When I saw Dragon Ball Project: Multi announced in August 2024, I wasn’t entirely sure what to think about the title. Of course, the prospect of a new free-to-play Dragon Ball game is enticing. But with the MOBA market being highly saturated at this point, would it be able to offer a captivating and sophisticated experience that could hold my attention? Nevertheless, I dived into the beta with an open mind. Though the game is by no means perfect, within an hour or two the high-octane gameplay loop got me hooked and I kept reiterating the elusive, “just one more game” to myself.
Dragon Ball Project: Multi nailed the cat-and-mouse framework which has made the MOBA genre so renowned and, as a result, every battle feels like an enthralling and frantic rollercoaster. It is a top-down, 4v4, real-time strategy game where your team aims to grab the opposing team’s Dragon Ball. To do this, you will have to destroy the enemy’s God of Destruction barriers while simultaneously protecting your own. You’re on the right track if you envision the gameplay format as a traditional tower defense game.
The first minute or two of each battle will probably start out slow as you defeat NPCs across the map or strategically attempt to assassinate opposing side members to level up. But at a certain point of the match, you will have the opportunity to attack the God of Destruction barriers, and that’s when the action really ramps up. Absolute carnage can ensue within moments as you either madly dash to attack or protect those walls. You will often have a cluster of eight players unleashing hellish attacks on one another. Sometimes, you have no idea which team will win the match until some of the last moments.
Akin to Pokemon Unite, you will also have bosses appear on the map at specific times during the battle. When a team lands the killing blow, the opposing one’s God of Destruction barriers receive damage. Obviously, you will want to take out these bosses before the other side, but they are pretty powerful, so you must ensure you’re at a reasonable level before attempting to take one on. If not, they can easily take you out, which will put your whole team at a disadvantage. This substantially spices up the dynamic, as you’re not just endlessly flying from one side of the map to another.
Other minor features within the battle mechanics help the overall game. For instance, you can equip a helper at the beginning of each match, allowing you to perform an AoE (Area of Effect) move. Some will speed up characters in the affected space, whereas others will try to block incoming aggression from the opposing side. After using the attack, there will be a brief cool-down period before you can use the helper’s ability again. This makes it so you always have to be aware of your surroundings, and it encourages players to think about their next move rather than mindlessly pressing input commands.
Admittedly, the gameplay template laid out here has been done before, but that is not Dragon Ball Project: Multi star quality. It’s utilizing the fantastic characters from the Dragon Ball universe and their iconic attacks to brutalize foes. Considering that Dragon Ball storytelling is heavily based on friendship, using the IP for a team-oriented game makes a lot of sense. I know it’s a bad ongoing joke that everyone Goku fights becomes his friend, but it’s more accurate than we would like to admit.
The beta has ten playable characters, ranging from the usual suspects, like Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, to some less obvious ones, like Cooler and Zamasu. Each character has a healthy move pool, as they have all three standard skills attacks, one super attack, and one passive technique. It’s satisfying to use Goku’s Kamehameha Wave to try and kill an opponent attempting to run away or unleash Vegeta’s devastating Big Bang Attack to obliterate as many rivals as possible. Even using Majin Boo’s Candy Ray attack to turn the opponent into a candy bar never failed to get a smile out of me. These moments make the conflicts stand out, as it feels like you’re playing out convoluted scenarios from the series.
Each character falls into one of three roles: damage, tank and technical. Right now, tank characters are stupidly overpowered compared to every other role in the game, with the standout being Zamasu, as his passive ability allows him to regenerate health. I won five games in a row and was also MVP for each match using Vegeta, a tank character. That said, during the matches, I made sure to stick to the role’s strengths of eating up attacks from the enemy. The technical role is worse by a mile, with Gohan being the weakest character in the beta. It is strange to see Gohan being a fragile character in a Dragon Ball game. Hopefully, they will be able to make some of the characters more even later down the line.
There are also small details here that add to the overall atmosphere. A good example of this is the map is partitioned into two parts. One side represents the more rural terrains you would expect to see in the series, whereas the other harbours the aesthetic of West City. One thing I didn’t like was the skin customization options. Many of them are the same outfit but with different default colors. This is a beta, after all, so this may change, but the more exciting outfits were behind special capsules, which are very hard to attain. Something tells me this feature won’t change with the full release.
I’ve been playing on PC, and the game runs pretty well. On rare occasions, it would take a few moments to load up a match, but nothing too long, and this is probably the type of issue they are (hopefully) on the lookout for to make the experience more seamless on launch. You can also play with a controller, and it feels smooth to control characters this way. I actually preferred playing with the controller. I can’t comment on what the experience is like on mobile, but if it translates on mobile devices, I imagine this would be fun to play on the go, as matches usually last 20 minutes.
I was hesitant that this game might emulate Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an interesting idea with no substance. But I had an absolute blast playing Dragon Ball Project: Multi, and I could easily see myself investing considerable hours in the game when it comes out. My only fear and reservation is that the format could become stale if the game does not receive regular updates, like new maps or characters. I would also like to see a bigger range of customizations, but it’s not too strange for a beta to have limited options. Dragon Ball Project: Multi is worth putting on your radar (pun intended), and I think it has a chance to garner a dedicated fan base, as the main fundamental ingredients are here.
The Dragon Ball Project: Multi beta is now available on PC and mobile devices in certain regions.
Published: Aug 31, 2024 09:00 am