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While Bandai Namco continues to unveil more characters for Dragon Ball FighterZ on a regular basis, we know comparatively little about the game's story mode. A new interview by Game Informer, however, has revealed a few more details about the mysterious campaign.

In the interview, Dragon Ball FighterZ producer Tomoko Hirok spoke more about the game's story mode, which Hirok confirmed will feature three different story arcs. As we recently learned, players will be "linked" to different characters during each arc, which is partially a way to explain how you take control of them while playing. "I know it's meta, but you are playing a fighting game as the characters, and in that sense, that's portrayed in the story, too," Hirok said. However, the idea of linking up with characters is more than a plot device; it has some bearing on the gameplay, as you can develop bonds with characters the more you play as them.

"In order to become stronger, you need to speak with Goku inside the mind, and as you defeat more enemies, you grow a bond with Goku that will give you a sense of you actually fighting with and alongside Goku himself," Hirok explained. "In a sense, you're getting friendly with Goku, which could lead to having special conversations with him and other characters." She also mentioned Vegeta as an example. "Vegeta may give you the cold shoulder at first, but as you become more friendly, he may open a side of him you've never seen before."

One of the other major components of the game's story mode is Android 21, the original character who was designed by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama for FighterZ. Hirok didn't reveal many new details about the enigmatic Android, but she did shed a bit more light on the character.

"[Android 21] was a scientist with intelligence on par with Dr. Gero and was involved in various technologies, which brought about what's happening in the story through her experiments," Hirok said. However, she wouldn't specify whether the new Android had some sort of relation to Dr. Gero. "I can say that she has ties with the Red Ribbon Army."

Hirok also teased some significance to the Android's gender. "There's two reasons behind why [Android 21] is a female," Hirok said. "One is a story-driven reason that I can't disclose yet, which will only come to light through the story of the game, so I really want our players to enjoy learning more about why she's a female then. As for the other reason, it was simply because Dragon Ball has a lot of male characters, and we wanted a female character to liven-up the game world."

Just yesterday, Bandai Namco announced a release date for Dragon Ball FighterZ. The game launches for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in North America and Europe on January 26, 2018. Players who pre-order the title will unlock Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta early as a bonus. Those who reserve the game digitally from the Xbox and PlayStation Stores, meanwhile, will get early access to the game's open beta. Bandai Namco has also announced a DLC season pass that adds eight new characters to the roster.

Source: GameSpot