This weekend, while everyone else was at EVO or Crunchyroll Expo, I got the chance to participate in the closed network test for the asymmetrical multiplayer game, Dragon Ball: The Breakers. Is it worth checking out when it launches, or should players gather the seven Dragon Balls and wish for a better game?
The Premise
Let’s start with the basic premise of the game. You and eight other players are sent into a “temporal seam”, with one of you becoming the Raider, a powerful villain from the series. The other players become Survivors and must escape via one of two time machines, or defeat the Raider. Both of those objectives are far easier said than done.
For all of the hours and rounds I played of Dragon Ball: The Breakers, I was a Survivor, and that role demands careful planning and communication in order to win. Survivors are just regular Earthlings from the Dragon Ball universe, so fighting the Raider head on is not an option. You will occasionally find weapons and equipment to help you defend yourself, but getting cornered by the Raider is almost always a death sentence. Sounds imbalanced, huh? Well, it can be. The Survivors have some incredible movement options (the base kit includes a high-jump pad, a smoke screen, and a grappling hook) but these tools have extremely long recharge timers. As such, you need to always be planning your next move and the best route while also being aware of the enemy’s position. You don’t want to use your best movement options only to get stuck in a building with a single exit with the Raider on your tail. You’ll know you’re being hunted when you hear the ominous heartbeat getting louder and faster as the Raider closes in.
As a Survivor, you also must find keys to power up the main objective point of Dragon Ball: The Breakers, the Super Time Machine. This will restore the world back to normal and is the only way all Survivors can win at once. Finding the keys is all about luck unless you can find a Dragon Radar to help, and that’s where the biggest frustration as a Survivor comes in: it’s all random. In some games, you’ll get keys and Dragon Balls quickly, in others you’ll find nothing but junk and die permanently, very quickly. All it takes is two knockdowns before you’re removed from play, after which you can stay and watch the rest unfold or load up into a new room. In one game, I had 5 of the Dragon Balls and began to make a frantic dash to the player with the other two but I was caught and promptly absorbed by Cell. For some reason, Cell ignored the Dragon Balls and our player picked them up, ran to the altar, summoned Shenron, and wish to “be stronger”.
This led to Goku himself appearing, controlled by the player who made the wish. He began battling it out with Cell. Although Goku was only around for a short period of time, he managed to deal significant damage. The combat animations do justice to the Dragon Ball franchise. Just when it looked like we might win by beating the stuffing out of Cell, Goku’s timer ran out and Cell made short work of the remaining players.
In another game, we were down to four people, two of whom were scrambling to revive the other two downed players. They managed to revive me, and we all split up. I then found a golden rocket launcher and revived our fourth member with a Senzu Bean. Frieza saw this, chased me to a building, then blew up the building around me. He took a rocket to the face for his troubles though. I ran but was quickly caught and killed, while the others used the time I bought them to escape. I even got a title at the end of the game called “Heroic Sacrifice” which granted me more EXP, so there’s some incentive for playing the game in such a way.
Where’s the Game Guide?
Dragon Ball: The Breakers is a game made for telling tense, fun stories like this, but the Survivors are currently a little too weak and what options they have aren’t explained well. Because the game’s tutorial only teaches the basics of the Survivors’ objectives alongside a brief tutorial about fighting as a Z Warrior, I didn’t know how to use most of the items I’ve found. I only learned about using a Senzu Bean from another player. I also didn’t see a tutorial for Raider players, and the Survivor tutorial doesn’t teach you about weapons or equipment, what hiding does, or how to fight effectively as a Z Warrior. Nor does it mention that multiple players doing the same thing increases the speed of the action, like reviving a downed player or setting the keys to the Super Time Machine.
After watching some complete matches and reading the tips I found within the game, I learned that the Raider has two simple goals: kill everyone or destroy the time machine. The Raider always starts out as the first form of said villain and must power up from there. This round of the beta only included Frieza and Cell. To power up, the Raider must kill Survivors or NPCs (who the Survivors can rescue). Raiders also have a unique set of skills, powerful attacks, and the blinding speed you would expect from them.
To expand on the skills a bit, both Frieza and Cell have an ability that lets them see where the Survivors are. Luckily, while any Survivor has eyes on the Raider, the Raider’s position is revealed to all other Survivors. In a unique twist, Frieza is backed up by Zarbon and Dodoria in his first form but loses them later. The Raider can also wipe out entire sections of the map, and anyone in them, but it takes a while to charge up such an attack. No matter how you look at it, there’s a massive power gap between Survivors and Raiders, and it is one that’s nearly insurmountable without proper coordination and planning.
Gatcha Gameplay
Outside of the actual gameplay, I was also able to take part in Dragon Ball: The Breakers‘ gacha mechanics. You’re able to summon more powerful forms of the Z Warriors for use through the Dragon Change mechanic, giving Survivors a better chance. I don’t feel like this could lead to a pay-to-win situation unless ALL survivors had top-tier units, but only time will tell. Other things you can spend currency on include character skins and more customization options. I was offered a code for the beta test on the Nintendo Switch but the visual performance was all over the place. That’s strange considering how basic the whole game looks, but there are still two months left until launch, so hopefully it gets smoothed out.
Glitchy Hints at an Incredible Dragon Ball Experience
The game is currently a bit of a mixed bag. There’s an incredible experience for Dragon Ball fans hiding in here, but some changes are desperately needed, mainly in the balance and tutorial department. When the game clicked for me and I was having fun even while losing, it was great. Unfortunately, there were more rounds where I found nothing useful and didn’t contribute in a meaningful way thanks to my limited understanding of the game.
I also had my share of technical issues, like when I was knocked down by Cell, then used a Senzu Bean on myself and ran. I got some distance but suddenly warped back in front of Cell, who promptly downed me again. I’m not sure if this was a glitch or a problem with the network. It was immensely frustrating. I’ve included the video of the incident down below. That aside, I was surprised to find myself wanting to play more despite not surviving many rounds, and I’m planning on purchasing the title at launch. It’s hard for a game to make losing fun, and I personally feel like they’ve at least got that down. This is definitely a game to keep your eye on if you’re a Dragon Ball fan and have some friends willing to team up.
Little bit glitchy… #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/p86weEyHcM
— Quinn (@InputVoid) August 6, 2022
Dragon Ball: The Breakers will be launching on October 13th, 2022 for $20 USD and will be available on PC, Xbox One (playable on Series S/X), PS4 (playable on PS5) and Nintendo Switch.
