Published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and developed by Dimps, Dragon Ball The Breakers is an asymmetrical multiplayer game set in the Dragon Ball universe where the game pits seven Survivors which are regular civilians that are trapped in a “Temporal Seam” and they have to face off against a Raider, one of famous rivals from the Dragon Ball universe.

The goal of the Survivors are to team up with one another and work together to escape the Raider so that they are able to return to their home world in their respective timelines.

Dragon Ball The Breakers 2nd Closed Network Test had mainly added feedback that they got during the Closed Beta Test which we had covered previously. The Closed Network Test was held on the PlayStation 4 also compatible with PS5, Xbox One which is also compatible with Xbox Series X & S), Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Introducing Frieza as the newest Raider

Being one of the franchise’s staple villains, Frieza is introduced in the 2nd Closed Network Test and hardcore Dragon Ball fans would be pleased to know that he is included into the game. But those who are unfamiliar with Frieza, here is a brief introduction to his role in the Dragon Ball franchise.

Despite not appearing until the manga’s second half, Frieza is considered to be the most iconic villain from the Dragon Ball franchise. He effectively served as the catalyst of many of the events depicted in the story, due to the destruction of the Saiyan homeworld Planet Vegeta at his hands.

Frieza later appears as the primary villain in the theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ and as a recurring character in Dragon Ball Super. However, Frieza’s revival and quest for revenge resulted in negative commentary for lacking his menacing traits and due to his inability to deal with his nemesis on his own.

Frieza as a Raider in Dragon Ball The Breakers has the ability to evolve depending on his “Rage” gauge, which will increase each time he is in a fight or every time that he gets hit. Frieza will start off in his first form and gradually reach his second and third forms and eventually reaching his final form. And with each evolution, Frieza gains more power and gets to unlock new skills to use against the Survivors.

Frieza’s Skills

Frieza has an arsenal of active and passive skills to help him out in battle, one of which is the ability to summon up Dodoria and Zarbon for an assist attack. Unlike Cell who starts off in his larva stage, Frieza flies around in his first form’s hover car along with his henchmen of Zarbon and Dodoria and he’s able to fire off all kinds of long-ranged attacks to players and the surrounding environment.

Frieza also gets access to both his second and third forms but one of Frieza’s most iconic forms is definitely his final form, which is also the most terrifying to deal with. In his final form, Frieza is able to launch energy disc blades towards the players and even cause them to explode if they already have low enough health.

“This Planet Will Die” is Frieza’s ultimate special attack and by far one of the strongest move in the game, his ultimate allows him to destroy a part of the map and reduces it to ashes, which makes him as menacing as he is in the anime.

Practice Mode & Tutorials

Starting with the Closed Network Test, a practice mode has been implemented into Dragon Ball The Breakers. In the practice mode,  players can take their time by practicing their character’s actions, skills, evasion tactics when being attacked by a Raider, and even Dragon Change without worrying about winning or losing. You’re also able to gather up to 8 players to join in to the practice in game using the regular rule sets since you’re able to access the practice mode both alone and multiplayer.

Not only does the game have practice mode but also an in-game prologue which acts as a Tutorial that explains the worldview as well as the backstory of why the Survivors are caught up in this situation. Throughout the prologue, players get to hear Trunk’s voice as he’s been added into the game and will be serving as a guide through different parts of the game.

By utilising the practice mode as well as playing through the prologue, players will get to hone their skills and gameplay style as the Survivor. While my time playing through the 2nd Closed Network Test, the practice mode and prologue are only for the Survivor roles, hopefully there will be one for the Raiders when the full game comes out.

Quality of Life Improvements

In the 2nd Closed Network Test, the UI and the button arrangements for the in-game controls have been streamlined to make it cleaner as well as easily understandable which makes the gameplay a lot more accessible for the players.

Here are some of the examples of the changes that were made between the 1st and 2nd closed network test that we could find:

UI Controls for items

The UI design for the items have been changed to make it much cleaner where instead of previously having the words to explain what each buttons do, it’s been changed into icons that shows what each button does, making the UI much cleaner without losing and important information.

Button Input for Dragon Change

The button input for Dragon Change has been made simpler where previously you had to combine both “RB” and “X” in order to activate it. While this change isn’t entirely necessary, it’s still a nice little quality of life improvement.

Display UI

The display has also been changed in the 2nd Closed Network Test in order to make the area visible from above the map.

Survivor Buffs

Playing as a Survivor now is much more enjoyable now that you wont get defeated as easily as before. One of the new additions to the Survivor is having access to “Senzu Bean” which makes reviving a lot easier now. The Senzu Bean is a battle item that lets players revive immediately after being downed. Players can also use it on themselves right before the Raider gives the finishing blow.

Another thing that is changed is that now even if the Survivors stop in the middle of reviving, the gauge’s progress will still be maintained so that reviving teammates isn’t as difficult as it was back then when the gauge kept resetting when you stop in the middle of reviving a teammate.

Another feature that was changed to give the Survivors a fairer chance is the condition to call out the Time Machine beacon, where the beacon will now appear when there are 3 or less remaining Survivors.

• 3 Survivors remaining – 1 beacon will appear
• 2 Survivors remaining – 2 beacons will appear
• 1 Survivors remaining – 3 beacons will appear

Depending on the situation, the Survivors can choose between the “Continue Searching for the Power Key” option with less teammates, making it a high risk high reward scenario or the “Escape by Time Machine” which allows the Survivors to play it safe.

Graphic Improvements

Last but not least to the list of Quality of Life improvements is the refinement to graphics in both the texture quality as well as the environments. Previously, Dragon Ball The Breakers used to look pretty barren but they’ve improved it by adding in more details to the overall environment especially in the outdoor locations such as in the mountains, water area and the housing areas. Although, smaller objects like trees still look similar but nevertheless it’s still nice to see the improvements.

Opinions

While there isn’t much to say in the 2nd Closed Network Test for Dragon Ball The Breakers, it’s still nice to see the overall improvements especially to the Survivors. In the previous Closed Network Test, it was really difficult to outrun a Raider, especially when they reach their Final Forms; so the changes made to the Revive System is such a blessing.

As for the Raiders, I personally think Frieza is generally a lot stronger than Cell is. His overall skill set along with his long range attacks makes him such an annoying threat to be in the shoes of the Survivors.

Overall, this 2nd Network Test is so much better than the 1st one and I’m really glad that Bandai Namco Entertainment had added in the fixes that the fans had addressed. But while the game is still not up on par yet compared to other asymmetrical games out there due to the lack of content so far, we just have to wait until the official launch of the game.

For fans who are interested in Dragon Ball The Breakers, do check out the game’s official website here for more information and future updates.