Though millions of people around the world are familiar the Dragon Ball manga, anime, games, and other kinds of cultural artifacts, only some fighting game and anime fans may know the name Arc System Works. For years, the developer has been quietly creating some of the deepest, most technical fighting games on the planet. But now that it's teamed up with Bandai Namco to create Dragon Ball FighterZ, Arc System Works has a chance to make an even bigger name for itself while also expanding the audience for fighting games. We've played the most recent build of the fast-paced, accessible fighter (including the four most recently-announced characters) and have histories, impressions, and more to share with you in this month's cover story.

Dragon Ball FighterZ takes a simple (but chaotic) approach to adapting the enormously influential series to a video game. As a 2D fighter, it emphasizes frantic, three-on-three team battles over worldbuilding, but a deep appreciation of the source material shows in every animation, whether it be a character's introduction sequence or their special and super moves. Taking cues from more recent Dragon Ball efforts such as Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Xenoverse, FighterZ hopes to not only have a story mode breaking out of the series' set-in-stone sagas, but s fighter that Dragon Ball and fighting game fans can sink their teeth into for years to come. We have twelve pages covering Bandai Namco's plans for FighterZ, the history of Arc System Works, and more details on Yamcha, Tien, SSGSS Goku, SSGSS Vegeta, details on Android 21, information about the game's story mode, as well as details on a new, secretive feature you won't find anywhere else.

You can check our cover by clicking the image below to open the full spread.

We also have a month of exclusive online coverage for FighterZ, including interviews, videos, new gameplay, and more. I'll let Dragon Ball Z narrator Kyle Hebert give you the full breakdown.

In this month's issue, along with learning all about FighterZ, you can also check out Kyle Hilliard's deep dive into Dragon Ball's history with games.. Brian Shea also examines Nintendo's recent bid to court independent developers with a new initiative and department, as well as some of the new Kingdoms in Super Mario Odyssey. Javy Gwaltney breaks down Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus' heroes and villains. Jeff Marchiafava has a full breakdown of what we can expect from the Xbox One X. We also have previews for Horizon Zero Dawn's Frozen Wilds DLC, Ni No Kuni 2, Planet of the Apes: The Last Frontier, and No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, among others. You will also find our final our verdicts on Destiny 2, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, Divinity: Original Sin II, Metroid: Samus Returns, and several more.

Print subscribers can expect their issues to begin arriving in the next few days. Can’t wait that long? The digital edition of the issue is available later today on PC/Mac, iOS, Android, and Google Play. You can also get the latest issue through third-party apps on Nook, Kindle, and Zinio starting tomorrow. To switch your print subscription to digital, click here, or to create a new subscription to the digital edition, click here.

To see our entire month of Dragon Ball FighterZ coverage, click in the banner below and bookmark our hub. We'll have several stories to add to it in the coming days and weeks.