Dragon Ball: Fusions

 3DS
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
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  1. InsideGamer.nl
    Feb 17, 2017
    70
    Dragon Ball Fusions combines RPG and pinball. The combat might take a bit long, but the rest of the game is a lot of fun. Many, many hours of fun.
  2. Multiplayer.it
    Feb 13, 2017
    70
    Dragon Ball Fusions is a bizarre RPG which works in a kinda of fanservice way and has a very solid combat system but becomes excessively grindy and repetitive in a few hours.
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Feb 13, 2017
    70
    Dragon Ball Fusions brings some fresh air into the Dragon Ball videogame series. Unlike many predecessors, it does not play safe, putting to the table a strong and interesting story mode and a solid turn-based battle system.
  5. IGN Italia
    Feb 13, 2017
    70
    Dragon Ball Fusion doesn't revolutionize the RPG genre, or add so much to Toriyama universe, and yet is able to entertain, even if not for an exorbitant number of hours.
  6. SpazioGames
    Feb 13, 2017
    70
    Dragon Ball Fusions is one of those licensed games that will make the hardcore fans happy, but, ultimately, won't impress anyone who is not in love with the characters and the lore of the franchise. Ganbarion's last effort is a solid and fun turn-based catch'em'all RPG, but the 3DS has seen far better titles in both of these categories.
  7. Worth Playing
    Jan 6, 2017
    70
    All in all, Dragon Ball Fusions is a cute, if unexceptional, Dragon Ball RPG that's made almost exclusively for the fans. Nothing about it breaks the mold, but it has a reasonably engaging combat system and a ton of collectible characters to keep you busy. It's dragged down by a weak story and an excessive amount of grinding to unlock characters. Fusions won't do much for casual fans, but die-hards will have a good time seeing all of the absurd fusions that the show could never do.
  8. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Jan 4, 2017
    70
    As a lapsed fan of the Dragon Ball series, Fusions was, for the most part, a delightful return trip to this action-packed and often ridiculous world. [Issue #25 – January/February 2017, p.68]
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  9. Attack of the Fanboy
    Nov 23, 2016
    70
    Many Dragon Ball games from over the years have been criticized for playing it too safe, but Dragon Ball Fusions definitely tries something very new, even if it doesn’t all work to perfection.
  10. Game Informer
    Dec 12, 2016
    68
    Fusions stands out in the library of Dragon Ball video games as an interesting entry in the otherwise fighting-game-heavy collection. It is charming in its willingness to innovate within Dragon Ball, but it never quite executes on any of its pillars.
  11. NZGamer
    Mar 9, 2017
    60
    For fans of the Dragon Ball franchise I can see this game having some appeal. For everyone else, there are just far too many problems to put up with, and some parts feel unfinished or ill-considered. If you’re curious about this game and the promise of fusion-fury with your favourite Dragon Ball Characters, it could be worth a try. If you’re a franchise newbie that wants a good RPG, look elsewhere.
  12. Wccftech
    Mar 7, 2017
    60
    Dragon Ball Fusions isn't bad by any measure, but I'd struggle to call it exciting. The fact is, only big Dragon Ball fans are going to keep returning to Dragon Ball Fusions, casual fans need not apply.
  13. Cubed3
    Feb 24, 2017
    60
    Dragon Ball Fusions is such an original and fun idea, yet is plagued with so many flaws and annoyingly flawed aspects of the gameplay that the final product is reduced to something that ends up being a specialist game for hardcore fans that can ignore a 10-12-hour title tripling in lifespan due to so many repeating animations bloating out every combat sequence. There's still an enjoyable game here with some addictive aspects, but it could be so much better with just a few minor tweaks. Quite disappointing.
  14. RPGamer
    Dec 25, 2016
    60
    This is not the very rare type of licensed game that will convert non-fans of the subject matter, but neither is it an abomination. Dragon Ball fans don't have a great number of solid RPGs set in the universe to play, and this one manages at least that much.
  15. GameSpot
    Dec 18, 2016
    60
    If the progression felt a bit less stilted and fights weren't drawn out, repetitive affairs, this would be one of the strongest Dragon Ball games out there. Alas, just like Hercule in the series, Dragon Ball Fusions postures and promises more than it actually delivers.
  16. Digitally Downloaded
    Nov 29, 2016
    60
    Dragon Ball: Fusions takes a familiar tale and style of play and decides to mix the whole formula up. Some aspects of the formula work better than others, but the end result is still an enjoyable experience that takes an overly well-known property and manages to make it fresh in several ways.
  17. Hardcore Gamer
    Nov 28, 2016
    60
    Despite all of the complaints, there is some inherit value to Dragon Ball Fusions. The battle system, while not great, is creative and captures the feel of an anime. The plethora of heroes means that fans can create a team with nothing but their favorites and journey through the tale. The length and breadth of things to do will give anyone who enjoys this an incredible amount of value. Taken only on its merits as a game, though, and there are some noisome elements.
  18. Twinfinite
    Nov 23, 2016
    60
    It’s difficult to ignore the lacking story and largely dead play areas. If you’re a fan of Dragon Ball in general you’ll find smiles and some fun here, but if you’re looking for an amazing RPG experience, you may want to look elsewhere.
  19. Destructoid
    Nov 23, 2016
    60
    f you’re a dedicated follower of Akira Toriyama’s work, then you’ll find a lot to enjoy with this title. It takes some risks and offers a complete compendium of characters from each installment of the anime. It also puts an emphasis on creativity with the fusion system, but lacks focus. I want to love it, but I can’t fathom sitting through that story again.

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best 3DS Game of 2016
25
#25 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2016
8
#8 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2016

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 69
  3. Negative: 7 out of 69
  1. Reed618
    Apr 19, 2017
    10
    I just finished this game and It really impressed me. When I first saw it I thought it looked interesting but never imagined I'd have so muchI just finished this game and It really impressed me. When I first saw it I thought it looked interesting but never imagined I'd have so much fun playing it. I'll start with the pros.

    Pros +

    1. The combat system works really well. I'm a long time fan of turn based combat and found the addition of interactive elements and player placement helped keep things fast paced.
    2. The art style is excellent, it looks great for a 3ds game.
    3. The level design was great. The game is divided into 7 stages and i found myself eager to unlock them just so I could see which iconic area was next.
    4. The fusions system works well and its quite fun to see what you can create.
    5. I never needed to grind so the game never dragged for me.
    6. There are a lot of sidequests. Most of them are typical fetch quests, pointless flying through ring games or just more fighting but it is a lot of fun finding your favorite characters around each map and talking to them.
    7. There's a huge amount of fan service. Characters from dragonball, dragonball z, gt and super along with the movies.
    8. The story is new and doesn't rely on reusing scenes from the anime like a lot of dragonball games. It's not amazing but I liked it and the final fights were pretty cool.

    Cons -

    1. The fights can be quite long, although as the game doesn't require much grinding this didn't bother me.
    2. A lot of reviewers complained that the attack animations are lengthy but I really enjoyed them with the exception of ring outs. When your character is knocked out of the ring you see the same animation of them flying through a mountain. It gets old and afterwards you have to reposition them on the map so this can slow the pace of combat.
    3. Recruiting characters can be annoying. You have to build up an attack meter and then launch a special move but it can be blocked. Also later in the game it's a challenge to build your attack meter without knocking everyone out first.
    4. You need to collect energy to progress to the next stage. This could be a little annoying but it didn't take too much time.

    Overall this is a really impressive game. I bought xenoverse at the same time but found fusions much more addictive. If you're a dragon ball/rpg fan and a 3ds owner then I really couldn't recommend it enough.    … Full Review »
  2. darkziosj
    Nov 30, 2016
    10
    Clearly a game made for dbz and rpg fans, it's the best dbz game in the 3ds, the turn based combat will probably turn alot of people off butClearly a game made for dbz and rpg fans, it's the best dbz game in the 3ds, the turn based combat will probably turn alot of people off but it's pretty entertaining for what it is, there's plenty of abilities and characters from the show, but clearly the main point is fusions, who doesn't want to see how the fusion between krilin and goku could look like, if you like dbz and rpgs games give it a try,… Full Review »
  3. masterpd85
    Nov 29, 2016
    8
    This game is not your typical western release DBZ game. This game goes back to the early days when DBZ (or even DB) could be experienced as anThis game is not your typical western release DBZ game. This game goes back to the early days when DBZ (or even DB) could be experienced as an RPG. This game has a unique approach to RPG as it's both turn-based and action (think paper mario) with a twist of Pokemon. The game is set in its own world where all the timelines/ages are multiversed into its own... well... multiverse. The worlds, or levels, almost feel like dreams or realities molding into one another. In one world hercule city sits next to a elevated cliff that holds Cell's arena. Off in the distance is the ruins of another city with a post-apocalyptic looking Capsule Corp. (ie future trunks timeline) with a lower region looking like the canyon where Dr. Gero's lab was hidden. So you can clearly see each level/world is compiled of the corresponding saga's. The game gets a solid 5/10 for something fresh. We've played the same DBZ games since the ps2/gamecube era starting nearly 15yrs ago; not even Xenoverse gets a free pass on that one. So this felt like a breath of fresh air. The RNG in the game would have to be it's weakest point (currently on world 4 out of 6 at time of writing this) followed by the strength/weakness trinity system and how each character fits into one of those (and how rare it is to find them... looking at you Power types). If I had to fix anything, or pray it was patched, it would be the resources needed to progress in the game. There are literally 6 of them and you are not guaranteed any after winning a fight. You will need 50 of that one source and hunt down targets flying around with the corresponding color type and they will not reward you what you seek. They might even reward you a different type that you don't need. For that the game is tedious and the higher level you get the more HP enemies have and the less impact your attacks feel they have. At least the combat is fun.… Full Review »
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