Video Game / Dragon Ball: The Breakers

Survive to live! Evolve to triumph!

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is an Asymmetric Multiplayer action game based on the venerated Dragon Ball series of manga and anime. It was released on PC (via Steam), Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on October 14, 2022.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers features eight players thrust into a "Temporal Seam", a dimension where time and space all converge together. One player takes on the role of the "Raider", one of the Dragon Ball series's iconic villains, such as Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu. The other seven players take on the roles of "Survivors", ordinary people with no special powers of their own who must fight to survive.

The Survivors' goal is to escape from the Temporal Seam by activating the Super Time Machine, which will repair the Temporal Seam and bring the Survivors back home. Activating the Super Time Machine requires the Survivors to protect its startup system, located in a central area in the seam, from the Raider. It takes time for the startup system to activate, but the process can be accelerated by setting up power keys hidden in the Temporal Seam, as well as manually starting up the system. In the event of the startup system's destruction, not all hope is lost: an emergency time machine can be summoned, giving the Survivors one last attempt to escape — either by themselves, or with other Survivors. Only one emergency time machine can be called in, and if it's destroyed, it's Game Over for the Survivors.

The Raider's objective, meanwhile, is to ensure the Survivors do not escape, either by destroying the Super Time Machine's startup system and the Emergency Time Machine, or killing them with their own hands, with a higher score awarded for more Survivors taken out before the end of the game. Over the course of the game, Raiders will gain more power and become more dangerous, incentivizing Survivors to try and escape as quickly as they can. With each new level of power a Raider attains, they gain the ability to wipe a part of the map out completely, potentially destroying uninstalled power keys and hampering the Survivors' escape in addition to restricting their movements.

The Survivors are not completely helpless, however: while lacking the ability to fly or fight like Earth's heroes, they have a variety of abilities and tools at their disposal to evade and hamper the Raider, including bazookas, Saiyan Pods for moving quickly throughout the battlefield, and disguise kits to look like environmental objects. Another such tool is the "Transphere", a device that allows the Survivors to temporarily take on the appearance and abilities of a Z-Warrior via "Dragon Change". With this, the Survivors can fight back against the Raider for a short period of time, or potentially escape using the ability to fly. Survivors can equip up to three Transpheres in order of ascending power, with more powerful transformations requiring more "Change Energy" to collect first.

Dragon Balls also appear, and can be a potential game changer. If the Survivors manage to collect all of the Dragon Balls and summon Shenron at the Dragon Altar, they can wish for a power boost to all of their allies, or an ultimate transformation that can let them fight the Raider on equal footing! If the Raider manages to summon Shenron, however, they can wish for an immediate increase in power, total HP recovery, or if you're playing as Frieza, immunity to all damage.

Announcement Trailer, Game System Trailer, Frieza/Release Date Trailer, Majin Buu and Farmer Trailer, Vegeta Trailer, Ginyu Force Trailer, Broly TrailerZamasu & Goku Black Trailer

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Tropes:

• Action Survivor: The Survivors have no special powers (barring Oolong's shapeshifting abilities), no martial arts knowledge, and no ability to fly unassisted. While they can use Dragon Change to borrow the abilities of Z-Warriors, this is a temporary measure at best.
• Adaptational Villainy: Super Broly, even at his worst, wouldn't go out of his way to kill helpless civilians personally, but the game's mechanics still encourage the Raider to do so, albeit with less power gained overall than with other Raiders.
• Adaptational Wimp: A strange case with Captain Ginyu. When Ginyu uses his Body Change technique, he punches a hole in his chest beforehand. In the original, this only left Goku heavily injured after the swap, but still able to get himself back up and eventually reconvene with the others, while here, the Survivor Ginyu swaps with is considered dead.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different:
  • Inverted with Majin Buu; his second, third and final forms are Fat Buu, Super Buu and Kid Buu respectively, but his first "form" is Spopovich and Yamu, who must scour the map to gather the energy necessary to unseal Buu.
  • Great Ape Vegeta, the new Raider introduced in Season 2, is actually three characters in one; the first "form" is a standard Saibaman, with form 2 being Nappa, before Vegeta himself takes over for form 3 (his Saiyan Saga appearance) and 4 (the Great Ape).
  • The Ginyu Force completely break the mold of how a Raider is implemented by not only being the first Raider to have no transformations while increasing their Raider level, but regardless of how well they fare, their level 4 form is guaranteed. Not only that but all previous level forms acts as buffs for Captain Ginyu should they survive until the next level.
• Ascended Meme: The Farmer from the Saiyan Saga of Z is a playable character, and his rifle replaces the standard survivor's energy pistol.
• Assist Character:
  • Frieza can call upon Zarbon and Dodoria to attack his enemies.
  • Spopovich can summon Yamu to help gather energy.
  • Nappa can use a Saibaman to assist him in battle.
  • Vegeta can either use a Saibaman to assist him or Nappa should he not be downed by a Survior.
  • The Ginyu Force has Guldo, Reccome, Burter, and Jeice act as assist characters for Captain Ginyu depending on if they survived though each phase of their level ups. In addition, unlike the other 4 members of the force, Burter is an exclusive assist character that Jeice can use during level 3 to help track down or fight Survivors.
  • King Kai provides the "Get Out Of Here, Bubbles!" skill to Survivors, allowing them to send Bubbles out to grab the Raider's face to blind them.
  • Goku Black has Zamasu as an assist at their second form. Unlike the Ginyu force or Nappa being defeated prior doesn't remove him.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Broly's playstyle is best encouraged to be played as aggressively a possible due to the fact he has no way to track survivors, and doesn't get as much evolution energy from killing civilians as much as he does fighting survivors and knocking them down. This, coupled with his relatively lower health for a level 2 raider, means that a good Broly is going to spend their time as active as possible.
• Aura Vision:
  • Cell, Zamasu/Goku Black and Super/Kid Buu have the skill "Ki Detection", which allows them to see the ki of survivors and civilians, letting him chase them down more easily.
  • Scouters are available both as a standard skill for Frieza, Vegeta, The Ginyu Force, and an item for survivors, letting them detect other survivors and civilians as well, but their location doesn't linger. Nappa and Vegeta also have Scouters in season 2 that function the same way.
• Asymmetric Multiplayer: Seven Survivors with only their wits and whatever tools and skills they can bring in and find on the field, versus one Raider taking on the role of a Dragon Ball villain.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Vegeta becomes a giant if he's able to activate his transformation ability and becomes gigantic Great Ape, that towers over the Survivors.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Chi-Chi gives this vibe off more than the other skins, coming from near the end of OG Dragon Ball before she settled down as a housewife. In addition to using martial arts in lieu of a gun, in addition to having visible muscles on her forearms, her dodge rolls are also more practiced than the somewhat awkward ones employed by other Survivors.
• Barrier Warrior:
  • Chi-Chi comes with The Flames of Mount Frypan special ability, which creates a wall of fire that acts as a barrier and needs a few hits from the Raider to be knocked down, ideally giving her enough time to flee or hide.
  • Android 17's transphere "Energy Barrier" makes an incredibly sturdy barrier that protects the Survivor from all damage for a few seconds, saving them in the most dire of times.
• Bittersweet Ending: If the startup system is destroyed and the Survivors cannot beat the Raider, they are forced to escape with the Emergency Time Machine. While the Survivors who take it manage to escape, the game is still deemed as a Raider victory, and the Raider is left to do as they please, as opposed to all the damage being undone and the Raider removed should the Super Time Machine activate.
• Blow You Away: Another specialty of Chi-Chi. Rather than using the gun like the other Survivors, her basic attack is to punch the air and send out a gust of wind that functions identically to the Survivor pistol and Farmer's shotgun. She also has the Bansho Fan as one of her abilities, that is capable of knocking the Raider back a good distance.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • Broly stands out from previous Raiders as the first Raider to start at level 2, lack any methods of tracking Survivors, the Dragon Balls are not present when he is the selected Raider, and has two skills that can be used while damaged.
  • Fused Zamasu marks the first time that a level 4 evolution has less health than their level 2 and 3 evolutions. It also marks the first time a raider technically has 4 transformations, as Fused Zamasu will corrupt himself and change his moveset significantly upon reaching a quarter health.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: It's a very bad idea to attack a Raider without a Dragon Change as it causes the survivor to get hit and lose their shield, or down them if they don't have one. However, it can buy a few seconds to protect the Super Time Machine, or let it finish, until help arrives.
• Call-Back: To Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2: Conton City can be seen in the background in the hub area.
• Cast from Hit Points: A transformed Survivor's Super Attacks significantly drain their energy, reducing the time they can spend in a Dragon Change form. This even applies to Ultimate Transformations after Season 5, but with a massively reduced cost.
• Combat Resuscitation: When a Survivor is KO'd, they can be revived by other Survivors within a limited window of time. Revivals take several moments, but Senzu Beans can be given to a downed Survivor to get them back on their feet immediately, or eaten by the downed Survivor if they are holding any. After being revived once, however, the Survivor can be permanently eliminated by the Raider if they get KO'd again.
• Composite Character: Raider Vegeta is specifically modeled after his tenure as the villain of the Saiyan Saga, as his first two levels are sending out a Saibaman and Nappa to hunt down Survivors and his last level is turning into a Great Ape, but his second finishing blow animation in level 3 is his Dirty Fireworks technique, an ability he first demonstrated in the Namek Saga.
• Continuity Nod: Unlike the other Raiders who don't notice anything wrong, Goku Black and Zamasu react to the time displacement and realize that they're not where they're supposed to be. This references that they're both familiar with time travel in canon, as well as referencing Xenoverse, where Zamasu figures out what the Time Patrollers are doing and threatens to go after them next.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: As opposed to the CaCs from games like Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball: Fusions who are and can become powerful fighters in their own ways, the Survivors are mostly ordinary civilians with no combat training and utilize whatever they can to escape the antagonists pursuing them.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: Naturally, as a Dragon Ball villain, your sole purpose as a Raider is to wreak havoc in the Temporal Seam, killing civilians and Survivors to become stronger, and destroying areas when given the opportunity. Twisting the knife involves destroying the Super Time Machine, then preventing the remaining Survivors from escaping.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to prior games, where bad futures may have been shown but were generally averted to create a better outcome, this game is entirely hinged on the idea that you're not a Z-Fighter, but on-par with the ordinary civilians that die by the truckloads in canon. Failure to escape or defeat the Raider spells explicit death, and while obviously the game has Bloodless Carnage, it still has scenes of the Raiders murdering the Survivors, civillians (and in Frieza's case, literal children) in some of the darkest content in all of the games altogether.
• Demoted to Extra: In an odd way. While Raiders are usually represented by their final, usually most iconic forms outside of proper matches, given they're their final forms you're most likely to achieve them towards the end of a long game, meaning you'll be spending more time as their second or third forms.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: It is possible to actually defeat the Raider in battle using Dragon Change, but it's an uphill battle against an overwhelmingly powerful foe that will require a lot of skill and cooperation between the Survivors.
• Dirty Coward:
  • The survivors can be this, as there is no punishment, and at times even encouragement for the survivors to look out for themselves first and foremost. Leaving your allies to die just to get a chance to survive is far from an uncommon playstyle.
  • Should Goku Black and Zamasu be overpowered, Future Zamasu won't die, but simply teleport out of the way and leave his counterpart to die.
• Discard and Draw: As some raiders get new abilities upon leveling up, they can also discard some abilities as well:
  • Cell's larval form increases evolution energy automatically to help him evolve as quick as possible, this is lost once he reaches level 2 as he gains offensive and evasive capabilities as well as ways to track down Survivors and civilians.
  • Frieza starts off with a scouter to help him look for civilians and survivors alike, this is lost in favor of more powerful attacks.
  • Majin Buu loses the capabilities of Spopovich and Yamu after emerging for his own unique, albeit still weak, moveset.
  • Losing the Saibaman, Nappa, Guldo, Recoome, Jeice or Burter denies Vegeta and Ginyu to access their abilities and passives while still having a respectable moveset of their own.
• The Dividual:
  • Raider Vegeta, who is zigzagged as one of these to a certain extent with Nappa, the point where both of them appear on the Raider loading screen rather than Great Ape Vegeta. He can also use Nappa as an assist character, provided Nappa survives.
  • The Ginyu Force is this, as they even buff the next stage of their evolution up, with bonus passives provided they fill their gage up.
  • Zamasu & Goku Black play this completely straight. They act as a double Raider that work together in level 2 onwards until eventually they fuse into one being.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Trunks and the other Z-Fighters aren't around to help you and other Survivors in your group. If you manage to get a Transphere, then their borrowed power can give you a fighting chance against the Raiders.
• Evolution Power-Up: The Raider has the passive ability to change their forms as they kill survivors and civilians, getting stronger as the game goes on. For instance, Cell begins in his larval form, before achieving his Imperfect form, then going on to Semi-Perfect and Perfect. On the other hand, the Survivors' Change Power allows them to assort three different heroes to three different tiers, and as they gather more Change Energy, they start using their more powerful Changes.
• Finishing Move: Raiders have the option to "Finish Off" downed Survivors. Finishing off Survivors gives the Raider the power needed to evolve into stronger forms, and Survivors are eliminated if they get finished off twice.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Pretty much everyone in the setting is this, being trapped inside a Temporal Seam where the past, present, and future are said to have become intertwined. A few notable examples are Bulma and Oolong who appear to hail from the early Dragon Ball era and the farmer from the Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z.
• From Bad to Worse: Majin Buu will absorb every survivor on the map upon getting enough change power to level up. Inside of Super Buu, the survivors will come face to face with a smaller Super Buu in an enclosed space that's hard to run around in. Here, if the survivors don't have the strength necessary to defeat Super Buu, they can find and free Fat Buu, which lets the surviving players free, but transforms Super Buu into his final form, Kid Buu.
• Fusion Dance: Just like in canon, Zamasu and Goku Black will use their earrings to fuse into Fused/Merged Zamasu for their level 4 form.
• Gaiden Game: The Breakers takes place in the same setting as Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, with Time Patrol Trunks featured as a supporting story character, crates with the Time Patrol's emblem scattered about the map, and the hub area situated in a small area in Conton City.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Both the survivors and raiders have aspects to them that are heavily influenced if not heavily influenced by their capabilities in the show.
  • On the raider's side, the best example might be Cell, who excels at tracking and hunting survivors and civilians alike, but in early stages 1& 2, struggles the moment more than one survivor (or a decently leveled one) fight back, at which point he can rely on stunning or evading them, reflecting his Dirty Coward and Serial Killer tropes. And like wise, once he turns Semi-Perfect and Perfect, he becomes a far more aggressive opponent that's very difficult to take on in a straight fight while keeping his earlier evasive and hunting capabilities, reflecting his Took a Level in Badass and his All Your Powers Combined tropes.
  • Super Broly gains the least amount of power from killing civilians than every other raider, reflecting the fact that he's not really evil and doesn't want to hurt innocents. Against the survivors, however, he gains a lot more power, because they're the ones he was ordered to fight like how Paragus ordered him to fight Goku and Vegeta in canon.
  • What exactly happens when a Raider's HP hits 0 accurately reflects which character was just defeated when it comes to whether it actually kills them or triggers an automatic evolution.
    • Cell, Broly and Frieza's evolutions are different forms of the same character, so killing them prevents them from getting any stronger and the Survivors win.
    • If Spopovich is defeated, Buu has no way to be released. Buu himself follows similar logic to Cell and Frieza. Either way, the Survivors win.
    • The Saibamen, Nappa, and the Ginyu Force can be killed, but they have allies who can take over the fight, resulting in an auto-evolution. They can only act as Assist Characters if they survive long enough to evolve normally. Vegeta and Captain Ginyu don't have anyone to back them up, which makes their defeat a Survivor victory.
    • Similarly, Goku Black can take over the fight for Zamasu if the latter is defeated, which makes defeating Zamasu an auto-evolution. Unlike the previous assists, Zamasu is an Immortal Physical God who can't be defeated by brute force, which means that taking him down will delay, not prevent, his ability to support his counterpart. Goku Black and Fused Zamasu are not immortal, and can be killed normally for a Survivor victory.
  • The easiest reflection of this on the survivor's side might be Oolong, whose shapeshifting abilities cannot be used to hurt the raider, but can shapeshift into something much faster than himself or disguise himself- both of which he had done in the show.
  • Instead of using a gun, Chi-Chi destroys breakable objects with her bare hands. Also, both of her skills involve directly waylaying the raiders instead of stunning them and running. This reflects that while she's no match for the raiders in power, she does have a martial arts background compared to survivors like Cheelai and Bulma, and can use that to her advantage.
  • When the chosen raider is Broly, there are no dragon balls available on the map, it is because Frieza has already obtained all seven and is merely watching Broly's rampage before attempting to make any wish.
  • Similarly, the dragon balls don't spawn for Goku Black and Zamasu either. That's because the two of them destroyed the super dragon balls in their own timeline, and the earth dragon balls are still inoperable in Trunk's timeline where they were fought in canon.
  • Saibamen and Larva Cell cannot gain access to radars and other items raiders normally can due to lacking the mental and physical capabilities to do so respectively.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: For balance reasons, there's a few aspects of raiders that don't get adapted into the game such as their regeneration. While Cell and Buu gain health back from their absorption of civilians and survivors, Cell is supposed to be able to heal back from grievous wounds, while it's explicitly said that anything but a single overpowering attack or a constant barrage of attacks without breaks would be useless against Buu. Obviously, this would make them full-on invincible villains, so their ability to heal their wounds is pretty muted.
• Gathering Steam: All raiders except Vegeta and Buu gain evolution energy, but one of the most dangerous raiders to ever be allowed to get going in the Ginyu Force as their passive teamwork more than make up for their low health in comparison to the other villains. For the record, not taking out Guldo or Recoome before they get all their evolution energy means that they not only have Guldo hunting on the map for Survivors, but Recoome will intercept the occasional blow and join his other team members in doing more damage to the survivors as well.
• Gotta Rescue Them All: Survivors can rescue civilians trapped in the Temporal Seam by warping them out. Doing so rewards the Survivor with Change Energy and possibly other goodies. Conversely, Raiders can kill civilians to gain more power for their Evolution Gauge.
• Gory Discretion Shot: Several examples.
  • When playing as Frieza, his finishing shots are typically left to the imagination, focusing on his face and not the victims. This is horribly averted if you are a survivor who happens to be dead next to Frieza. You can and will see him shoot Namekian children in the head in full detail.
  • A match that ends in a Raider victory (except for the Ginyu Force) will have the Raider charge up a finishing blast to destroy the whole planet. But the game cuts to the victory screen before the attack actually lands.
  • The Raider killing civilians shows a close-up of the Raider attacking them and the civilian letting out a scream. But the blow itself is off-screen. Averted if a Survivor is close enough to the scene, where the action is completely seen in full.
• Guns Are Worthless: Subverted. A bazooka is an item in the game that Survivors can use, but it does Scratch Damage to Raiders, so at first glance, it seems useless. But it has a utility purpose — it will interrupt the Raider when they're in the midst of certain actions, such as finishing off another Survivor or destroying the Super Time Machine console. Survivors also have a laser pistol, but its only function is destroying small environmental objects to find items: it is completely useless against Raiders.
• Hailfire Peaks: The battlegrounds in the Temporal Seam are a hodgepodge of differing biomes from various regions, and sometimes even different worlds. The Green Coast map, for example, has Namekian plains and oceans juxtaposed with frigid tundras and ruins of an Earth city.
• I Never Told You My Name: Bulma remarks as much to Trunks during the Prologue, with him frantically brushing it off, not wanting to explain just how he knows her.
• Immortality Inducer: Enforced to only Frieza as, just like his Z storyline, he is seeking the Dragon Balls to become immortal. Summoning Shenron for this specific wish will grant him unlimited health, making him impervious to all damage for the remainder of the match.
• Instant-Win Condition: The Raider wins automatically if they can destroy both the Super Time Machine's startup system and the Emergency Time Machine (although they are incentivized to hunt down Survivors before then with more points for each Survivor slain). Survivors, meanwhile, automatically win if they can protect the Super Time Machine's startup system long enough for it to activate. Alternatively, you can defeat the Raider and end the match, but good luck trying that without everyone having transpheres and a great amount of coordination on-hand.
• Interface Screw: The Survivor skill "Get Out Of Here, Bubbles!" will have Bubbles stick onto the Raider's face, blocking most of their view and preventing them from locking on to Survivors.
• It Only Works Once: A variation: An Emergency Time Machine can be summoned in the event of the Super Time Machine's startup system being destroyed. There can only be one Emergency Time Machine called in during a match, however, and if it's destroyed, you won't be able to call in another one, spelling doom for the Survivors. If it manages to escape, conversely, only those riding it will be saved: everyone else is condemned to die. However, any Survivors who missed the first Time Machine can find another beacon and summon it again.
• Karmic Death: If Zamasu is defeated, Goku Black will mock him for disgracing himself before taking over, at which point Zamasu leaves in a huff. In return, Zamasu will abandon a defeated Black to be vaporized by the survivors.
• Magikarp Power: The Raiders start off being only mildly dangerous, but their lethality increases over time.
  • Cell starts off in his Larval form, only capable of running, jumping, and tackling. His skillset only opens up once he reaches his first form where he gains ki sensing, after-image and solar flare. But his offensive moves are still rather straightforward until he evolves yet again..
  • Frieza starts off in his first form, flying in his hoverpod and having only a slow ki attack until he attains his second form that boasts an ability to escape being attacked and a faster moveset.
  • Majin Buu starts the game in his cocoon, with the player controlling the comparatively weak human fighter Spopovich as they harvest energy to feed to Buu. Turning into Majin Buu means they lack the ability to sense others or having a convenient escape option. Turning into Super Buu is an overall better boost for searching, defensive, and offensive options, and Kid Buu ups that strong power by giving him attacks with significantly larger range
  • Vegeta starts off with you playing as a weaker Saibaman that is unable to fly and has weak attack range, before progressing onto Nappa for the second phase, who is comparatively a bit easier to kill than other Raiders at level 2. Get to Vegeta however, and you're dealing with a raider with significant combat ability to deal with survivors that flee or fight..
  • The Ginyu Force starts off with Guldo, whose only real talent is his time freeze, being rather poor elsewhere. Then is Recoome, who has a lot of damage but not much in terms of maneuverability. After him is Jeice and Burter, who have the first Assist Character move to hunt down anybody left. Finishing the team off is Captain Ginyu, who has incredible speed and an instant-kill move in the form of Body Change. However, this is taken further if you actually level up via the usual means, as the other Ginyus will assist on their own, with Captain Ginyu being able to summon them manually.
  • Broly starts in his normal “Rage” form who is aggressive but lacks in maneuverability and defensive options, then goes Super Saiyan who gains range and the ability to defend himself but can still be overwhelmed, and then accesses his full power form and gains the offensive options to basically be a Master of All.
  • The duo Raider of Goku Black and Zamasu starts off with Future Zamasu, who is immortal but untrained, before switching to Goku Black, who's more combat-capable but rather slow. Level 3 has Goku Black transform into Super Saiyan Rose, which gets a speed boost and better attacks. Fused Zamasu has a much larger range of attacks and can rain down destruction from on high. He also has less health than Goku Black, but multiple ways to shield himself from attacks.
• Make My Monster Grow: Raider Vegeta’s fourth and final form is his Great Ape transformation.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
  • Majin Buu. His first form is controlling Spopovich and Yamu to gather energy, and they have to manually make their return to Buu's prison to unseal him upon getting enough energy to free him. He also has a very unique fourth form; instead of transforming into Kid Buu right away, Super Buu swallows all of the survivors, forcing them to either contend with Super Buu in a small, cramped area that favors him or free Fat Buu, which then releases them and turns Super Buu into Kid Buu.
  • Great Ape Vegeta also functions much more differently than the original three Raiders. The Saibaman needs to kill only one Survivor via self-destruct, complete with the Yamcha Pose, to bring out Nappa, OR if it's defeated in combat by the Survivors. If the Saibaman is able to self-destruct, Nappa will gain it as an Assist Character, but if it's defeated in combat, he will not. Nappa in turn can fight Survivors and Civilians for evolution energy, but also gains energy from landing blows on Survivors, encouraging him to actively seek out opponents. If Nappa can earn enough energy to bring out Vegeta, then Vegeta will be able to call on him in turn as an Assist Character much like the Saibaman can be, with the same caveat that defeating Nappa in battle will cost Vegeta this ability (with Vegeta being the one to take out Nappa the same way that happens in the Saiyan Saga). Finally, Vegeta cannot gain evolution energy from Survivors or Civilians and must instead wait for his Great Ape ability to charge, which normally takes 540 seconds, but can be lowered by dealing damage and by being leveled up, to a minimum of 220 seconds. Once the ability is charged, he can activate and change into his final, monstrous form. This makes fighting the Saibaman or Nappa a double-edged sword as while it will only serve to bring out a more powerful combatant, you can also hobble them slightly by depriving them of one of their abilities if you do.
  • The Ginyu Force takes the formula of the last two Raiders and runs with it. Each form is a separate character, and dying will skip to the next, while gathering the energy needed will allow you to summon them as Assist Characters for the rest of the match. With Captain Ginyu, he can use Body Change to switch his body with a Dragon Changed Survivor's, keeping him in said change for the rest of the game while being able to summon his surviving teammates.
  • Broly continues the trend of Raiders mixing things up, starting from the moment he enters a match. Broly has no level 1 form, he immediately hits the ground at level 2, and Frieza steals the Dragon Balls in the intro cutscene, everyone unable to capture them. Instead, the survivors can find Super Transpheres around the map that allow them to access Ultimate transformations of Goku, Vegeta, and Gogeta. Finally, to make up for Broly not getting an Area Destruction from leveling up to level 2, his level 4 Full Power Super Saiyan form gets access to two extremely fast Area Destructions that allow him to rapidly wipe out the map.
  • Goku Black and Zamasu function quite differently from previous ally-based Raiders. Unlike the Ginyu Force and Nappa, defeating Zamasu doesn't prevent him from allying with Black to scout out the area since he's immortal, it just delays him for a while. Also, Black can instantly teleport to Zamasu's location whenever the latter sees a civilian, something that Ginyu can't do. Zamasu also helps Black during Area Destruction and can teleport to his aid when the Super Time Machine is summoned. So it does feel like they're two Raiders in one instead of a main Raider and an assistant. In addition, they technically have five evolutions as Fused Zamasu can end up Half-Corrupted although the game treats this form as a Level 4 Raider in practice.
  • From the Survivor side, Fortuneteller Baba. Her crystal ball has her exchange her jump and sprint for the ability to levitate as high as she wishes.
• Mission Control: Time Patrol Trunks serves as this for the Survivors, letting them know when someone has found a Power Key or when another Survivor has been downed.
• Mythology Gag: This game is loaded with references taken throughout the entire franchise. Survivors can ride in on a pillar like Tao Pai Pai or enter via Instant Transmission, they can wear Potara Earrings, and much more.
• Nigh-Invulnerable:
  • If Frieza summons Shenron, he has the additional option of wishing for immortality. If this is selected, Frieza becomes immune to all damage for the duration of the round, though he's still capable of being knocked back.
  • Downplayed with Future Zamasu. He cannot die due to his complete immortality, but he can be defeated, only to come back not long after.
• Non-Lethal K.O.:
  • If Captain Ginyu is defeated after stealing another survivor's body, his defeat cutscene will have him attempt to steal the body of the survivor that landed the final blow, only to have the survivor throw a frog in the path of his change beam, trapping him in the frog's body but leaving him alive like his canon defeat. Still counts as a survivor victory though.
  • If Zamasu is defeated, he won't die since he's immortal. Instead, Goku Black will mock him for disgracing himself, and he'll take some time to recover before rejoining Black.
• Off with His Head!: If Goku Black kills a survivor permanently, he'll use his Energy Scythe to decapitate them with a fade to black before it strikes.
• One-Hit Kill: When Raiders are in their final forms, any attempt to finish off Survivors will eliminate them from the match immediately, even if they haven't been downed previously.
• Out of Continues: Survivors are allowed one revival via Senzu Bean or partner revive, unless their countdown expires. If KO'd again, the Raider's next finish can make sure the Survivor is out of the match for good.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Future Trunks is remarkably reliant on barely trained (or not at all trained) civilians who cannot hope to hold a candle to their aggressors should they be caught. He's rather vocal on their chances to activate the Super Time Machine, and only sends the emergency time machine only if enough survivors have died in a short amount of time or if the Super Time Machine is destroyed, which is a far cry from the warrior who did everything he could to prevent unnecessary death and destruction, and doesn't seem particularly upset by the fact he cannot directly help any of the survivors himself. While part of it can be justified by the dire circumstances, this has been noted by several players.
• Person of Mass Destruction: The Raiders, of course. After all, you're playing as one of Dragon Ball Z's iconic villains. Raiders can destroy buildings regardless of size, and every time they transform, they can destroy one entire region of the map.
• Promoted to Playable: This game marks the first time that many non-combatants or various forms of Non-Action Guy are available in a Dragon Ball game Cheelai, King Furry, Fortuneteller Baba, Lemo, Dende, King Kai, Puar, Farmer with shotgun are playable for the first time ever, with Oolong, Chi-chi and Bulma haven't been playable in either several years or since Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure and Dragon Ball Legends respectively. On the raider's side, this is the first time larva Cell is playable.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: The Super Time Machine's destruction spells the end for the timeline if the Survivors can't defeat the Raider. But if they manage to make it to the Escape Time Machine and flee, they can re-engage the Raider in a future playthrough and repair the damage then.
• Readings Blew Up the Scale: The Scouter is an amazing item for detecting fellow players and civilians and even the raider. Do not point it at a Raider at level 3 or 4, however, or, true to series, it will explode.
• Recycled with a Gimmick: This game all but screams Dead by Daylight... with Dragon Ball villains!
• Reset Button: What happens if the Super Time Machine is successfully activated. The Temporal Seam is repaired, all of the damage done by the Raider is undone, and the Raider is removed from the area. Meanwhile, the remaining Survivors are all transported back to Time Patrol HQ.
• Run or Die: While this is true for a Survivor facing any raider, perhaps it is no more true than for the Saibaman. While level 1 and with a weak attack and modest healthpool, it seems like it'd be a joke. This is not the case, as Saibaman can easily lunge to Survivors and instantly KO them if they're unfortunate enough to be caught be it, even if their charge level is 3 or 4. For that reason, it is recommended a Suvivor simply run than try their chances at taking it out early.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: If Goku Black is defeated, Zamasu will teleport away as the Survivors go for the finishing blow in the cutscene.
• Seemingly Hopeless Boss Fight: Frieza becoming immortal via Dragon Balls makes defeating him outright almost impossible, in which case you must either activate the Super Time Machine to win or escape.
• Skewed Priorities: During the Prologue, Nallej gets incredibly excited at the prospect of getting to see the Cell in action. Xiaon calls him out on this.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Dodoria and Zarbon remain alive and active even after Freeza begins to transform. In canon, both subordinates die long before Freeza enters his second form.
  • If certain conditions are met, Nappa can act as an assist character for Vegeta despite the fact that in canon, he was killed by Vegeta after getting beaten.
  • If certain conditions are met the entire Ginyu force besides Ginyu is this since Vegeta kills all the members except Ginyu after they are defeated.
• Super Mode: Survivors can temporarily take on the appearance and abilities of the Z-Warriors with "Dragon Change" after accumulating enough Change Energy or against certain raiders, Transpehres which channel that particular Z-Warrior. The Survivor who manages to summon Shenron can get a special Level-4 Dragon Change that allows them to temporarily become a Z-Warrior, allowing them to fight against even a fully-powered Raider on equal footing.
• Swallowed Whole:
  • One of the ways a survivor can permanently die; Cell can swallow them whole when he absorbs them, as opposed to simply draining their life essence.
  • Also how Survivors can be eliminated by Majin Buu, being transformed into candy and gobbled up. When Buu maxes out his Evolution meter at Level 3, he does this to all Survivors, with them being forced to struggle to survive from within Buu.
• Survival Horror: This is as close to survival horror as you can get for a DBZ game. For starters, you play as a Raider whose objective is to hunt down Survivors and helpless civilians and enough kills will grant them more powerful forms that make them harder to deal with. And the other side of the coin are Survivors where they have to survive and evade the Raiders, and while they can fight, they are much weaker and their goal is to find and fix the Time Capsule to undo the horrors that plague the area they're in.
• Timed Mission: Rounds last a maximum of fifteen minutes. If the time limit is reached, the Raider wins by default.
• Useless Useful Spell: Cell's "Ki Control" sounds convenient on paper: He can make it take significantly longer for Survivors to detect if he's close to them and gives him a much better chance of catching them off guard. But the caveat is that Cell must be on the ground while he does this, which not only takes away his flight, but severely limits his speed, which is necessary if he wants to find civilians, Survivors, or Dragon Balls before too much time has passed and is generally considered not worth it.
• Villainous Breakdown: Just like in canon, Fused Zamasu becomes much more unhinged and deranged if he takes enough damage to become Corrupted.
• Vulnerable Civilians: Aside from the Survivors, there are also NPC civilians that are usually found inside homes and buildings and are in a cowering state. The Raiders can consume or finish them off the gain the energy needed to attain their next form; alternately, Survivors can rescue them for an energy boost of their own.
• Walking Disaster Area: For what little story there is for a multiplayer-focused game, your Survivor is seemingly targeted by the Temporal Seams more than anyone else, to the point of being plucked out of the Supreme Kai of Time's own personal space, something that required villains to have god-like power or certain tracking methods to even access before. And naturally, the Raiders basically keep destroying the Temporal Seam regions excessively to kill them.
• Warp Whistle: Survivors can call in a Saiyan Pod to quickly traverse the map. Just be careful to not be standing in the spot where it will land: it hurts coming down!
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • To free yourself from Super Buu's insides, you must free Fat Buu. Fat Buu does not appear for the rest of the match, however, most likely due to the difficulty of implementing him as an ally once freed.
  • Frieza is shown in the intro of Broly's cutscene and his first evolution, but completely disappears afterwards.
• Womb Level: When Majin Buu maxes out his evolution gauge at Level 3, he will immediately absorb all Survivors and force them to fight for survival from within his body. If the Survivors can find and dislodge Fat Buu from inside Super Buu's body, they can free themselves from Buu's insides, but this will also cause Buu to immediately transform into Kid Buu.
• Would Hurt a Child: Namekian children are among the civilians when Frieza is the Raider. Naturally, Frieza can kill them to gain energy (and he gets more if they aren't holding a Dragon Ball).
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • Invoked by Frieza when killing civilians, when he demands they relinquish a Dragon Ball. If they don't have one, he declares they are of no further use and murders them. If they do have one, Frieza takes it, then kills them anyway.
  • For raider Vegeta to reach his third level, he needs to kill Nappa once he can no longer battle. That being said, if you hit it and Nappa is still alive, Vegeta will allow him to leave so he can replace him. He'll also kill the Saibaman if it gets defeated by the survivors or takes too long to evolve to Nappa.
  • For Broly, Frieza gets him to evolve by showing him a recently killed Paragus. Though he was killed off-screen.
  • Implied with Future Zamasu. When Goku Black and him are overpowered, Zamasu has enough energy to still teleport out of the way, but leaves his counterpart to die presumably because he found him no longer a viable partner.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Broly's "Aura Trap" skill sucks nearby Survivors towards him, pulling them in for a punch and interrupting attempts to use gadgets to escape.

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