Summary

• Dragon Ball Project: Multi is a MOBA game with iconic characters, but may disappoint gamers due to mobile development and controls.
• The game pits popular Dragon Ball Z characters against each other in a 4v4 MOBA-style beat-em-up with a unique objective-focused gameplay.
• While developed by a reputable company, GANBARION Co., the game's mobile focus may hinder its potential with hardcore gamers and Dragon Ball fans.

Bandai Namco is making the first ever Dragon Ball MOBA game via Dragon Ball Project: Multi — and what could be an awesome concept on its face will probably fall flat and be entirely unenjoyable. I tuning into Dragon Ball Z for the first time when I was around 10 years old or so, back when the show was featured on Cartoon Network on the weekends, waking up early just to catch my favorite heroes power up to an absurd degree in which I'd never seen before.

As a fan of MOBA games, I have spent nearly 1,600 hours in DOTA 2 and innumerable hours in Heroes of Newerth ( that game?), so it feels like Dragon Ball: Project Multi is a game made specifically for a person like me. Sadly, from what I can gather from initial gameplay videos and details about its launch, it'll more likely be another forgettable mobile game that gets yeeted into the trashbin of money-making mobile game machines from even the best gaming companies.

Dragon Ball Project: Multi Is A Mobile Game

It Will Release On PC For Free

The main issue with Dragon Ball Project: Multi is that it's being developed for mobile devices and will be available on the Google Play and Apple App Store. While it doesn't necessarily make the game bad or dead on release, it does significantly simplify the controls and makes it less alluring to hardcore gamers who prefer to game on a PC or console. Though the upside is that anyone will be able to try the game for free, the downside is that it's possible many people won't enjoy the experience.

Dragon Ball Project: Multi is a 4v4 MOBA that pits popular Dragon Ball Z characters like Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, and Android 18 against each other in a MOBA-style lane beat-em-up where each team must defeat mobs of creatures as well as the opposing team's heroes. Unlike DOTA 2 or LoL, where the primary objective is to destroy the opposing side's Ancient or Nexus, in Project: Multi, players must claim the enemy team's Dragon Ball.

Even though the game is titled Dragon Ball, the characters are mainly their iterations from Dragon Ball Z and Super.

According to the staggering statistics of how many people play and enjoy mobile games — with the market reaching $98.7 billion in worldwide revenue in 2024, according to Statista — I'm probably now in the minority of people who don't really enjoy them. I've tried higher-tier games like the gacha game Honkai: Star Rail and a few others, but it makes no sense for me to play these when I have two 140 hz gaming monitors and an awesome video card. This obviously doesn't apply to people on the go or casual gamers who just want something to waste some time — but that isn't me.

A Refined Dragon Ball MOBA Could Be A Lot Of Fun

Coming To Grips With Reality

Theoretically, the universe of Dragon Ball is the perfect setup for a MOBA game. Not only is there a huge roster of characters with different abilities that could lend themselves well to a MOBA setup, but the abilities themselves are unique enough to set them apart and make sense in a top-down isometric view. Master Roshi's iconic Kamehameha or Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon (or Makankōsappō) would have different cast times and a different sized radius, and this can apply to the various moves across the franchise.

Furthermore, certain characters, like Fat Buu or Android 16, are obvious tanks, while other, smaller and more agile characters, like Frieza's final form or Kid Buu, could be DPS. Other characters like Bulma or Videl could be characters with special tech or regenerative abilities that could make a Dragon Ball-themed game one that I would actually play and spend some time in.

Though it would previously be somewhat unrealistic to think any Dragon Ball crossover video game could be superb, Dragon Ball FighterZ proved that it's possible for such a crossover not only to be a fun game but one that could realistically build a strong community around it (yes, Budokai is great, too, please don't @ me). This is quite the feat, especially in a genre that is as guarded or competitive as fighting games, with games like Street Fighter, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat coming out with new titles every few years. That said, it's unlikely that this mobile game will be another FighterZ, due to its requirement to have mobile-forward controls.

Who Is Making Dragon Ball Project: Multi & Will It Be Any Good?

Backed By An Experienced Company

Although the game is being published by Bandai Namco, Dragon Ball Project: Multi is being developed by the lesser-known GANBARION Co. Although you wouldn't be alone in having no idea what that company is or what games it has made, it's been around since 1999 and regularly works with companies like Bandai Namco and Nintendo to create Anime crossover titles. Most recently, it created the relatively well-reviewed One Piece World Seeker, which came out in 2019 and has worked on a host of One Piece titles in the last decade.

Although reception for the rest of its catalog has been hit or miss, it doesn't seem to be a studio that's notorious for pumping out low-quality content, and at the very least, it's an organization that has respect for the original material it's basing its games on.

With the tragic and untimely ing of Akira Toriyama occurring in March of this year, it's a personal hope of mine that titles from this iconic creator get shown the respect they deserve, much like the DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO — the first game in the BUDOKAI TENKAICHI series in 15 years — which looks to be superb from early gameplay footage.

I'll Be Playing, But My Expectations Are Very Low

You Can The Beta, Too

Even though I'm feeling super negative about the potential for Dragon Ball Project: Multi, I will participate in the playtest on Steam when it becomes available. The first Regional Test occurs from August 19, 11 PM PDT, to September 2, 10:59 PM PDT. To sign up, players must have a Steam and click Request Access on the Dragon Ball Project: Multi Steam page.

The Dragon Ball Project: Multi website also says that mobile will be available the day the tests occur, but — you already know my opinion on that. Regardless of my initial impressions of the gameplay video, I'll give the game a fair shot, and I'm hoping that it exceeds my low expectations.

Source: Statista, Steam