For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi, from Bandai Namco, on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I didn't know about this BETA until i saw DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi high up in the game charts on the App Store. so going in, i really didn't know what to expect. the screenshots they used didn't really give many clues either. all i knew was that it was an online multiplayer game that's 4 vs. 4.
Unfortunately, it starts with an extra 1 GB download so it's best to do this on Wi-fi. about halfway through the download there is the option to start the tutorial, but for this video i decided to download everything first. there is no trailer, no art, no screenshots, and no music during this process.
the tutorial for DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi is too basic. i'm not familiar with #MOBA type games, with Pokémon Unite being my main experience, so i wanted and needed more information that it gave. i found it difficult to read the map in the top left and difficult to follow the tutorial instructions on the middle left as the action takes place on the right side. there was not enough verbal instructions from Whis and Beerus, and the map is far too small to be glanceable.
A lot of things were far too small in this BETA. i do HDMI out to a TV so i can check what the Dynamic Island is covering but i ended up having to look at the TV as a lot of text was tiny, especially Japanese Katakana names, and character thumbnails were useless at times.
The action on screen is also often too small. because we get to see a lot of the map, many of the characters are small. the enemies have labels, but they're even smaller than the characters. with things like grass blocking views, at times it was hard to work out who was friend and who was foe. the Z Fighters are a little easy to spot because of the Red "uniforms" but then again Android 18 doesn't wear a uniform and is harder to spot. when there's Gods of Destruction, Enemies, Team Mates, Opposition Players, and a Zeno all on screen at the same time, it's essentially luck and chaotic.
But i'm not saying that the gameplay is bad. a lot of it makes sense and how things progress make sense in how they describe it. there is some good solid action. the next layer of flashiness also works. there's flair when going Super Saiyan and the camera zooms in close. the same happens when doing a solo finishing move or with a team mate. it adds a satisfying sense of epicenes and power to the action.
I recommend people try this beta. for Dragon Ball Z and Super fans, it'll be fun. for MOBA fans i think it'll be something simple and easy to play. but i hope that there's enough time for the developers to overhaul the tutorial, to add a main menu tutorial, and to add the option for players to zoom into the action a little more. The developers also need to work on iPhone specific aspects. the Dynamic Island got in the way a little here and there. the PC style graphic options make little sense on iPhone, more so when there's no visual example of what any of them do, and very few games get my iPhone that hot and keep it so hot that the screen remains permanently dimmed throughout the video.
Version 0.8.0 Played.
