Best Dragon Ball Z game for PS4

[mancini]

What is the best Dragon Ball Z game for PS4? I have played other games on PS4. Actually, I'm new to the Dragon Ball game series. So, I need to know what game is worth buying play on PS4?

[LettuceJUMP]

I would say you have a bunch of choices -

Xenoverse games - (create your own character and travel through time) action/rpg-esque
Fighterz - straight up fighting
Kakarot - open world rpg adventure/action

But really they are all decent. This is not like the olden days when you had to weed out the bad choices. I would see what genre fits you more. I love them all in different ways. Good time to be a dbz fan.

[emperior]

Kakarot is the best one in my opinion. It’s the one I had the most fun with.

But XV2 and FighterZ are also fun games. XV2 because of the fun of collecting new stuff, learning new moves and having an OC while FighterZ is more suited for those who like competitive gameplay.

[Matches Malone]

You're lucky you didn't get into DB games on PS3 as 2008-2014 were the dark ages of DB games. We went from respectable games on the PS2 to unfinished trash for 7 years. DB couldn't be in a better place right now, as there are 3 main games with each having very high production value.

Xenoverse 2 : A 3D fighting game that focuses on letting you make your own character and playing with a huge roster of around 120 characters.

FighterZ : A competitive 2D fighting game that focuses on skill above all else. It will have around 50 characters by the time the remaining DLC is released, less than XV2, but the focuses here is on the fighting mechanics.

Kakarot : An open world RPG, story focused DBZ game. This game lets you relive the story of Raditz to Buu. This is a massive game from a long story mode to all kinds of side quests.

I wouldn't recommend XV2, as XV3 is probably going to be announced this year for a 2021 release. You're better off waiting for that as you'll get everything in XV2, Plus its DLC and updates, plus new content. Kakarot is definitely the way to go, as it's a very massive game, with countless things to do and unlock. It's the kind of game DB fans could only dream of a few years ago, so it's one you and everyone should play.

[Robo4900]

I'm pretty sure Xenoverse 2, FigherZ, and Kakarot are the only PS4 Dragon Ball games.

FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 are both basically fighting games. Xenoverse looks like basically an advancement on the Budokai/Tenkaichi type game, FigherZ is a more traditional 2D fighter made by Arc Systemworks.
Kakarot, to my estimation, seems to be a fighting game/brawler that's basically a more advanced, in-depth version of Xenoverse, that likes to cosplay as an RPG by wearing some big walkaround segments, a levelling system, and some sidequests.

... If you don't like traditional fighting games, or even the slight twists on those that Budokai/Tenkaichi and Xenoverse try... There's nothing for you. If you do like those kinds of games though, you've got a lot to keep you occupied.

[coltigore]

I play quite a bit of fighterz on PC, and have broken many controllers lol. I rather enjoy xenoverse 2 on my switch and I have a copy of Kakarot coming for my Xbox. If you like fighters, and you good at them, fighterz is amazoing, not just as a dragon abll game, but a fighting game in general. Xenoverse is a lot of fun to just lounge around with on a Sunday. I can't say anything about Kakarot, since I haven't played it yet, but my friends enjoy it.

[TheBigBoy]

FighterZ and it's not even close.

[Xeno Goku Black]

I'd say Kakarot.

FighterZ is the best purely from a fighting standpoint but it's also the most shallow on content. It's story is particularly weak.

[Yuli Ban]

FighterZ and it's not even close.

[LoganForkHands73]

I'm glad that with this current gen of DB games, it's quality over quantity. Only 3 games, but all of them are at the very least good.

Personally, I'd say FighterZ is the best by a fairly wide margin, but I am extremely biased to traditional fighting games. The game is insanely addictive, the art style is gorgeous, all of the characters are polished and unique (even the Goku/Vegeta "clones"). Overall, an excellent game. It's not perfect though. If you're just buying the base game with no Fighter Pass, FighterZ is quite light on content. A fairly anaemic roster and a really boring story mode. While the gameplay is more accessible than others in the genre, it can be very frustrating to play online at times due to lacklustre servers and the number of abusable BS mechanics.

Everyone shits on Xenoverse 2, but even though I've not played much of it, I can tell it's a vast improvement over the first Xenoverse, so that's great. The gameplay and story don't appeal much to me personally, though, but there certainly is a lot of content.

Lastly, Kakarot, which I haven't played at all but I've seen some playthroughs. It's very much a classic PS2-style "whole Raditz-Kid Buu story" throwback experience with more modern open-world RPG mechanics. It seems alright, but from what I can tell, there's not much to it.

[Yuli Ban]

I'm glad that with this current gen of DB games, it's quality over quantity. Only 3 games, but all of them are at the very least good.

Personally, I'd say FighterZ is the best by a fairly wide margin, but I am extremely biased to traditional fighting games. The game is insanely addictive, the art style is gorgeous, all of the characters are polished and unique (even the Goku/Vegeta "clones"). Overall, an excellent game. It's not perfect though. If you're just buying the base game with no Fighter Pass, FighterZ is quite light on content. A fairly anaemic roster and a really boring story mode. While the gameplay is more accessible than others in the genre, it can be very frustrating to play online at times due to lacklustre servers and the number of abusable BS mechanics.

Everyone shits on Xenoverse 2, but even though I've not played much of it, I can tell it's a vast improvement over the first Xenoverse, so that's great. The gameplay and story don't appeal much to me personally, though, but there certainly is a lot of content.

Lastly, Kakarot, which I haven't played at all but I've seen some playthroughs. It's very much a classic PS2-style "whole Raditz-Kid Buu story" throwback experience with more modern open-world RPG mechanics. It seems alright, but from what I can tell, there's not much to it.

FighterZ isn't just a great DBZ game, but a great fighting video game in general. That fact alone makes it arguably the single best Dragon Ball game ever made. That's why it sweeps the floor, mops the floor, and then dries the floor with Xenoverse 2 & Kakarot. Its story is regrettably poor, as fighting game stories typically are, but I actually respect it because it's trying to tell a completely original story. It basically stands on its own as a fantastic product regardless of the license it's attached to and almost doesn't even deserve to be sullied by being mentioned in the same breath as the next two games.



Xenoverse 2 is good, but only with a caveat— it's good when you have all DLC, because at that point it feels like the game it should've been at launch. Seriously, playing Xenoverse 2 now, after spending probably $100 extra on it, I feel like I ought to start expecting DLC and updates now. And by that, I mean "I feel like I'm playing the base game, I can't wait to see some improvements." But this is the game 4 years after launch, 4 years of DLCs and events, and the game itself is still a spastic, unsatisfying mess to actually play. Maybe I've just played it too much and that's why I don't get enjoyment out of it, but other games I've been playing for literal decades are still joys to this day. If the game controlled much more like the Sparking/Raging Blast games (which themselves were C-tier in terms of fighting mechanics), it would be endlessly replayable for me. Worse yet, its "original storyline" is only MASQUERADING as an original storyline! All it is, literally ALL it is boils down to "What if [X].... was STRONGER and GOFFIK?! Now with zero consequences!" coupled with "Badly insert your original character, Steel Donut, into the events of Dragon Ball Z, GT, and Super with zero consequences!" It took DLC to actually get an original story going (which is why I say that having all DLC makes it feel like the game it ought to have been). And although XV2 plays better than XV1.... not by much.

Kakarot feels like taking the Legacy of Goku games and fusing them with Xenoverse. Considering Xenoverse is already flawed and the Legacy of Goku games started as a Legend of Zelda clone and ended as a Secret of Mana clone (ignoring the competent but still shitty GT beat-em-up), you can see how this could end badly. I don't think it ended BADLY, but Kakarot was not worth the hype. The only thing it really offers are the side stories and the appeal of a 3D open world DBZ game. At least here, the Raditz to Boo progression makes sense considering it's the first 3D action RPG (it would've been great if we got Kakarot as "Dragon Ball Z: Sagas 2" back around 2007 for 7th gen consoles) AND they made an attempt to flesh out the world of DBZ rather than strictly following it beat for beat. If you're going to do Raditz to Boo, either do those flourishes or make a load of what ifs.
It's just let down by its fighting mechanics, unarguably the most important aspect of a Dragon Ball game. Again, the Sparking! and Raging Blast games didn't do the OTSF style perfectly, but every game from Ultimate Tenkaichi to Kakarot would have been so totally improved if they just copy-pasted those mechanics and kept improving them. Super Dragon Ball Z & FighterZ have done 2D DB fighting games justice. The Sparking! games did fully 3D about as well as I think they could've been done at the time by Spike, and we ought to see a similar update for them using modern hardware. Even those "Dragon Ball Unreal" fangames you see on YouTube look like better OTSFes than Xenoverse or Kakarot.

[LoganForkHands73]

FighterZ isn't just a good DBZ game, but just a good fighting video game in general; that's why it sweeps the floor, mops the floor, and then dries the floor with Xenoverse 2 & Kakarot. Its story is regrettably poor, as fighting game stories typically are, but I actually respect it because it's trying to tell a completely original story. It basically stands on its own as a fantastic product regardless of the license it's attached to and almost doesn't even deserve to be sullied by being mentioned in the same breath as the next two games.



Xenoverse 2 is good, but only with a caveat— it's good when you have all DLC, because at that point it feels like the game it should've been at launch. Seriously, playing Xenoverse 2 now, after spending probably $100 extra on it, I feel like I ought to start expecting DLC and updates now. And by that, I mean "I feel like I'm playing the base game, I can't wait to see some improvements." But this is the game 4 years after launch, 4 years of DLCs and events, and the game itself is still a spastic, unsatisfying mess to actually play. Maybe I've just played it too much and that's why I don't get enjoyment out of it, but other games I've been playing for literal decades are still joys to this day. If the game controlled much more like the Sparking/Raging Blast games (which themselves were C-tier in terms of fighting mechanics), it would be endlessly replayable for me. Worse yet, its "original storyline" is only MASQUERADING as an original storyline! All it is, literally ALL it is boils down to "What if X.... was STRONGER and GOFFIK?! Now with zero consequences!" coupled with "Badly insert your original character, Steel Donut, into the events of Dragon Ball Z, GT, and Super with zero consequences!" It took DLC to actually get an original story going (which is why I say that having all DLC makes it feel like the game it ought to have been).

Kakarot feels like taking the Legacy of Goku games and fusing them with Xenoverse. Considering Xenoverse is already flawed and the Legacy of Goku games started as a Legend of Zelda clone and ended as a Secret of Mana clone (ignoring the competent but still shitty GT beat-em-up), you can see how this could end badly. I don't think it ended BADLY, but Kakarot was not worth the hype. The only thing it really offers are the side stories and the appeal of a 3D open world DBZ game. At least here, the Raditz to Boo progression makes sense considering it's the first 3D action RPG (it would've been great if we got Kakarot as "Dragon Ball Z: Sagas 2" back around 2007 for 7th gen consoles) AND they made an attempt to flesh out the world of DBZ rather than strictly following it beat for beat. If you're going to do Raditz to Boo, either do those flourishes or make a load of what ifs.
It's just let down by its fighting mechanics, unarguably the most important aspect of a Dragon Ball game. Again, the Sparking! and Raging Blast games didn't do the OTSF style perfectly, but every game from Ultimate Tenkaichi to Kakarot would have been so totally improved if they just copy-pasted those mechanics and kept improving them. Super Dragon Ball Z & FighterZ have done 2D DB fighting games justice.

To be honest, I was being very diplomatic in my post, I could've been much harsher to the Xenoverse series. I'm not a fan of how it looks or plays, but I get that it has appeal. The story of the Xenoverse games rubs me the wrong way. It feels like it takes all of the somewhat cool potential from it's main inspirations, Online and Heroes, and just yeets it out the window in exchange for even more painfully boring, nonsensical time travel shit with overpowered OCs and the Time Patrol.

While the MvC style "hyper-fighting" mechanics are pretty much the only way to do a 2D Dragon Ball fighting game justice in terms of reflecting the larger-than-life combat of the series, I would like to see ArcSys do an even more traditional 1v1 Dragon Ball fighting game similar to that "Z2" MUGEN project, but much more polished. I absolutely love FighterZ, but I honestly dropped it completely for like a full year because I found it so frustrating to play online. Maximilian Dood summarised it pretty perfectly that the game is much more stressful than other fighting games. There's way too many universal mechanics that mess with the neutral.

One other thing that bugs me a little bit with FighterZ is how undercooked some of the characters' movesets feel, especially ones from the base roster and even some from Season 1. Teen Gohan is powerful as hell, but he doesn't have any projectile special moves and both of his super moves are Kamehamehas. The later DLC characters blow many of them out of the water in terms of flashiness.

But apart from that, yeah, FighterZ is the best boy, hands down. It's in the best state its ever been now.

[WittyUsername]

Just so we’re clear, both Xenoverse games were released on the PS4. The first one was also released on the PS3, though.

Anyway, FighterZ, hands down.