Video games are a key piece in the ever-growing legacy of Dragon Ball Legends : no other medium has deployed the universe originally imagined by Akira Toriyama so well and so well, bringing new nuances – and transformations – to the well-known heroes and villains and, in the process, allowing us to take part in tremendous battles throughout the universe. Something that Dragon Ball Legends achieves with masterful simplicity and extra fan service.
Through consoles, mobiles and systems and desktop we have lived the emotion of Dragon Ball through all kinds of experiences. From the savage fighting of DB FighterZ arcade to the RPG of DBZ: Kakarot, passing through the traditional card games of SDB: HEROES. And despite the fact that each experience is unique, the Dimps game for iOS and Android captures the best of all to give emphasis to its protagonists and, in the process, reduces all the paperwork to simple gestures on the screen. The result: a game as spectacular as it is addictive.
Because no other game based on the cult manganime matches the way Dragon Ball Legends shapes Goku’s response to Vegeta during the Saiyan invasion: With enough dedication and training, even the lowest ranked warriors can defeat the elite. Although, of course, Bandai Namco’s game gatcha system and its free-to-play format offer shortcuts to those who want to save the long way.
Three years after its release, Dragon Ball Legends continues to grow in each and every one of its aspects. In content, of course, but also in his way of approaching known stories and creating custom-made ones through modes, activities, events and, above all, in a community of players that compete and collaborate to bring Goku, Vegeta, Broly and company beyond their limits.
And yet, Dragon Ball Legends is not the story of the well-known heroes who were born in the pages of Shonen Jump, the animated series or the movies, but that of an unknown saiyan and with a mysterious past that, by the way, was created. by Akira Toriyama himself.
Shallot, the mysterious saiyan who came from the past to fight in the Tournament of Time
Two scintillating forces create massive explosions in the sky that shake the planet. One of them is Son Goku, a saiyan with a fireproof fighting spirit. The other is Broly, a mountain of muscle blinded by his own destructiveness. Both resolve their differences and destroy the landscape that surrounds them without being aware that not far from there, a third space warrior regains consciousness after a long journey.
Shallot awakens on planet Earth remembering only her name. His own figure betrays his saiyan nature to the league: his dark, bristly hair, his monkey tail and, if that were not enough, his own armor of Planet Sadala, the original world of the line of warriors. A combat uniform that instilled respect for the cosmos and that, by the way, stopped being seen many years ago. More specifically, when the Saiyan elite began to conquer worlds for Emperor Cold’s army.
Coincidence or not, Shallot’s first ally is someone quite used to moving through space and time: Trunks, the young man who came from the future, will join forces with the mysterious saiyan and, together with Goku, they will try to knock out an absolutely unleashed Broly.. That battle, the most brutal ever fought by the mysterious saiyan, will be just the beginning.
The plot of Dragon Ball Legends starts from Year 780 of the chronology of Toriyama’s Dragon World, which initially takes us directly to the events after the Tournament of Power of the universes. That said, through the character of Shallot we will make all kinds of trips through space and time. Reliving in an original way some of the most spectacular battles of Dragon Ball and taking part in others never told.
A priori, the plot concept of Dragon Ball Legends is very similar to that of Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Online, although without introducing the concepts and stories of Trunks’ Time Patrol : this time, the player will participate in a unique known event like the Tournament of Time. And that means allies and enemies from the past, the present, an alternate future, and beyond the known universe will collide again in breathtaking battles.
And the best of all is that in Dragon Ball Legends we can join forces with the best, the worst and the most unexpected of Dragon World. Including the cheerful little Son Goku from his first adventures, the Gods of Destruction or the characters from Dragon Ball GT. Of course, as we said at the beginning, what will make the difference in the fighting is not the color of the aura of our transformation, but how much we have trained our character.
All the excitement of manganime in an explosive mobile game
Fitting Dragon Ball Legends into a single genre is very difficult. In the end, everything turns around the team battles, but the weight of the improvements, the statistics, the progression and the random cards during the development of these make the games something very unique, In this way, perhaps the most It would be correct to say that it is a fighting and RPG title.
With that established, throughout the history created for the occasion, temporary or permanent events and Player vs. Player modes, we are invited to solve all kinds of battles, but the true impulse of the game is obtaining and improving of characters.
For this, as in so many mobile games (from Genshin Impact to Mario Kart Tour ) we are offered a gacha system in which we can invoke new hero and villain cards of different characteristics and rarities, as well as improve the ones we already have. base of accumulating repeated. That said, and as you can see just below, the illustrations of the cards are spectacular and the animation effects are amazing.
Regarding the fighting, the system could be said to be a very simplified version of the one seen in games like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and Dragon Ball FighterZ, we can move freely in three-dimensional scenarios, as well as fight and relay in teams of three, having access to dodges, disappearances, projectiles, cannon shots and spectacular meteoric attacks.
Visually and technically, Dragon Ball Legends is outstanding : the environments are many, gigantic and very detailed, but the level of finishes and the animations of each character is to take off your hat. From simple attacks that are absolutely inspired by manga and anime to very powerful cinematics that recreate on screen the great moments of each character.
That said, and despite the fact that we can manage mobility in a comprehensive way by sliding the finger or selecting the appropriate card, once the adaptation period has passed we will begin to fight with the automated combat system. Not only because it works well and allows us to take part or intervene whenever we want, but because Dragon Ball Legends rewards, above all, that we play a lot. And best of all is how it invites you to do it.
Dragon Ball Legends uses the classic system of limiting the number of fights based on energy charges -which we can replace with game currency-, but it is also full of things to do while we wait. In addition to the events and the main plot, we have a Vs. online mode, we can collaborate with our Guild (the social component has a very important weight) and even send our characters to train or live adventures to improve and obtain new resources to improve or acquire new invocations.
In fact, Dragon Ball Legends is epic even when it comes to summoning. Although we will see a fight scene between Goku and Freeza, there is a huge variety of alternatives with surprises, transformations and environments that make the process a celebration.
And although, to no one’s surprise, this is where the game’s monetization system lies, obtaining game currency with which to release characters and tempt luck is quite friendly. To which we must add the always welcome function of being able to withdraw the option to buy with real money from the settings themselves.
Aspects which, together with the care put into the design of the game itself, the intensity of the fighting and the acertadísimo of the system progress, make Dragon Ball Legends in one of the games most addictive based on the work of Akira Toriyama ever launched. Because, unfortunately for our batteries, there is always something to do: either we have a tremendous combat waiting, or a very sweet event underway, or a key character to advance about to complete a training session.
Three years of Dragon Ball Legends… and we keep adding
Unlike console and PC games, almost all mobile video games with a free-to-play nature (with notable exceptions) must face a greater challenge: getting everyone who gives them a chance or simply installs it. out of curiosity, continue playing after the third day from the first game. In the case of Dragon Ball Legends, the RPG fighting game is in the middle of celebrating its third anniversary, and that’s a great indicator of its success.
It is clear that Bandai Namco has managed to channel the success of Dragon Ball Super and the universes and plots created for Super Dragon Ball Heroes to make the progression of the game more interesting through new cards and thematic elements for a limited time. Thus, the premiere of Dragon Ball Super: Broly was lived in theaters, in video games and, in addition, in Dragon Ball Legends.
As expected, the celebration of the third anniversary of the game supposes a new push of content with new challenges and the entry into the scene of warriors as powerful as Gogeta Super Saiyan 4 or Zamas Fused. Characters with devastating destructive abilities who, by the way, star in their own mini-story arcs in the game.
Needless to say, as in most animated Dragon Ball movies, the storylines of events or the succession of battles are the least of it. In the end, everything ends up reduced to the rules of the Shonen manga in which we must overcome a succession of challenges and enemies whose strength is in rigorous ascent until we are able to face the true threat. But what is lost out there is gained in an intense and entertaining combat system that, by the way, does not close the doors to the casual player.
Now, like good free-to-play games, the true secret weapon of Dragon Ball Legends is its progression system and its multiplayer options and the community of its Guild. Above all, with that Player versus Player mode in which all the cards are at the maximum of their capacity and statistics and you can freely unleash the power of your Saiyans.
Not to mention its generous single player mode, generously rewarded with exclusive cards or rewards, so that they always invite you to return every little time to ask that Saiyan, God or Android that took down your team so easily.
To encourage you to try what that card that just touched you can do, or to take your favorite character from Toriyama’s work to the highest level between battles. Because, possibly, Bulma, Mr. Satan or Jaco have little or nothing to do against the most powerful beings of all the universes, but you do not want them to be left behind in your increasingly brand new team.
The first three years of Dragon Ball Legends have been insane, of course. And seeing that there is a new film in production and that the manga continues to expand what was seen in Dragon Ball Super, it seems that the fighting of Goku and company on mobile phones has a long time to go.