Fighting Games Friday: My Broly — Dead or Alive

I mentioned in previous Fighting Game Friday posts that most fighting game-related news these days isn’t for newer titles; it pertains to downloadable content for older titles. This applies to two of the games I’ll feature in this week’s post. Developers and publishers have embraced releasing DLC for fighting games after too many updated releases put up low sales. It would be nice if there were disc-based options for all these for those of us who prefer physical media, but it’s easy to see why they’d rather abide by this approach.

Broly from the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film will be the next character coming to Dragon Ball FighterZ, the final character for the game’s second (and final?) season of DLC releases. This will be the second iteration of Broly, after the noncanonical version from the older Dragon Ball Z movies arrived as part of the first DLC season. But the DBS version will have a different playstyle compared to the older one.

This Broly is still a big and bulky character with slow-but-powerful attacks, but his move set is comprised of more grappling techniques. His Super Special Attack is the “Blaster Meteor,” where he fires energy beams from his body in multiple directions. It doesn’t look like a highly damaging or high combo attack, but it could be tough to block. His Meteor Attack is the “Gigantic Roar,” where he transforms into a Super Saiyan form, punches the opponent, and shoots a massive energy attack from his mouth if the punch connects. In a big change from the other Broly, this one doesn’t keep his Super Saiyan form the entire time, and can only use it for this attack. He will remain shirtless after the Gigantic Roar, though, which is important info.

This Broly will also likely be distinguishable from the older one through a different English voice. Since the DBS movie released, FUNimation has had an extremely bitter falling out with Vic Mignogna, after he was accused of sexual harassment by several women — some of whom were girls at the time the incidents occurred. It’s a long story, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t change Broly’s voice for this release. FUNImation has already recast Vic’s other roles with different actors, and this one should be next.

Broly will arrive in Dragon Ball FighterZ next Thursday, December 5th. The game isn’t as popular as it was when it first released, but given that this is one of the best-selling fighting games in this console generation, it would be a surprise if it didn’t receive another season of characters. That is, unless they want to save them for a full-on sequel, or if developer Arc System Works is busy with other games. Bandai Namco should announce their future plans between December and January.

The newest DLC character announced for Dead or Alive 6 will be Rachel, who originally debuted in the Ninja Gaiden series. Her appearance is not surprising given the established pattern. Data for her was found in the game’s code from dataminers, so this announcement and subsequent release was a case of when, not if. Rachel is also yet another DLC character previously included in an updated version of Dead or Alive 5, or released as DLC for that game, like two prior DLC characters for DoA6: Mai Shiranui (from King of Fighters and Fatal Fury) and Momiji (also from Ninja Gaiden). Kula (also guest starring from KoF) is the only new DLC character here. The pattern will be broken again soon, since the next character will come from volleyball spinoff Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation.

Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja released the “Energy Up! Training Wear” outfits this past Tuesday, in a collaboration with manga and anime series How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?. The outfits are only for the female characters, and there’s no guarantee that the male characters will receive a different set of outfits to make up for this given the franchise we’re talking about. Outfits based on Gust’s Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout are in the works, which is unsurprising considering it’s the most fanservice-laden Atelier game yet.

There was news for one game this week that didn’t involve DLC: My Hero One’s Justice 2 will release in Japan on March 12th for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, a mere 18 months after the first game. The western release date should be close behind if it’s not simultaneous, where it will also release on PC. Sir Nighteye from the My Hero Academia manga and anime series was confirmed for the game alongside this news.

There are more new fighting game titles coming next year, three of which are due for release within the first quarter of 2020 alone. Expect to see more of them featured in future Fighting Games Friday posts, if I don’t post an editorial or feature instead.