Dragon Ball FighterZ has a loot box system that won’t annoy you

Dragon Ball FighterZ is the latest game to feature loot boxes, but Arc System Works developed a system that won’t annoy its fans — or bully them into dropping real-world cash.

In the game, there are two currencies: Zeni, which you earn through in-game actions, and Premium Z Coins. Zeni can be racked up pretty fast in just about any mode, but Premium Coins are different. As the game describes it, Z Coins are earned when you get a duplicate item from a Z Capsule, the game’s version of a loot box. You can rack up a lot of Zeni just by enjoying the game at your own pace, and within the first few hours of playing, I made enough Zeni to buy a few dozen Z Capsules.

I found that the fastest way to get Zeni is by going through the game’s combo challenge mode in the practice area. You can gain 5,000 Zeni per character, provided you can complete all 10 of their combo challenges. With 21 characters available at the start of the game, you could be swimming in Zeni quickly.

Arc System Works/Bandai Namco

In the game’s shop, you can purchase one Z Capsule for 1,000 Zeni, or 10 at at time for 10,000. After completing every character’s combo challenge, I had enough to buy several 10-packs. Despite cracking open so many loot boxes, most of what I got wasn’t all that interesting or game-changing — which is actually kind of nice.

The random items I got were simple things, like titles I could use in online play or new character colors to add to the four each character starts the game with. There are also new characters to use in the game’s lobby system, but FighterZ doesn’t get off on withholding anything from you inside its loot boxes. There aren’t cool alternate costumes, stages or music squirreled away in the game, at least not yet. The store does make mention of purchasable downloadable content, but that feature hasn’t been enabled in my review copy yet.

I appreciate that the game gets you going with four colors for the 21 characters it starts you off with, and being able to rack up tons of Zeni fast and convert duplicates into premium currency is a nice touch. More elaborate items might be up for sale once the game launches, but Dragon Ball FighterZ feels like a full experience already.

Dragon Ball FighterZ launches on Jan. 26 with a three-part story mode, an arcade mode, online mode, 21 characters (with more unlockable through gameplay) and 13 stages. It’s an already hefty package. Because the loot boxes have minimal effect on the game itself, anything Arc System Works could add in the future — maybe even at a premium — would only be icing on the cake.