Gaming
Esports
How DragonBall FighterZ's World Tour proves the game's FGC prowess
The DBZF World Tour has shaken up the FGC, bringing together top pros, fierce competition and ridiculous storylines. Here’s how it’s establishing itself as a staple FGC title.
Despite only coming out in January of this year, Dragon Ball FighterZ has already firmly established itself within the FGC. Bandai Namco and Arc System Works have created one of the top fighting titles of this generation, and it’s been warmly embraced by the fighting scene. Its cel-shaded graphics make the game a solid replication of the famous anime, and that’s only increased the game’s hype, too.
The major events that have hosted it have already produced some incredible face-offs between some of the best professional beat 'em up players in the world, creating one of the most exciting competitive scenes out there. And now that the game's World Tour is underway, the road to the anime-inspired fighter's first EVO and beyond is looking very thrilling indeed. Here’s everything you need to know.
Conquering the world
Publisher Bandai Namco announced the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour in June, capitalising quickly on the game's massive surge in popularity since release. It's a major international competition designed to bring together the best talent, not unlike the World Martial Arts Tournament that was a staple of the source material, with a seven-stop tour (dubbed “sagas” after the show's naming convention for its seasons) ending with a grand final in January at a to-be-confirmed venue in Florida.
Aside from the US saga, which took place recently at CEO 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida, the other global stops are set to be in Birmingham, UK, at VSFighting 2018 in July; Paris, France, at Ultimate Fighting Arena in August; Monterrey, Mexico, at Thunderstruck in October; Singapore, at SEA Major in October; with the final two sagas set to take place in currently unannounced venues in Australia and Japan.
Bandai Namco have also announced that offline ‘Dragon Radar’ events will also be held alongside the main Saga events, with the winner receiving free air travel and accomodation for an upcoming Saga World Tour tournament, or even the finals’ last chance qualifier event.
Doing something big and multinational like this isn't completely out of leftfield – Blizzard have crafted something similar on a large scale with their Overwatch League, investing heavily in creating a professional sports-like institution in North America for competitive play of the game, while Capcom’s Pro Tour is also comparable. But the formatting for this World Tour is what makes it fascinating.
Rather than the winner of each stop merely earning a spot in a playoff, each separate tournament offers a seed, or a ‘Dragon Ball’, for the champ (as well as a $5,000 prize pool, and $25,000 at the finals) and the more Dragon Balls a player has, the higher their seed ranking is come the finals. Competitors are encouraged to travel as anyone from any country can enter each tournament, and if someone manages to win all seven, they get instant entry to the final itself, guaranteeing at least second place. The standard system if that doesn't happen includes a losers' bracket at the finals to fill out the places not filled by Ball winners. The idea is to cultivate a season of contention leading up to a really tense, dramatic grand finals – inspired by the epic sagas of the original show.
The best contenders
Dramatic camera angles are common
© Bandai Namco
Dragon Ball FighterZ is built for this kind of long-field, dramatic play. The three-on-three fighter features an array of options for assists and special moves for combos that are both effective in combat and stunning to behold. What's more, the integration of the neutral state after each fighter is downed works to downplay someone dominating too heavily.
The neutral state denotes when, in a fighting game, neither opponent holds a defensive or offensive advantage. In most games, these moments are fleeting and come as a result of two very skilled opponents going tit-for-tat, but in DBFZ the fighters are reset to stage-centre every time one is downed. Once someone takes out another's team-member, everything is re-aligned, temporarily impeding an all-out assault. Every advantage a player gets, they're forced back, allowing a greater opportunity for retaliation.
The opening chapter at CEO demonstrated the kind of intensity FighterZ offers. Ryota ‘Kazunoko’ Inoue took home the Dragon Ball after an upset victory over Goichi ‘GO1’ Kishida in the final battle. In a blistering showdown, Inoue definitively thwarted the world ranked number one in two straight 3-1 sets – his team of Kid Buu, Gohan Adult and Yamcha proving too much for Kishida's Cell, Bardock and Vegeta. To get there, the pair had to overcome heavyweights such as Dominique ‘SonicFox’ McLean, Sho ‘Fenritti’ Shoji and Eduardo ‘HookGangGod’ Deno; another three of the title's top ten, all among the best in the FGC period.
Intense rivalries
All of this is creating some fierce rivalries. The scene has already seen its Goku and Vegeta of sorts, in Kishida and McLean's ongoing feud. McLean, considered the best of the best in America, and Kishida, likewise in Japan, have clashed a number of times in the game, and every single battle has been a highlight of that particular event.
It all began back in March, when the pair squared off after weeks of social media call-outs for an exhibition match at Final Round 2018 before the proper tournament. The first-to-10 match was incredible, but ended definitively in Kishida's favour at 10-4. Their meetings in the actual Final Round tournament went similarly, with Kishida outdoing McLean twice to take the top spot. But then, at Combo Breaker 2018 in May, McLean finally got his due. In a heated grand finals, he cemented himself as part of the top brass by beating GO1 and proving there was still everything to play for.
Each tournament involving the two since has seen them deliver one of the best fights of the weekend. Inoue's defeat of Kishida has further heightened this drama. The first Dragon Ball is in neither GO1 or SonicFox's hands, and there's still six more up for grabs, and a whole host of other fighters waiting at each forthcoming saga for their chance. The road to the World Tour grand finals has just started and the big question is, what other great powers will be unearthed as the search for the rest of the Dragon Balls continues? We'll just have to wait and see.
