by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Who else but Vegeta?!
Many special thanks to Takanub for helping me pinpoint some ideas to consider.
Not too long ago I received the Fighter Pack from Bandai Namco, so I’ll be able to cover the various DLC characters that come out for Dragon Ball FighterZ. While I’m admittedly a little disappointed in the rumors that we’re going to get more Goku and Vegeta, when other, more interesting characters could fill out the roster instead of another form of both Goku and Vegeta as if two were absolutely not enough, it’s not a choice I have any power to influence. Though if I had my say, we’d see Hercule Satan and Mercenary Tao in the next update. The game has several humans in Tien, Krillin and Lord Yamcha, but we need someone who is actually the Savior of the Universe. However, today I’m going to take a look at Bardock, Father of Goku and Broly, The Legendary Super Sayajin. I know, I know, Bardock is technically the Legendary Super Sayajin, since it’s canon that he went back in time, transformed first, and put the fear of Sayajins into the Freiza race. But Broly’s powerlevel is Maximum, so we’re just going to leave it at that.
However, I love playing both of them. I’m still pretty mediocre at best, but that’s due to not practicing like I should be doing. My initial, immediate thought when I played Bardock was, “Wow, it’s Lord Yamcha . . . but better! Much better! He has no weaknesses that I can see, and he’s badass.” Then I tagged Broly in. “Wow, his powerlevel really is Maximum. Can I set up… combo shenanigans around his Gigantic Meteor? Yup. I found a grappler that’s within my range to play”. I’ll get into more of that shortly. So, I put Bardock and Broly on my team for convenience sake, and I also felt that they’d make a fun team (I was right). You know who I found to be their best partner? Vegeta. Of course, I did. Vegeta’s easily the best support in the game right now, and if you’re considering running someone else, maybe you should just stick to running Vegeta. Though I also found a lot of fun in teaming them with Hit, Lord Freiza, and Cell. All of them bring something fun to the table, but Vegeta is clearly the superior choice, and that’s not just because he’s a more interesting character than Goku. I foresee some kind of adjustment to Vegeta in the future. In the future for these, I’d like to draw up some combos, or do some more research on what the best/most reliable options are. I have plans for that, fear not!
Bardock Impressions:
FRIEZAAAAAA! I mean … TIEEEEEEEEEENNN!!!
Did you want to play Goku, but think his moveset is boring, and he uses too many Kamehameha waves? Want to just be in someone’s face, but are embarrassed to embrace Lord Yamcha as your point-man/captain? Then Bardock is the right pick for you. He’s Lord Yamcha but he has no weaknesses. You have to respect his Supers, and he can dive your team without having to burn meter to do so (unlike Lord Yamcha). His moves are fast, they produce solid damage, and with a good assist team, he can be on point and just go in and abuse people without any fear of repercussions. Takanub pointed out that his dash punch is easily one of the fastest moves in the game and be mashed on start fairly safely. I appreciate that the game also respects that he is the Legendary Super Sayajin with his second Super, Revenge Assault. But you also have to respect his other Supers, Tyrant Assault, and Riot Javelin (Thank you for keeping Riot Javelin a part of the Bardock mythos, as an aside). Bardock is insanely, ridiculously fast, and with even the slightest setup, he goes in and stays in. I do think it’s interesting that his 6M is the same move as his jH, the “traditional” jumping ax-handle smash.
Broly Impressions:
Broly is a grappler in the loosest sense of the word. He has several options that do “grab” people, and punish them for their poor life choice to do battle with the Legendary Super Sayajin. He’s huge, surprisingly fast, and has probably the highest minimum damage amount for a Super in Gigantic Meteor. It’s slow-moving sure, but you can do some set up I think to make sure it hits its mark with good assists and vanishes. Whereas Bardock feels satisfying to get right, Broly just feels satisfying. His buttons are wonderful, he’s got Armor on several moves so he can just go in, and I feel like even I can play him without having to worry about getting buttons wrong. I never understood why grapplers had to have 360-degree spins for their biggest moves (or more in some cases), and I was always really bad at it. The result was a lot of fun characters I missed out on because I’m bad. Unlike Bardock though, Broly has some weaknesses I think. Mostly his size. He’s humongous and is easy to hit as a result. He’s got a huge hitbox and it’s easy to take advantage of if you aren’t ready.
He also has several very peculiar hitboxes. His jH for example, he dives straight down. To make it land it seems, you must be jumping forward or be standing right on top of the opponent. Otherwise it’ll whiff and you’ll get punished. A few of his normal buttons have strange hitboxes too, or perhaps feel a bit short/small. But the animations are great, and feel like Broly if that makes sense. I mean, one of his normals, he thrusts his chest out and smashes into the other player. His jJab is also incredibly tiny like he’s barely thrusting his arm out at all. Not all of your buttons have to be amazing, but that’s certainly something to be aware of. He can give himself projectile armor with Powered Shell and the Lariat Express is incredibly satisfying to hit.
Do I wish they were just “in” the game for everyone to just unlock and play? Of course I do. Do I think they’re insanely OP and make the game p2w? Nah. Bardock’s good just in general, but he’s not overpowered, I don’t think. And once you weather the storm of Broly’s offense and take advantage of his size, it should be pretty easy to stop anything of his that doesn’t have armor. Broly is mediocre without meter and without the corner to pin someone into, but he has reach, and you better respect both of them. Disrespect is punished by fists. Just remember, Broly might be slow and weird, but his powerlevel is Maximum.
Do They Stack Up: I can see both being Captains/Point-Men for a team, and are definitely fun and satisfying to use for players of any skill level.
