Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans Review

Typically when a movie or anime based game comes out, they suck. The Dragon Ball series is one of the classic animes that is still popular and many games are still being made based of the series. When it comes to Dragon Ball Z games, we’ve usually seen fighting and action games. For the very first time in almost a decade, a new and traditional Japanese RPG based off DBZ is here. Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans is Namco Bandai’s latest Dragon Ball Z game and has shifted from an action/fighting game to an RPG game that most of us love.

Since we’re used in seeing majority of Dragon Ball Z games flop, will Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans manage to get a special place in your collection? Should you expect something good, or just another disappointment?

Let’s take a look in the HOTs and NOTs of the game:

HOT

True to the Series
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans follows the story arc of what was shown in the first season of the Dragon Ball Z series. The game starts off with Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien training for the upcoming tournament. Goku has been their inspiration and they’re all willing to train very hard to show him what they’re made of. Each of them will go on separate trials that will test their courage and strength.

You’ll use a lot of DBZ characters we all know and love such as Gohan, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, Piccolo, and Goku. Most of the time, you will be going through the events that took place in the anime. There are few added plots in the game that will help expand your knowledge of the characters. If you watched the Dragon Ball Z series, then you probably know how it will ultimately end.

A Real Japanese RPG!
As an avid RPG fan, playing Attack of the Saiyans was a truly satisfy experience. The elements that I’ve been looking for in a Japanese RPG can be found in this game; traditional turned based battle system, talking to people in towns to gather information, collecting items in treasure chests, and random enemy encounters.

Team Attacks and Combos
There are twists in the battle system of this game. Aside from choosing the attack command, the character you are using has the ability to perform a combo. Depending on the skills that you use on a certain character and the order in which they are executed, you can perform combos that deal massive damage to your enemies. After each fight, a character gains AP that can be used to increase the level of the character’s skills. The skills that you earn are the ones used in the anime; Special Beam Cannon, Kamekameha and many more.

Challenging
I thought this game would be easy, but man was I wrong. Playing this game takes level grinding to a new level as you always want to be stronger than the enemies before you proceed. Encountering enemies as you walk through the field and gaining experience as you reach your destination won’t be enough to take down most of the bosses. That will require you to go back to the field and gain an additional level or two. If you face a boss and you find it hard to defeat it means that you need to gain a higher level.

Quest Based
The game  is mission based, each time you complete a mission you progress a bit more through the story. During your adventure, you can look at the crystal ball of Baba and check the list of quests that you have to take on after reaching certain parts of the game. There’s more than 80 quests in the game, so you’ll have plenty to do before completing it 100%. Each quest is tied to the storyline, so you’ll never feel like its just mindless busywork.

Meet the DBZ Cast
Prepare yourself to meet the cast of Dragon Ball Z. If you have watched the anime, then you will be delighted to see or control your favorite characters from the series. From the Ox King, Chichi, Baba, and many more, you will be amazed on how they can still entertain you even though it’s coming from a game instead of an anime.

NOT

Story can be confusing
As fun as it is, this game is still fans only. Attack of the Saiyans follows the same story arc of the first season of the anime, but if you are expecting to have the story revealed to you from start to finish, you will be disappointed. There are a lot of things that are not explained well in this game. Sure the plot is there, but to get more in-depth with the story and experience the action the anime has, you won’t be getting it in this game.

No Replayability
Attack of the Saiyans offers no replay value whatsoever. As soon as you have finished the game, I highly doubt that you will be playing it again. RPG gamers should take no longer than 30 hours in finishing this game. No extras or anything after the credits rolled.

Graphics are meh
When it comes to the graphics, Attack of the Saiyans offers an average presentation. The graphics used in this game have been used many times before in other RPGs . The environments however are good, but as I said, I’ve seen this before and it doesn’t impress me. Sure the character portraits are nice and detailed, but when you walk around the area and onto the world map, you will see how mediocre the graphics are.

VERDICT

I wouldn’t say that Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans is bad, because it’s not. It is actually an interesting RPG that first caught my attention, but as I was nearing the end, I got bored with it due to the fact that I’ve seen the anime before and I can’t feel the drama and tension of the fights in this game. It’s just a regular RPG, which is good and bad. I consider Attack of the Saiyans as an average RPG. If you are a huge Dragon Ball Z fan, there is no reason for you not to get this game. If you’re not, you’re better off skipping this for something better.