Dragon Ball Legends is a mobile fighting game based on the popular anime series, Dragon Ball. Released by Bandai Namco in 2018, the game has since been praised for its high-quality graphics and sound design. This Dragon Ball Legends review delves into the intricacies of these elements, examining how they contribute to the overall immersive gaming experience.
Graphics and Sound in Dragon Ball Legends
Graphics
DB Legends utilizes a unique combination of 2D and 3D graphics to create an appealing visual experience. The game’s visuals are meticulously designed to reflect the aesthetic of the original anime series, resulting in a nostalgic yet modern gaming experience.
Character Design: Characters are rendered in 3D, allowing for smooth movement and animations during combat. Each character is designed with attention to detail, ensuring they look and move exactly as fans remember from the anime. Special moves and attacks are particularly impressive, with dynamic lighting and particle effects that truly bring the action to life.
Environment Design: The battle stages in Dragon Ball Legends are 3D environments inspired by iconic locations from the Dragon Ball universe. From the barren rocky landscapes of Planet Namek to the bustling city streets of Earth, each stage is rich in detail and vibrantly colored. The stages are also destructible to some degree, adding a layer of realism to the battles.
UI Design: The game’s user interface is clean and intuitive, with the necessary information and controls easily accessible. The menus and icons follow a design language that matches the aesthetic of the Dragon Ball series, creating a cohesive visual experience.
Sounds
Sound design is an integral part of Dragon Ball Legends, enhancing the gameplay by providing audio cues and creating a vibrant aural atmosphere.
Character Voices: One of the standout features in the game is the inclusion of voice acting from the original cast of the anime series (in Japanese, with English subtitles). This lends authenticity to the characters and makes the game feel like an extension of the series. Each character has a range of phrases and battle cries, which they utter during fights and in menus.
Sound Effects: The sound effects in Dragon Ball Legends are satisfying and impactful. The punches, kicks, blasts, and special moves each have distinct sounds that give weight to the on-screen action. Environmental sounds also add depth to the stages, from the wind rustling through the trees to the echoey silence of a desolate wasteland.
Music: The background music sets the mood for battles and story scenes. The soundtrack features high-energy tracks for battles, while quieter, more atmospheric pieces play during character dialogues and story sequences. The music complements the visuals and enhances the overall gaming experience.
Gameplay of Dragon Ball Legends
Dragon Ball Legends is a mobile game that combines elements of fighting, strategy, and card-based gameplay set in the Dragon Ball universe. It offers an immersive gaming experience with its unique blend of action-packed battles, character development, and engaging storyline. Let’s delve into the gameplay elements that make Dragon Ball Legends a standout title in the mobile gaming scene.
Battle System in Dragon Ball Legends
The core of DB Legends gameplay is its real-time PvP battles, where players can face off against others around the world. Battles are team-based, with each player selecting a team of three characters from their roster. The fights are a mix of strategic card-based gameplay and action-oriented controls:
Card-Based Actions: Each character has a deck of cards associated with them, including Strike (melee), Blast (ranged), Special Move, and Special Skill cards. In battle, a hand of cards from your active character’s deck appears at the bottom of the screen. Selecting a card will make your character perform the associated action. The cards are randomly drawn, so each battle requires on-the-fly strategic decision-making.
Dodging and Vanishing: Aside from the card-based attacks, players can also control their character’s movements on the battlefield. A swipe on the screen makes the character dodge an attack, which triggers a Vanish Step – a mechanic that allows players to momentarily disappear and reappear behind the enemy. This feature adds a layer of depth to the combat and separates Dragon Ball Legends from traditional card-based games.
Rising Rush: As players use cards during a battle, they collect Dragon Balls, which, when all seven are gathered, enable the powerful Rising Rush attack. This move unleashes a combined attack from all team members and can turn the tide of a battle.
Character Development in Dragon Ball Legends
In Dragon Ball Legends, characters can be strengthened and developed in various ways:
Training: Players can level up their characters by using them in battles or sending them to training, where they gain experience over time.
Soul Boost: In the Soul Boost system, players can spend Zeni and Soul Boost Crystals (Rising Souls and Super Souls) to unlock nodes on a character’s Soul Boost board, increasing their stats and sometimes unlocking new abilities.
Limit Breaking: By collecting Z Powers for a specific character, players can Limit Break (or star up) that character, increasing their base stats and strengthening their Z Abilities.
Story and Events
Dragon Ball Legends features an original storyline with a new character, Shallot, designed by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. The story mode allows players to follow Shallot’s journey, complete challenging battles, and unlock new characters.
The game also regularly hosts events, which can be special battles or missions with unique rewards. Some events are themed around specific characters or sagas from the Dragon Ball universe, providing fans with a taste of nostalgia.
Characters in DB Legends
From fan favorites to original characters unique to the game, the lineup provides a wide variety of options for players to build their teams. We will explore the characters in Dragon Ball Legends, their classifications, abilities, and the role they play in the game.
Character Roster
Dragon Ball Legends boasts an extensive roster of characters, featuring figures from across the Dragon Ball series, including Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and even some movies. Iconic characters like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza, and many others are included, each with their unique abilities and characteristics that reflect their anime counterparts. The game also introduces new characters like Shallot, a Saiyan from the ancient past, and Zahha, a mysterious swordsman, providing fresh content for long-time Dragon Ball fans.
Character Classifications
Characters in Dragon Ball Legends are divided into different classifications based on their rarity, role, and color:
Rarity: Characters are categorized into Hero, Extreme, and Sparking, with Hero being the most common and Sparking being the rarest. The rarity typically indicates a character’s power and potential, with higher rarity characters having better stats and more powerful abilities.
Role: Characters are also classified into roles – Melee Type, Ranged Type, Defense Type, and Support Type. Melee characters specialize in close combat, Ranged characters are proficient in long-distance attacks, Defense characters are good at absorbing damage, and Support characters provide buffs and healing to their teammates.
Color: Each character is associated with a color (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, or Purple), which determines their strengths and weaknesses in battle following a color wheel system. For example, Red beats Yellow, Yellow beats Purple, and so on.
Character Abilities
Each character in Dragon Ball Legends possesses a unique set of abilities:
Main Ability: This is a special ability that can be activated during battle after a certain amount of time has passed. Main abilities can turn the tide of battle by healing the character, boosting their stats, or debuffing enemies.
Unique Ability: These are passive abilities that provide various buffs to the character or their team. Some unique abilities are activated under specific conditions, like when paired with certain characters or when the character’s health drops below a certain percentage.
Z Ability: Z Abilities are passive abilities that buff the entire team. Each character’s Z Ability boosts certain stats for characters of a certain color, rarity, or tag. Z Abilities become stronger when a character is Limit Broken (starred up).
Special Move and Special Skill: These are powerful abilities associated with a character’s Special Move and Special Skill cards. Special Moves are often the character’s iconic attacks from the anime, like Goku’s Kamehameha, while Special Skills provide various effects such as buffs, debuffs, or healing.
Micro-transactions in Dragon Ball Legends
The world of Dragon Ball Legends, like many other mobile games, is filled with various in-game currencies that are essential for progression, character development, and in-game purchases. These currencies allow players to unlock new abilities, characters, and other game features. Let us explore the different types of in-game currencies in Dragon Ball Legends, their uses, and how to acquire them.
Primary Currencies: Chrono Crystals and Zeni
Chrono Crystals: Chrono Crystals are the premium in-game currency in Dragon Ball Legends. Players can use them to summon new characters, buy energy, and refill their stamina. They can be earned through gameplay or purchased with real-world money. The more missions and events you complete, the more Chrono Crystals you earn. As the primary currency, they are highly sought after by players.
Zeni: Zeni is the basic currency of Dragon Ball Legends. Players earn Zeni by playing the game, winning battles, and completing missions. It is used for various activities like training characters, upgrading equipment, and unlocking new abilities. Although it’s easier to earn than Chrono Crystals, you need large amounts of Zeni for higher-level upgrades, so managing it wisely is crucial.
Secondary Currencies: Rising Souls and Super Souls
Rising Souls: These are materials required for unlocking boosts in the Soul Boost Board of your characters. Rising Souls come in different colors, corresponding to the character’s color (Red, Yellow, Purple, Green, Blue), and levels (1, 2, 3, etc.). They are usually acquired by playing through the main story, events, or the ‘Bonus Battle: Rising Souls’ in the Event mode.
Super Souls: Super Souls are another form of currency essential for character development. They are used along with Rising Souls to unlock panels in the Soul Boost Board. Like Rising Souls, Super Souls also come in different colors and levels. They can be obtained by playing through ‘Bonus Battle: Super Souls’ in the Event mode or exchanged in the Exchange Shop.
Rare Medals and Guild Coins
Rare Medals: Players earn these medals through PVP battles. They can be exchanged in the Rare Medal Shop for various items like Z Power for specific characters, Zeni, Rising Souls, Super Souls, and Energy Tickets. The offerings in the shop rotate regularly, so keep an eye out for items you need.
Guild Coins: Guild Coins are earned by participating in guild activities. They can be exchanged in the Guild Coin Shop for rare items and boosts. The more active you are within your guild, the more Guild Coins you earn.
Event-Specific Currencies
Dragon Ball Legends often runs events that introduce specific currencies for a limited time. These currencies can be collected during the event and exchanged for exclusive items, boosts, or character Z Powers. These currencies usually expire after the event ends, so make sure to use them while the event is active.
Conclusion of Dragon Ball Legends
In the final analysis, DB Legends is an immersive mobile game that offers a commendable blend of strategic gameplay, high-quality graphics, and sound, coupled with an engaging story that appeals especially to fans of the Dragon Ball series. Its diverse character roster and the accurate representation of the characters’ abilities provide a sense of nostalgia and excitement that is hard to match.
However, as a dedicated fan of the franchise, I cannot overlook the prevalent “Pay To Win” aspect of the game, which is a cause for concern. While the game does provide opportunities for free-to-play users to earn premium currency and characters, the process can be quite slow and grindy. In contrast, players willing to invest real money have a significant advantage, with access to more summons, better chances to acquire high rarity characters, and faster character development.
This element creates an imbalance in the game, particularly in the PvP aspects, where those who invest more money often have a clear upper hand. It’s an unfortunate tarnish on what is otherwise an exceptional entry in the realm of mobile gaming and the Dragon Ball universe. It is not only a problem of DB Legends, but also many other games such as Candy Crush Saga, Sims Mobile or Real Racing 3.
Despite this, Dragon Ball Legends still stands as a game worth trying for any Dragon Ball enthusiast. It brilliantly encapsulates the spirit of the series and offers a platform for fans to engage with their favorite characters in an interactive setting. However, it would be a significant improvement if future updates of the game could address the Pay To Win issue, either by implementing a more balanced matchmaking system or by making high-tier characters more accessible to all players.
In conclusion, while DB Legends is a must-play for Dragon Ball enthusiasts, it’s crucial to bear in mind the potential limitations presented by its monetization system. Despite this setback, the game’s dedication to capturing the essence of the Dragon Ball universe is commendable, and I look forward to its continued evolution.
FAQ for Dragon Ball Legends
Q: What is Dragon Ball Legends?
A: Dragon Ball Legends is a popular mobile game based on the animated television series Dragon Ball.
Q: What kind of game is DB Legends?
A: Dragon Ball Legends is a fighting game featuring card-based battle mechanics.
Q: What devices can I play DB Legends on?
A: Dragon Ball Legends is available on both iOS and Android devices.
Q: Is Dragon Ball Legends free to play?
A: Yes, Dragon Ball Legends is free to play. However, in-app purchases are available for players who want to speed up their progress or acquire premium characters and items.
Q: What is the maximum level in Dragon Ball Legends?
A: The maximum level in Dragon Ball Legends is level 999.
Q: How can I get more characters in DB Legends?
A: You can acquire more characters by summoning them using Chrono Crystals, which can be obtained through gameplay or purchased with real money.
Q: What game modes are available in DB Legends?
A: Dragon Ball Legends offers multiple game modes, including Story Mode, Event Mode, PvP Mode, and Co-op Mode.
Q: Can I play Dragon Ball Legends with friends?
A: Yes, you can play Dragon Ball Legends with friends in the Co-op Mode.
Q: Is an internet connection required to play DB Legends?
A: Yes, an internet connection is required to play Dragon Ball Legends.
Q: Is it available globally?
A: Yes, Dragon Ball Legends is available to players worldwide.
