NOTES: I have updated this review now that three more patches (1.41, 1.42, and 1.50) have released along with a new character. Some parts are struck-through to reflect a change in opinion due to the new patches.

I think from a functional standpoint, this game works. The game is optimized for PC hardware, and you don't need cutting-edge hardware to run it.
However, I think Bandai Namco needs to continue to pull their head out of their ass. They are moving in the right direction by confirming that version 1.42 was made to address player's concerns. But they still need to work on their communication.

As someone who has been playing this game since it released in January 2018, I was under the impression that this game would stop receiving balance updates THREE SEPARATE TIMES! And, when a balance update would come after they announced that the update prior was the last one, they would drop it within 24 hours with no explanations attached. While on paper this seems decent, Bandai gives the impression that they want to milk users by shocking them with new patch updates.

On the topic of patches, they are completely incoherent. The notes are not specific in a meaningful way, forcing players to test out every affected move manually. Bandai will also use confusing language that makes newer players completely lost regarding what exactly changed. Let's use patch 1.40 as an example. In that patch, they added the following change to Super Saiyan Vegeta's "Big Bang Attack":

Originally posted by Bandai Namco Marketing Team, 11/10/2025:

Big Bang Attack
- Increased stun time.

This tells you maybe one thing at most, that the enemy is unable to move for longer after the move makes contact. However, there is no data regarding how much longer the enemy is stunned, if it only affects enemies blocking or those who have been hit, or the motivation behind the change. These details are important for players because A) it's important to know what exactly has changed with a move so you can experiment with said move more effectively, and B) communicating clearly with the player base of your game establishes trust between the two, which will make your players more inclined to buy things from you.

The fact that a company with a TWENTY (20) BILLION DOLLAR MARKET CAP cannot communicate clearly with its customers about the product they are buying is a complete and utter failure. Patches have been communicated like this since the game's release. The fact that Bandai has not made any efforts to improve how they communicate proves my point even further.

Outside of how the company communicates their changes, the actual changes are dubious at best regarding game balance. In the most recent patch (1.40), Bandai added many changes that would make characters more powerful, including the following:

1. Gave Hit an infinite combo that kills from full health with little resources This was patched out in version 1.41 released on October 30th, 2025
   
2. Gave Teen Gohan and Goku (Ultra Instinct) moves with Air or Full invincibility that are safe on block
   
3. Made assist recovery time exactly two seconds, reduced from the previous cooldown of 5 seconds when the game originally launched this was also patched out in 1.41
   
4. Gave UI Goku the ability to use Unrestrained Will (the teleporting shoulder charge) in neutral using the 22S input in the air, this move forces you to guess if he will hit you left vs. right, since the move hits you on frame 30 no matter what side he chooses and is invincible until the move's hitbox becomes active. You also cannot punish this move if you air block it, as he is less than minus 6 on block and has no landing lag if you block it at 3/4ths normal jump height or higher.
   
5. Made Z-Broly's lariats (236L/M/H) safe on block. Since this series of moves gains complete super armor on frame 4, the game lets you call an assist while using this full screen safe on block lariat.

These type of changes completely remove the game from the fighting game identity it once had. Reversal moves with frame 1 invincibility are generally punishable because a move that allows you to gain okizeme or return to neutral for free would be constantly used if it was safe and immediately invincible. Being able to say "wow! i can ignore your offense with this move, so i'll just use it all the time" makes game-play 1-dimensional and predictable. Since other options don't provide as much reward for so little cost, it streamlines decision-making and makes the core element of what makes fighting games fun unavailable to anyone who seeks it out. I also think having fullscreen safe invincible moves on characters who have frame 4 invincible moves that are safe (UI Goku and Z-Broly), also make the game 1 dimensional for pilots of those characters in the same way that safe frame 1 reversals do. Being safe and having a safe frame 4 reversal can turn an unsafe situation into a situation that forces the person who made the correct decision (blocking an invincible move) to guess as if he was at disadvantage.
With the assist and Hit additions, they change the game from "oh, let's navigate neutral and try to hit each other to try to further our advantage" into "oh, lets hit each other so we can kill each other". While the Hit change obviously aids in this shift, the assist change allows players to build teams around long-lasting assists (for example, Super Saiyan Vegeta A assist and Goku (GT) B assist) to turn a single hit into a sparking blast combo. Combos in sparking blast allow your assists to recover during combos, which is normally not possible. This allows a player to fish for any combo to turn it into a kill, regardless of the situation they got the hit in. The changes in 1.41 invalidate this argument.

This shift in mentality reinforces the idea that Bandai Namco does not care about letting players express themselves with multi-dimensional gameplay. They instead invite the player to do the strongest thing without thinking about the implications of their moves.

This behavior is not exclusive to the latest patch; the previous battle version (1.38) had similar changes that aimed to further the power level of every character. Such changes included the following:

1. Gave every character frame 4 invincibility on their level 1 attacks
   
2. Allowed special moves to be canceled into each other when you are in Sparking Blast
   
3. Gave 3 characters (Trunks, Beerus, and Frieza) truly fullscreen normal attacks (3M, 2M, and 5M, respectfully)

While these changes don't seem as bad as the ones in the latest version, they prove a trend that Bandai Namco wants to increase the power level of all characters universally, either with system mechanics or evenly distributed changes to each character's kits.

Because of these changes, I believe Bandai Namco is attempting to use shock factor to bring back casuals to the game. Casuals will see clips of crazy combos on Twitter (X) or YouTube and reinstall the game to check them out. This, on top of the announcement for a new DLC in April 2026, primes casuals to buy the new DLC. This, in turn, lines Bandai Namco's pockets from new players who simply do not care about fighting games. While it makes sense that Bandai gets paid for the DLC they put out, it is DISHONEST to drive away core fans by appeasing people who never cared about the game in the first place. Companies like this should not be trusted with your money or your time. As such, you should not buy this game.

TLDR: This game's power level is only going up, and communication about the game and its power level is nonexistent from the publishers or developers. Changes seem to be made to the game to draw in new people, not to retain an existing audience. As such, buying the game guarantees that you will be disrespected by Bandai as a buyer of this game. Do not buy this game.