E3 2018 – Bandai Namco Impressions

Out of all of the publishers, we played the most from Bandai Namco. Not all of them will be coming to Switch (which will be noted), but if you’re a fan of anime or fighting games, here’s what you can look forward to.

Soul Calibur VI

(coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC)

SoulCalibur has always been my go to 3D fighter, but it’s the sort of series I am more “For Fun” then “For Glory” with. I love the way the games play and the way they look, but my fondest memories revolve around drinking beer and passing a dreamcast controller and not around intense arcade showdowns or tournament money matches. That being said, I was very excited to see what the newest installment in the franchise held.

The series lost me a bit with part 4, but my time with SoulCalibur 6 has immediately pulled me back in, perhaps because it is returning to the series roots. The game is, oddly enough, set between SoulCalibur and SoulCalibur 2. The game feels fast, fluid, and controls more smoothly then I remember in any of the previous SoulCalibur games… yet it still feels very familiar. I picked Nightmare and my muscle memory was able to string together a few simple but satisfying combos, and I sincerely can not wait to put more time into this game. -Spazzy

My Hero One’s Justice

Over the last few years newer anime have received console games in the West, from on Attack on Titan to Little Witch Academia, and newly announced Kill La Kill. Now, My Hero Academia has joined that list with it’s own fighting game in line with the show.

It’s quite similar to the Naruto fighting games. It’s a 3D arena fighter with 2 supports, standard, ranged, and special attacks. The environment can be damaged, and in some cases can change the layout of the level. I found though that standard attacks (not even for heavy characters) take a little too long to execute. Despite that it looks and feels like it should move quickly, it requires you to be more deliberate with your attacks than one might expect. -Mango

Code Vein

(coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC)

I have not played any of the Souls series of games, but I can see the appeal of them and I think Code Vein will scratch the same itch with players. The small portion of the game that I played involved a decent challenge, especially when fighting a boss, and the combat system (consisting of magic attacks, parrys, rolls, etc) gave me the proper abilities to fight my way through the tough enemies. Well, mostly though… the enemy AI did have a tendency to walk off the sides of cliffs from time to time. Two things that help differentiate this title are the heavy anime influence in design and the Ai partner characters that accompany you on your quest. This isn’t normally the sort of game I play, but fans of the genre should probably keep their eyes on this one. -Spazzy

Jump Force

(coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC)

In contrast, if the last game could be summarized as more of a Naruto game, than Jump Force is more like a Dragon Ball game. It also takes place in a 3D arena but you can play as your other two choices, rather than calling on them as assists. Instead of being tied solely to one property, Jump Force delves into the catalog of Shonen Jump properties including Dragon Ball, Naruto, and One Piece. All of which are confirmed for the game. Cinematic attacks are also here in full fashion. After a certain combo, a cutscene will trigger where you and your opponent move to a different part of the map. Either by punching or throwing them really far.

What’s interesting about this game in particular is that it takes place on Earth. Which is why an elastic Luffy is fighting super alien Frieza in what looks like New York City’s Time Square. You’ve probably seen Namek and Hidden Leaf Village dozens of times across their respective games, so it’s nice to see a drastic change in the settings.

I’m not all too familiar with Naruto and Dragon Ball fighting games, but if felt fast and responsive and used a lot of nice particle effects for energy attacks. If you’re a Western fan of these IP, this is perfect for you as Shonen Jump crossover games are quite new to the West. -Mango

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a great fighting game. It is also a wonderful display of fan service for fans of Dragon Ball. This should come to the surprise of no one as the game has been out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One since January of this year. So, what’s left to talk about with a Switch port? Well, I will say this: the game looked amazing. Now, I am not someone that is super sensitive to changes in tech specs…. But I didn’t see any major differences graphical concessions. The Pro Controller also worked great with the title. -Spazzy

There’s no need to summon Shenron, Bandai Namco has heard your wishes loud and clear, and is bringing Dragon Ball FighterZ over to Switch.

For starters, it looks beautiful. There hasn’t been a Dragon Ball game that has looked this close to the anime before. It even has series artist, Akira Toriyama supervise the design of a new character, Android 21. While it’s technically in 3D, they way they used cel-shading makes it almost look hand-drawn. The colors are vibrant, the effects are flashy, and it runs at 60fps so battles look as fast and smooth as they feel.

Battles are a 3-on-3 tag team match where you can swap between any of your chosen fighters, or call o them for a quick support move. The basics are simple enough to grasp, and even though I’m not a fan of traditional fighting game mechanics, I was still able to pull off combos and have fun doing it. The Switch version also gets an exclusive feature for simplified controls when playing with the joycons. Out of all of the Bandai Namco fighting games, I found this the most fun. -Mango