E3 2017: ‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ Gameplay Shown On Nico Nico

By Jordan Schilling/PFSolitude on 06/13/2017 • ( 1 Comment )

Nico Nico users over in Japan got an extended look at the insane new Dragon Ball Z fighting game from Guilty Gear developer Arc System Works.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is already one of the most buzz-worthy new announcements of E3 2017 just days after its official reveal. First shown during Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference, the new Dragon Ball Z fighting game from Bandai Namco and Guilty Gear, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and BlazBlue developer Arc System Works is the first 2.5D Fighter for the anime franchise; each of DBZ’s iconic characters are modeled and rendered in 3D, but given a 2D appearance using the same “broken” lighting techniques found in Guilty Gear Xrd– this time in Unreal Engine 4 rather than its predecessor.

The announcement trailer gave fans a brief look at the frantic 3-on-3 action, however Bandai Namco and Arc System Works highlighted more gameplay through a Nico Nico livestream; fortunately snippets of the broadcast have been archived on YouTube for those without paid Nico Nico memberships.

Demonstrated in the three videos below, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 3-on-3 elimination style Fighter, akin to SNK’s famed King of Fighters saga; once an opponent is defeated, the match will resume with the next character in rotation, while the survivor continues with the remaining health from the previous round. Players have an additional layer of character match-up strategy however, as teammates can be swapped-in for the remainder of the round; if the swapped-in character is defeated, he will remain KO’d for the rest of the match. FighterZ also draws influence from Assist-based fighting games, as players are allowed to summon their teammates for standard Assist Attacks or Assist Supers; for a truly overwhelming spectacle, players can unleash a Special Attack stacked with two other Special Attacks. Gameplay appears to be balanced for both ground and air-play, with mechanics resembling a simplified iteration of Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2; remnants of Guilty Gear‘s “Dust” launcher attack can be seen, complete with a camera pan similar to that of Xrd.