With Dragon Ball FighterZ launching today in North America and Europe Bandai Namco has released a launch trailer for the game as well as screenshots and a video focusing on the brand new character, Android 21 who undergoes something of a surprising change when she becomes a playable character.
As described by the company, Android 21 is an important character in the game’s story mode and is mysterious scientist known for having the same knowledge as the Androids creator Dr. Gero. Connected with Android 16 her background is quite vague. When entering combat she undergoes a drastic transformation and is capable of draining an opponent’s energy and copying some of their attacks. You can check out the videos below and be ready to pick up the game for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC today.
Launch Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGSuuJoL6RM
Android 21 Combat Trailer
When we last left Bruce he and the Pact had just managed to pull off a heist with the reward surprisingly being the Riddler’s body in a frozen container. To make things even more shocking, Catwoman also dropped in on the group to reveal that she has ties to the Pact as well. This episode begins immediately after both of these reveals with Catwoman revealing that she is helping the Pact develop special goggles that will help the criminal gang continue Riddler’s plan despite his untimely demise.
In fact, much of what makes Fractured Mask interesting isn’t the slow advancement of the plot as we learn the location and objective of the heist but Bruce’s interactions with all of those around him. Not only are we given a brief showing of Detective Bullock for fans of the series, we are also given chances to interact with Tiffany, deal with Gordon as both Batman and Bruce, and continue to try to see just how far John is willing to go for his “best friend” Bruce. In many of these regards we see these relationships developing in a fashion that players finally want to see, with Tiffany being the most obvious but also the most welcoming interaction should players take that route.
One thing that also really stands out this episode is how varied certain events can be depending on the choices you make. Whether you choose to trust Catwoman or John and select various other dialogue choices throughout the story can add or remove complete parts of an episode, leaving players a real chance to see just how different things can play out from one another depending on what they chose.
The voice work for the cast of characters remains strong with all of the voice actors handling their roles well enough, though John really continues to stand out as his personality continues to shift ever closer to who fans know he may become.
When we last saw Jesse and the gang they had just managed to escape from the blighted realm that was left behind by Romeo when he went crazy with his new Admin powers. No matter who you managed to bring with you through the portal back to Jesse’s normal world, the group navigates secret tunnels in an effort to return to the newly reformed Beacontown only to witness the drastic changes that it has undergone since the Admin took over while posing as Jesse.
One thing that the writers of Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 should be complimented for in this episode is constructing an incredibly satisfying final boss fight. Thanks to the Admin’s abilities players are brought to a number of different locations during the fight while also changing up their strategy every time the Admin assumes a form he previously took to either trick or mock Jesse and the group. It is worth noting that the majority of the choices you make this episode only play a smaller role, players are once again given a heavy decision to make that will change the finale depending on what you select.
Through this finale players once again see a number of returning characters who have retained the voice actors they’ve been given since the start of the season while the soundtrack features a number of fitting tracks for the sequences that play out this episode.
After managing to escape from the Admin’s “Sunshine Institute” where all enemies or people he loses interest in end up being sequestered away, Jesse and the gang, now accompanied by the former friend of the Admin, Xara, and the rest of the group that was once separated from them. Unfortunately for them, the way back home isn’t as simple as simply escaping as they have now stumbled upon a forgotten realm that the Admin once called home before moving on to better things and leaving the world to fall into disarray.
Not only does the core storyline gain some satisfying development and forward progression but the characters also see a nice amount of interaction as well. Petra and Radar continue to develop throughout this episode with Petra continuing to struggle with her place in the world and how Jesse will end up fitting into things once the Admin has been defeated and Radar trying to prove that he is capable of handling himself and taking the lead if need be. In fact, even a familiar face makes a reappearance that is handled as something of a short but fun cameo.
Back to those action scenes though, we have the exciting feeling battle against a large fire spewing opponent that requires the player to not only dodge incoming flames but oversized attacks while trying to lure the creature onto switches that will lead to its defeat. This combination of puzzle and boss fight makes for a satisfying combination in a game like this. As for the other battle against the hoard, players will need to keep Jesse on a swivel to avoid being swarmed by opponents, though this also may lead to a glitch as well. In my time with this battle I saw two instances where, no matter how long the fight lasted, the enemies continued to arrive even when the battlefield had been cleared, leading to a death being the only way to restart.
The voice work through this episode continues to impress as the actors handle their roles in fitting fashion and the soundtrack is also on par with what players have come to expect from the series.
When we last left our heroes Jesse and the rest of the gang were in an incredibly bad way. Not only was it revealed that the Admin had infiltrated their ranks, meaning that Jack’s friend had indeed died, but thanks to Jesse’s actions the group has fallen out of favor with the Admin. Choosing a new “champion” depending on who the player chose to act on their own in the previous episode, Jesse and the rest of the group are sent to a prison where all those who disappoint the admin are sent to suffer.
For the most part Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 wants to try and tell an intriguing storyline and give players insight into what makes the Admin the way he is, but it ends up falling flat in this regard. This is primarily due to the fact that, while varied in the different steps that players have to advance to make their way through the prison and try to escape, the majority of this episode feels like nothing more than padding. The majority of the prisoners that are introduced seem interesting on the surface but are little more than one-off appearances as players quickly are moved from one layer of the prison to another.
A few things make up for the lackluster nature of this episode, one being aforementioned choice, and another happens to be just how interesting Jesse can be when dealing with authority. Players can choose to try and stay in line while talking with the various authority figures in the prison and dealing with the Admin or you can completely buck authority if you so choose. It also helps that players do end up learning some of the history of the Admin and continue to see him devolve from being an all-powerful being to something more comparable to a petulant child.
These combat sequences really take things up a notch as not only are these fights quite interesting to watch unfold, they are varied enough to keep things fun. There is even an auto-running combat sequence against a giant boss that really raise the tension of Jesse’s escape efforts.
Accompanying this episode are a number of new pieces of background music that sound great for the theme of this episode and work really well for the combat sequences while the voice cast continues to be as impressive as ever when it comes to handling their roles.
