Despite a few hurdles, Dragon Ball: The Breakers is still a pretty fun game (Image via Bandai Namco)

Dragon Ball: The Breakers - An interesting idea held back by gacha mechanics and grinding

Timeless

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is the latest asynchronous survival game to hit the market, bringing a new twist to the genre. Instead of running away and completing objectives, players can fight back.

Whether using their weak blaster pistol or transforming into Goku, players can now push back against the Raiders.

A 7v1 asynchronous title, Dragon Ball: The Breakers, offers something new and exciting to the genre. Unfortunately, there are a few flaws that are worth discussing.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers brings change to the franchise’s video games

In this particular Bandai Namco game, players group in a team of seven to try to outwit or defeat the Raider.

The primary goal is to get the Power Keys and put them on the map. From there, it’s a matter of powering up the Time Machine and escaping the might of the Raider.

The actual gameplay loop is quite simple. If you queue up for a match, you will either be a Survivor (a regular human) or a Raider (a terrifying force of evil). You can queue with a preference but will likely be a Survivor.

You can build a loadout of items to help you traverse the massive stages divided into regions. The threadbare tutorial will teach you how to locate and use Power Keys but not much else. It’s a pretty simple tutorial.

It only covers a few facets of being a Survivor and nothing about being a Raider. To learn how to play a Raider, you must get into a game and do it. Both sides have win conditions.

Survivors' victory objectives

Activate the startup system for the Super Time Machine
Defeat the Raider
Use the Escape Time Machine

A map has six Power Keys, one in each region. You will need to find them in boxes and place them in specific locations.

If the Raider destroys an area after successfully placing the key, it won’t be held against you. However, if the Raider destroys an area and you have not placed the key yet, that’s not good.

The more Power Keys are in place, the faster the startup system will activate for the Super Time Machine. The Raider can try and destroy the machine, too.

Players can call for an Escape Time Machine if this occurs and try to get out of it that way. It can also be destroyed, but it will be harder for the Raider to find. Other players can join you in the Escape Time Machine by grabbing hold of it.

You can climb mountains, run, use vehicles, and activate travel items to get to places faster. Once you finish placing the key in an area, it’s time to move on. The more people activate it, the faster it goes.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers players will start with a loadout, their chosen Transpheres, and some loot boxes nearby. This is perhaps the most exciting part of the game. Unlike most of this genre of survival games, you can fight back.

While you can be resurrected if defeated by the Raider, they can opt to finish you instead, permanently defeating you. If you see a fellow Survivor in the wild, keep in mind that it could be a trap.

This system could quickly become problematic (Image via Bandai Namco)

Players can pick three for their loadout, all based on other Dragon Ball characters. You start with a few of these out of the gate, but you can unlock others through the Spirit Siphon system. It’s a Gacha system from a mobile game.

Each of the Transpheres you have from this system is rated on a star system, with higher ratings being more powerful and rarer. You can buy these with real-money currency or with in-game Zenny. But the currency costs are significantly higher. This worries me that the game could become pay-to-win in the future.

It’s still a skill-based game, but starting with powerful Transpheres and quickly farming up the energy required to transform could lead to Raiders being demolished.

The life of a Raider in Dragon Ball: The Breakers is far more enjoyable

Raiders objectives

Defeat all seven survivors
Destroy the startup system for the Super Time Machine
Destroy the Escape Time Machine

While I lost every Survivor game in Dragon Ball: The Breakers, I won as a Raider. I got pretty close as a Survivor, but we couldn’t hold out long enough in the last phase.

You start with Cell, Frieza, and Majin Buu for the Raiders. Each one plays differently and has access to different but equally terrifying powers. The Raiders start in their level 1 form, which is their weakest. As they kill Survivors and citizens, they will grow in power and evolve. They can eradicate regions and use a series of special attacks to cause chaos and death.

The easiest way to win is to track down Survivors and destroy them, but it’s not your only option. You can stop them from escaping in a few other ways as well. Conversely, you can also wait for the timer to go down. If you have carved the other player's side down enough and they can’t complete objectives, you win if the timer runs down.

The visuals are solid, but the music disappoints

I don’t mind the graphics for Dragon Ball: The Breakers. It’s not pretty like Dragon Ball Z: Kakkarot is, but the graphics are fine. The villains look fantastic, and the character skins for Bulma and Oolong are great.

The actual gameplay lacks any music, and that’s perhaps one of the biggest letdowns for me. Not even some quiet music to create some drama or tension. This was a major misstep, in my estimation.

The rest of Dragon Ball: The Breakers feels stark and empty

While you aren’t on a map, Dragon Ball: The Breakers players stand around in a sort of empty hub with a few shops and things of that nature. You can buy cosmetics for Survivors, voice lines for the Raiders, and items to use in your loadouts.

Some of these cosmetics are only available with Zenny, and some are only with real-money. Thankfully, villain voice lines are all available through both. No matter where I was in the game, this place felt empty and a little deflating.

This is also where you find the Soul Siphon, where you can roll on new Transpheres. You can also head to the Training Room, where you can increase the usefulness of your Passive and Active Skills or learn new Super Attacks within your Transpheres.

You can increase your character's power, but it is tedious and expensive (Image via Bandai Namco)

To use the training room, you need Super Warrior Spirits, a currency you gain by playing the game. This is where grinding comes in. Unlocking these skills requires a significant amount of these resources. It’s costly and will require a lot of grinding to do. It can be quite frustrating to train super attacks in this way.

In conclusion

I don’t dislike Dragon Ball: The Breakers. I think it’s a very cool concept, and I love Dragon Ball. However, given the Spirit Siphon, I fear it will lead toward pay-to-win strategies.

For the price point, Dragon Ball: The Breakers offers a reasonable amount of fun, though. I can see fans of asynchronous games diving into this if they’re Dragon Ball fans. Most of the problems with the game can be fixed with updates, though. For example, a Raider tutorial would be great. Another thing that would help add some flavor is maybe some PVE missions to challenge players.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers, as a concept, is fascinating, and I enjoyed playing it. While I think it does take the genre in a new direction, I think the game is holding itself back with some of the design decisions. With further updates to the roster, new maps, and other updates, this could be a breakout in the asynchronous survival genre.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is a nice change of pace in asynchronous survival, but it's missing something (Image via Bandai Namco)

Reviewed On: PlayStation 5

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Developer: Dimps

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Edited by
Srijan Sen