almost. As for Child of light, you have a bar at the bottom of the screen indicating who will have the right to attack. Once your character’s turn has arrived, you have the choice between several actions: melee, a kikoha (ranged attack), special moves, Zenkai attack or Fusion Ultra. Simple kikohas are different for each type of character. Indeed, you have three types of characters:
- Powerful, represented by a red symbol.
- Speed, represented by a blue symbol.
- Technical, represented by a yellow symbol.
But that’s not all, each type has an advantage and a weakness over another type. Thus a trinity settles. Power is more powerful against technique but weaker against speed. To summarize without too much blah, we have: Power> Technique> Speed> Power. During combat, you must strategically select your opponent and strike him a blow. But for this you must avoid being blocked by the opponent (and vice versa of course). If your angle of attack is good, the damage will be normal. Otherwise your attacks will be much weaker than normal.
Finally, let’s move on to the most important: mergers. The main subject of this title. Everyone knows the mergers in the saga. Gotenks, Vegeto or even Gogeta are well-known names. And you can find them if you have these characters on your team. However, the game isn’t called Dragon Ball Fusions just for that. Bulma who was commissioned by Shenron to organize the tournament, invented a bracelet allowing a permanent fusion called Fusion EX, all characters can merge. However, some conditions must still be met. For example, having a certain level (we are in an RPG), a certain title, a certain affinity with such and such a character, etc. Once these conditions have been met, you will have the right to more specific mergers of each other. So, if you merge young Goku and Krillin, you get Gorilin. Very fun to watch, these fusions are useful for obtaining new techniques and much more powerful characters.
Let’s finish with the most powerful fusions: the Fusion Ultra. To have access to this fusion, it will be possible only if your ultra bar is filled to the maximum. If you are in trouble during a fight, the Fusion Ultra will get you out of this mess. Your five characters will merge, creating an overpowered warrior for 60 seconds. Like a Zenkai attack, you’re going to have to club your buttons to do as much damage as possible and end up with a devastating attack.
An original Dragon Ball.
As a reminder, we are on 3DS. Nintendo’s little console has some in the belly all the same. So Bandai Namco created an open world. You are flying all the time to move around the different floors of this open world. Indeed, to reach the final arena of the game, you will have to unlock all the areas reminiscent of emblematic environments. But for that you have to break down barriers with energy. This energy is recovered after recruiting and beating the various teams roaming the world. If you want to go back downstairs, no worries and especially no loading time. Who says RPG necessarily says main quests and especially side quests. And you have a whole range of them! Often to unlock clothes to buy, characters or even experience. However, a certain repetitiveness can set in. The discovery pattern for the next area is always the same. Go collect some energy, break the barrier, explore a little bit, train with an iconic character to defeat a big bad guy and start over.
Back to the fights a bit. The fights take place in arenas. When you manage to get an opponent out of this area, an animation starts with scenes of destruction worthy of the anime. Impressive for the small laptop. During these animation scenes, we felt like we were in the anime. The graphics are well optimized in summary. Let’s finish with the soundtrack, which is completely new for the game. But it still recalls the spirit of Dragon Ball. But the detail that makes all the difference is when using the special moves. Thus, when you perform a Kamehameha, the clearly identifiable sound of the attack is in the game. And to immerse the players, there is nothing better!
Even if Dragon Ball Fusions is primarily aimed at license fans, this innovative RPG is a good title that will allow you to have fun with fun fights and characters galore.