Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is not a bad game

[Drem]

So I’m enjoying this game a lot more than I thought I would. I got it because I heard it had SSJ3 Nappa, a Gohan x Trunks fusion named Gohanks, and a Vegeta x Trunks fusion named Vegeks, but the story mode in this game is goofy as heck.

It’s about a bunch of kids who live in a world that loves the card game Super Dragon Ball Heroes. They live in Hero Town, the town that loves Super Dragon Ball Heroes the most, and want nothing more in life than to play Super Dragon Ball Heroes in the local e-sports stadium. However, and evil force has been altering the game, altering the timelines in the story and sometimes even manifesting the Draogn Ball characters in the real world. The kids cannot stand to see someone ruin the Dragon Ball canon so they team up with the Great Saiyaman 3 (the greatest Super Dragon Ball Heroes player ever) to set the plotlines right, whether in game or in the real world (but most importantly in game).

While these plot “anomalies” will be things like Vegeta and Nappa arriving to earth before Raditz and all of them going Super Saiyan 3, or Frieza teaming up with Mecha Frieza and the rest of the Frieza family (including his son Kuriza), the game uses all of these concepts to just write the goofiest jokes. The concept of the world is ridiculous and the game does not take itself, or Dragon Ball, seriously at all.

Oh, and the game itself is pretty fun too. It’s based on an 8 year old arcade based collectable card game, but while you collect cards to build your “deck” of cards (everything is acquirable through in game gacha; there are no microtransactions) it’s really more of a turned based RPG. You cards just decide what units you’re bringing into battle so there’s no active card management or deck mechanic in actual battles. You just play it like a 1v1 strategy game at that point (with lots of QTEs). I’m still learning the strategy of it because there isn’t really an analog to this game that I can bring in knowledge from, but the units in this game are more varied than they at first seemed.

Technically it should be fast paced, with matches regularly ending in two or three turns by both players, but combat animations can be long with all the special attacks and QTEs depending on your deck strategy. All that time for the “fluff” really adds up over time, especially if you’re playing tons of matches back to back. But even so, it’s been a fun game to play through solo. There’s a lot of single player content between the story mode, the arcade modes, and user created missions, and the CPU matches often are given special abilities that wouldn’t be balanced for PvP and special objectives to complete which encourages you to create new decks to counter whatever up you’re again next.

But anyway, I mostly just want to post screenshots because this stuff so ridiculous.

[Drem]

The opening of the game. Welcome to Hero Town!

In Hero Town you can find people trying to get kids into gambling

And helpful townsfolk

Eventually the town is attacked by Dragon Ball villain I don’t remember and you’re saved by the Great Saiyman 3, the strongest Super Dragon Ball Heroes player ever. He recognizes a strength and gives you the details before inviting you into his team. And everyone has their priorities in order.

You enter the game world to fix the plot anomalies in the Vegeta and Nappa arc, where the game’s writing finally comes into full effect.

The maps are a bit like Super Mario 3 overworlds, complete with moving enemy bonus levels. Outside the main story nodes you can also visit some side stories, like learning the Volleyball Fist from Tien.

Or help Chiaotzu carry groceries, which Buu promptly steals and you have to take them back.

Or helping Pan train with Buu.

Some other random bits.

[LWJoestar]

Meet Trunks’ great great great great grandson, Jorts

[Alterity]

I’ve played this for about four hours and I did not understand anything. I have no idea what affects what or why anything happens during play other than the golf swing meter. I know nothing about DBZ and it’s all so Japanese it makes my imported Ketsui Deathtiny disc look like FIFA. The announcers just go off in unsubtitled Japanese all the time and the game blatantly maintains all references to IR cards and their prescribed sliding motions that are here emulated with an analog stick, a mouse, or your thumb… somewhat dissatisfyingly.

I had a friend over who is a DBZ fanatic and he also did not understand anything but he commented on every character with a non-canon Super Saiyan state.

The game is kind of amazing.

[Drem]

I thought the tutorial did an okay job of going over they basics and I picked up the details by trying different card abilities and seeing what the CPU does. Even after playing the tutorial I wasn’t sure just how much variety there could be to the game until I played a lot more, getting new cards and mimicking the stuff the CPU did to me. So now I’ve got decks dedicated to fast Hero Energy genersrion, a deck for avoiding use of the rest zone, decks that for controlling charge impact speeds, and more. There are some tutorial videos on Namco’s YouTube channel but I don’t know that it says a lot more than the tutorial did.

Is there Anything in particular you’re having trouble understanding or is it just a general feeling about of the mechanics overall?

@Alterity

game blatantly maintains all references to IR cards

I wouldn’t have it any other way. It even still distinguishes between the “physical” cards from your deck and the “virtual” cards created from effects.

Aside from having to redesign the game a bit if they were going to recontextualize your actions as cardless, the appeal is that you’re playing an adaptation of a card game. I can’t play the real thing but I can pretend I am playing the real thing. The tactile nature of card games is a big part of the appeal and just evoking that physicality helps bridge some of that flavor over to the virtual world.

All of the QTEs except the main one, Charge Impact, are completely trivial with a mouse though. I imagine the Switch touch screen does a better job with that.

[Alterity]

The problem is that it constantly reminds you how much more fun you’d be having if you were vigorously swiping your precious rare physical card up and down the panel in the arcade instead of twiddling a stick or whatever. The Switch touchscreen also just isn’t the same and I feel like I’m damaging it when I try to max out the rub QTE for 3 capsules.

Anyway, I’ll get over it.

[la_ciel]

@Alterity

max out the rub QTE

i’m twelve years old

[la_ciel]

@Alterity

I feel like I’m damaging it

hard relate tbh

im so so sorry

[la_ciel]

ive done a lot of questionable posting on this website during my reign but this is easily my lowest moment

[Alterity]

It had crossed my mind to use the phrase “masturbating my Switch” but I felt I hadn’t earned it