It's going to take a bit until the core Dragon Ball: The Breakers combat loop settles down into a stable meta, as with any other new multiplayer game. In fact, this only counts doubly so for asymmetrical multiplayer titles, which are easily more complicated to maintain and balance. Still, even this early on, The Breakers attempts to do something very special.
And, really, this specialness doesn't necessarily have much to do with the gameplay loop itself. Instead, we're more interested in the core premise of the game: how it handles its subject matter and balances it against the source material. This is, after all, a Dragon Ball game, and it's a simple statement of truth that, historically, those have been all about ultra-mega-hyper-super-powered warriors beating each other into pulp.
Where could regular humans possibly fit, then? Well, as it turns out, there is a way!
CHECK OUT: Everything You Need to Know About Dragon Ball: The Breakers
Why Dragon Ball: The Breakers' Combat Might Be The Way to Go
Context ought to be the first order of business, we believe. If you're unfamiliar with the concept behind The Breakers, the game's whole schtick is that it's a slasher title. Basically, one player is put into the shoes of a super-powered hunter monstrosity, while the others need to slow them down and escape from the map. Think Dead by Daylight, but with DB characters.
Thing is, DB: The Breakers isn't about your usual run-of-the-mill DB character cast. Aside from the villains, such as Frieza, Buu, and Cell, the playable survivors aren't all that special. There's no Goku here, really, and you can't fly up to Frieza and do his face in. Instead, the characters are mostly regular civilians who find themselves forced to go toe-to-toe with weapons of mass destruction.
Compare this to some of the more recent flagship Dragon Ball games:
We're sure you can notice a break in the pattern here. And, really, that break is precisely what makes The Breakers such an interesting game. Dragon Ball video games may finally be able to stand on their own two feet!
Play Dragon Ball: The Breakers on PC today!
Superpowers 24/7 Aren't Fun in Games
Dragon Ball media has made a name for itself by constantly and consistently one-upping the stakes over and over again. The warriors get more powerful as time goes on, the stakes go higher, and it doesn't take very long until a conflict escalates to planet-busting levels of destruction. None of that's bad, mind, it's just that Dragon Ball has plenty more world-building to support other kinds of experiences, too.
Goku and his crew have had more than enough time in the limelight. In fact, none of them's really going anywhere anytime soon. Games such as The Breakers can side-step the heroes' ongoing narrative to explore other aspects of the Dragon Ball universe. Civilian life and regular civilizations, for example, are fascinating topics to explore, and DB could profit immensely from focusing on them.
It's worth pointing out that the Future Trunks saga certainly did something similar in this respect. With a bit of luck, The Breakers might cement the idea that video games could be used to leverage the IP's backstory to a greater extent, too!
Innovation is Crucial, and The Breakers Shows That There's More to Show in Dragon Ball Yet
The existence of a veritable Dragon Ball multiverse is proof enough that the franchise could do with a more thorough interactive exploration. By showing us how things look and feel from the perspective of a mortal, Dragon Ball could effectively reinvent itself and present a new sort of experience for a new era.
The Breakers is, with a bit of luck, just the start of it. Bandai Namco's way of saying that they're ready to take a good long look at everything they could do with the license, and starting to act on it. Only time will tell whether this really is the case, of course, but we're hopeful. After all, we'd be hard-pressed to imagine that there's no room for an adventure game or an RPG that could explore the culture of Dragon Ball from a different point of view.
What's Next for Dragon Ball, Then?
Now, to be fair, Dragon Ball: The Breakers combat does still include a bunch of superhero-tier stuff. The villains are immense engines of destruction and, true enough, effectively unstoppable. Survivors can equip regular weaponry to slow them down a bit, however, and this already helps establish a sense of just how powerful all these world-ending creatures truly are.
So, in summary, we're just hoping to see more Dragon Ball content that isn't all about Goku or some Goku-tier protagonist. Over the years, manga and anime have built up an immense list of resources for game developers to draw from, and it's a shame that it's taken until now to get something a bit different in this sense.
Will this continue to be the case? We don't know just yet, but we're hoping that Bandai Namco has identified a similar issue as we have. Whereas other superhero media - like the Marvel games, for example - Dragon Ball's universe is way more interesting and unique, and can stand on its own two feet without Goku propping it up all the time.
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It’s going to take a bit until the core Dragon Ball: The Breakers combat loop settles down into a stable meta, as with any other new multiplayer game. In fact, this only counts doubly so for asymmetrical multiplayer titles, which are easily more complicated to maintain and balance. Still, even this early on, The Breakers attempts to […]
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