Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) are one of the most engaging video game genres to exist. In games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and SMITE, it feels so satisfying to get kills, acquire objectives with teammates, and make critical plays. Thankfully, this genre is still getting new games today, with Pokémon UNITE being one of the recent releases. However, Pokémon UNITE is a special case, as it opens the door for many other anime and manga franchises to have a MOBA title.
I excitedly looked forward to the next anime MOBA title, but I had no idea it would be Dragon Ball. As a massive Dragon Ball fan myself, I was very thrilled when DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi was announced. After spending many hours on the DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi beta, I miss this game dearly and have many impressions. There’s so much to love with PROJECT: Multi, but I will admit that it has flaws. I could sit here and go on and on about the game, but let’s first talk about the presentation.
Impressive Music and Character Models
The biggest thing that captured my attention about this game was the music. It’s hard to explain in detail, but PROJECT: Multi‘s overall soundtrack has a groovy, nostalgic feel. From the main menu screens to the battlefield, it always left me wanting to get out of my seat and start dancing. More importantly, the songs perfectly capture the feel of Dragon Ball by having a heroic and casual vibe. This is such an important thing because music adds to the overall enjoyment of any game. It tells the player how to feel in the moment, and I think that the developers did a really good job getting the right songs for the right moments. It is currently unknown who is the composer for this game, but their work deserves to be praised here.
The music isn’t the only thing that emulates the feel of Dragon Ball; the character models are mind-blowing. These are honestly the best-looking Dragon Ball game character models since Dragon Ball FighterZ. Like FighterZ, PROJECT: Multi tries its best to emulate both the manga and anime styles. Plenty of other Dragon Ball games implement their own kinds of art styles and character models, but PROJECT: Multi keeps it simple. It’s just really beautiful to see that even after Akira Toriyama’s unfortunate passing, his characters and world continue to be cared for. DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi is a wonderful way to introduce MOBA fans to the world of Dragon Ball.
Very Easy to Learn
DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi is a 4v4 team game where players kill enemies, obtain objectives, and team up with Zeno to destroy the God of Destruction towers. The battlefield is split into two lanes where two players go on each side to push their advantage forward. In these lanes, you’ll have different minions you can defeat to gain experience points and level up. The ultimate goal is to destroy all of the enemy team’s God of Destruction towers so that you can get into their base and take their Dragon Ball.
Overall, a team is made up of 3 different roles: Tank, Damage, and Technical. Tanks are the characters with lots of health and can afford to be on the front lines to do damage while withering the opponent’s health away. Damage characters do lots of crazy damage to the opponent’s life bar at the cost of being fragile themselves. Choosing your battles wisely with Damage characters is a very important tip. Lastly, Technical characters are the characters who support the team in their own kind of way, either through healing, buffing, or using gimmicks such as Solar Flare.
If you are afraid of learning this game because you think MOBAs are hard, I assure you that this is the easiest MOBA I have ever played. The characters’ abilities are very straightforward, the controls are insanely easy, and there isn’t any massive studying you have to do. You can kinda just hop on the game, learn a character in a minute, and enter online matches for fun. It’s also worth mentioning that you can use a controller to play this game instead of a mouse and keyboard. However, don’t get it twisted, as this game has lots of depth.
Lots of Depth and Player Expression
Of course, if you have previous MOBA game experience, much of the fundamentals will transfer here. Things like choosing your battles wisely, positioning in team fights, and turning off the camera lock to check the rest of the battlefield are vital. You can also freely roam to another lane to support your other teammates. The other fundamental that exists in other MOBA games is item building, but it’s a little different in this game.
The item building in this game is known as the Divine Combo Cards system. Simply put, as the battle progresses, you can manually get Divine Combo Cards that give your character special effects. This is where a lot of the player expression comes from because different players can experiment with different combo card builds for each character. Going back to how easy this game is to learn, you can also set it up so that you automatically get Divine Combo Cards in battle without manually selecting them. The game gives you the freedom to play however you want, and that is very important.
Additionally, there are assist characters you can equip in this game called Helpers. These characters can give you buffs, help you in battle, and do many other helpful actions with a press of a button. Before the battle begins, you can select whichever Helper you want, as long as they fit your main character’s role. Unfortunately, it seems that characters who are Helpers won’t be playable. Helpers like Cabba and Tapion have huge fans but are locked behind a non-playable role. Granted, this isn’t the biggest problem I have with this game.
Great Ape is a Problem
Momentum is a vital concept in any competitive game or sport you can think of. It’s basically when the flow of the match is shifted in one’s favor. Upon gaining an advantage over the opponent or enemy team, your chances of winning increase drastically. It’s not a guaranteed win, but it’s definitely advantageous regardless. Having said that, DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi has a situation where you can easily secure victory.
As stated previously, part of what you do during the game is acquire objectives. These objectives are called bosses, and once defeated, they can apply significant damage to the enemy God of Destruction towers. These are fine, as getting these bosses can also serve as a Plan B in case you are losing your lane. However, Great Ape is the biggest objective in the game because it gives you a massive amount of health, and Zeno will be even more powerful in helping you destroy enemy God of Destruction towers. Great Ape appears at around the 6-minute mark, and by the time that happens, both teams most likely only have two towers left. Combine that with the benefits of getting Great Ape, and your team can just mindlessly push through the opposing team’s defenses and easily get the Dragon Ball.
So?
I personally think that Great Ape provides too much of an advantageous momentum and needs to be nerfed. It’s essential to prioritize balance and make the fight fair for both teams. Even in League of Legends, acquiring Baron isn’t necessarily a guaranteed win. The team who lost Baron still has a chance of defending pretty well. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi. On the bright side, though, you can see what happens in the fight after a match ends. While there was no replay option in the beta, players could see the little details that defined the battle, such as the map activity log and scoreboard. So, there’s still room for player improvement in other areas if you want to know why you lost.
A Reward System That Lacks Execution
So there’s a lot of really cool cosmetics that you can get in PROJECT: Multi. Costumes, colors, characters, victory animations, and much more await your claim. There’s a capsule shop where you can use capsules and special capsules to get costumes, colors, animated victory screens, helpers, and more. To get these capsules, you must level up your characters’ Star Grade, get some from the other shop, or do missions in the battle pass.
On the other hand, getting characters requires you to acquire gems or hero coins. Gems and hero coins are mostly attainable through battle passes. Essentially, a lot of the way you get currency in this game is through playing the game a lot. Overall, I think this system could’ve been explained better. There was no tutorial detailing how this works, so making things clear for players in the future would be great. This is paramount because some players will use real-life money to get rewards.
I will say, though, that these rewards are worth getting. Some of the most iconic Dragon Ball outfits and poses are available in this game that you won’t see in any other. I appreciate the attention to detail that the developers put into these rewards. Overall, I look forward to seeing what other costumes, colors, and characters will be put in the official release and beyond.
DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi Beta Impressions – A Goldmine That Is Ready to Explode with Potential
My overall impressions of the DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi beta are fantastic for the most part! I love playing, looking at, and listening to this game so much. As a Dragon Ball and MOBA fan myself, I find it to be the literal best of both worlds. It’s so easy to get into while still having that competitive depth that makes it addicting. Once the developers patch up Great Ape and provide better in-game explanations for the currency system, this game will be perfect!
DRAGON BALL PROJECT: Multi will launch in 2025 for iOS via App Store, Android via Google Play Store, and PC via Steam.
