It’s been a bit over a week since we’ve gotten our hands on the two newest DLC characters for Dragon Ball FighterZ, and needless to say, they’ve definitely shaken up the trajectory of character depth. A game that has been criticized for its homogenization has been met with two additions that have put that to rest.
Not too much information has been put out there just yet, as there have been so many tournaments within this short amount of time, but there is enough to give a solid review of both characters.
Zamasu
Zamasu is widely regarded as a versatile, mobile, and the more well-rounded character of the two. His defining feature is his flight mode, a staple in many team fighters. Zamasu’s flight has some added benefits in this game; the big one being that he’s able to block while flying. This makes his flight a huge tool for, say, getting out of the corner, or wasting the opponent’s sparking time, as he can completely defend himself. The one downside to this is that flight has startup and recovery, so if the opponent is paying attention, and you’re simply not doing anything while flying, you’ll get hit with a Super Dash. Flight can be used to extend combos, enable high-low or left-right mixups, or even create unique setups, such as snapping a character out into Blades of Judgement.
The second unique mechanic for Zamasu are his orbs. He has a light, medium, and EX version. The light summons orbs that will shoot as projectiles after 2 seconds, the medium has slightly longer startup, will shoot after 4 seconds, and does more damage, and the EX will shoot at both intervals. This move can be used for some great starters, and can allow you to convert off of things you couldn’t normally convert off of, such as universal overhead (6M).
Lastly, his supers. Zamasu is spoiled with some of the best assists in the game, and he enables double supers in a similar vein as Kid Buu, as well as being able to multi-super off of himself. His first level 1 works similarly to Frieza’s, and characters like Cell can easily get extensions off of a DHC. His second super, Blades of Judgement, has a ton of similarities to Piccolo’s Hellzone Grenade, but the differences are drastic. It can only be utilized in specific situations, and cannot be comboed into without help. If you try to set it up in an oki situation, it can be reflected just like Piccolo’s. You are allowed about 3 seconds to do whatever you want while they’re under this super. Combo-wise, you can do things like set up orbs or get a few normals in the middle of it. For mixups, the only assists that seem to set this up without a gap are Kid Buu’s and Gotenks’s, both of which are great partners for Zamasu. You can also set this up solo if you snap an opponent’s character out, but the timing and height is pretty strict. It’s a strong, but limited super that can enable some super busted mixups if utilized properly.
His level 3 isn’t the strongest level 3 super, but it does track anywhere, which means your opponent can’t just hit a button when you have 3 bars. Outside of that, there isn’t anything special about it.
His assist is his blade projectile (236S). It’s very slightly on the slow side, has good recovery, has beam properties, and has a large size. Not as good as a beam, but good nonetheless.
Zamasu definitely has all of the tools to be a higher tier character, but his greatest weakness is definitely his damage. He has a disgusting amount of ways to break the opponent’s defense, but he needs either meter, or assists to fully realize his damage potential. Midscreen is where he suffers the most, boasting only around the high 3k’s solo. Secondly, despite having really strong buttons with great range, his neutral is somewhat lacking compared to the top characters. He can certainly hold his own, but he has trouble getting counter-poked by faster normals, specials, and the like.
I think he is a firm point or mid character that can maximize the support given to him, or provide support with his fairly strong assist and ability to utilize meter well.
Vegito
The popular fusion character in the series is arguably the most unique character in the game. This is because his normals function completely differently from any other character, as well as his overall kit. He is only character that can reverse beat from the start, with level 7 Adult Gohan being the only other character that can do it at all. His normals are all advancing, and while his 2L isn’t a low, it crushes other lows innately, which makes trying to counterpoke him a death wish. His normals also carry his previous forward momentum, meaning you can come from almost full screen to begin your pressure, or in some cases, a punish.
Speaking of punishing, he is chock full of ways to do just that. His spirit sword (2S on the ground, j.S in the air) is the ultimate anti air, and can likely replace 2H in many cases for Vegito, primarily because it can beat ki moves as well as normals. On the ground, spirit sword shoots in a long and slightly angled up. In the air, it’s a sharp angle downward, and will punish opposing 2H’s, as well as air to air super dashes. The startup is fast enough to use on reaction, too. His best neutral tool is his 236S, which is a super fast triple ki throw, similar to (and arguably better than) Android 21’s. The 2 big differences here are the size of the ki blasts being much bigger, and the move also carrying momentum, making this yet another great move for advancing forward. While they are super dash-able, is that something you really want to do when spirit sword is around? He also has a command grab, it functions similar to 16’s command grab, but the actual throw sends them to the opposite side and very far across the screen. Unfortunately, the EX version doesn’t have the area startup properties of 16’s EX throw.
Finally, he has a parry. He’s one of only 2 characters in the game to have said parry- the other being Hit. To everyone’s knowledge, his parry functions exactly like Hit’s, and can only be converted with Vanish. It has a frame 3 startup, so it should be okay to use after an opposing Vanish.
Vegito, like Zamasu, also has 3 supers. His ground super is quite literally Captain Commando’s super from Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and can be doubled up with many supers in the game. The range is full screen, but the closer you are to Vegito when he does it, the more damage it does. His air super is a super cool Instant Transmission downward punch, which causes a knockdown and can be used to end a combo from most of anywhere. The timing is very strict, however, and it is an aerial move, so you can certainly 2H him if done raw. His level 3, Final Kamehameha, is a typical level 3 beam super, like Adult Gohan or Cell. No special properties here other than being the coolest looking level 3 in the game.
Vegito has so many ways of pushing neutral in his favor, as well as pressuring. His biggest weakness is definitely his lack of ways to open people up. He can get some left rights with a lockdown assist, and his normals are very good, making crossovers very easy, but he has no real high low game. His 2M sort of looks like an IAD, but no good player would really fall for that if they’re paying attention. He reminds me of a better Nappa, but with way more utility.
Vegito should likely go point, as he can get the pressure game going very well, and needs help whenever possible. He’s definitely the character that needs more exploring, and can make his mark in high level play. He’s a nightmare to approach, and he is even more terrifying when he has assists to protect him.