IGN Preview
There's really no denying that there are numerous Dragon Ball Z games that flood the market with oftentimes generic fighting systems or lackluster action elements. Fortunately, the German Games Convention delivered a Dragon Ball title that I really didn't expect and that title is Dragon Ball: Origins. An adventure RPG for the DS, Origins goes back to the story of the original Dragon Ball series and follows Goku and Bulma on their quest for the seven Dragon Balls. I had the opportunity to sit in on a private demonstration of Origins where I was able to watch the first few moments of the game, along with some in-game cinematics.
Origins is a very colorful game and looks to be quite faithful to the original material. Both screens on the DS are used well not only during cutscenes but during actual battle, displaying content vertically to take advantage of the extra space. Origins will be heavily story-driven and feature a lot of the comedic nature and adventurous spirit of the original Dragon Ball series.
We were told that Origins would last about 30 hours, which is certainly a healthy amount of time for a portable game. Origins begins as Goku walks through a small forested area and bumps into the young girl Bulma. After a few scenes of dialogue (there's quite a lot of text in the game, it seems) the two young adventures team up and begin traversing the forests and hills together. Origins can be controlled entirely with the touch screen and is designed to be very comfortable. As far as I can tell, you simply point somewhere on the screen and Goku will run in that direction. The whole game looks like it will be presented from an isometric viewpoint with the camera generally fixed at one angle.
Although I wasn't able to play the game for myself, it looked like simple gestures governed all of Goku's attacks, where he swings his staff back and forth and defeats enemies that stand in his way. Bulma will always be a support character, but because she can't jump on her own, Goku needs to rearrange certain environment puzzles to help her pass. For example, after dispatching a few foes in the forest and gathering some money for the effort, Goku and Bulma entered a small cavern where large gaps prevented Bulma from proceeding any further. Goku had to run and jump down a level and move a series of stones into place to build a makeshift bridge for his traveling companion. This was a simple example for a puzzle, but I imagine that later tasks will be much more complex.
Goku will also have access to a number of intriguing skills, like his signature Ka Me Ha Me Ha attack. By quickly hitting small visual queues that come up on screen around Goku, he can power up his energy and unleash a devastating blue bolt of power, which can be aimed while firing. Neat.
The game's visuals are fairly impressive for the DS, featuring 3D versions of the classic animated characters. The real charm for Dragon Ball fans will likely come from how Origins emulates the original series so closely. We were told that actual scenes from the anime would be recreated using the in-game engine, which is very nice.
It's extremely refreshing to see a Dragon Ball game that breaks the mold of other Dragon Ball franchises and tries something different -- and promising. Although our demo ended without giving much else in way of information, I'm interested to see more of Dragon Ball: Origins down the line.