Yep. It's one of these threads. I'm sure this hasn't been done to death, by now, ha hah.
Anyway. I've played a little bit of both of these projects and both of them are very impressive in their own ways. However, each of them also has their own flaws…
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Dragon Ball Online Global / Revival
Overview:
A nearly-complete experience that focuses on functionality over "flash", but still has a long way to go before it's "definitive".
- Simple launcher with patch notes and language options.
- Playable in several different languages – including the original Korean and Chinese.
- Very regularly updated and well-maintained.
- Encourages new players with helpful gifts and items. (A slow-ish vehicle at Level 1, "Popo Boxes" every couple of levels with healing items, and so on.)
- Realistic EXP and Zeni drop rates.
- Larger initial Bank Storage size than Zenkai. (16 rather than 7.)
- All sound effects play when they should and all graphics display when-and-where they should.
- The launcher requires confirmation via User Control Account to run under modern versions of Windows. (Old / unsigned software usually triggers this.)
- The launcher doesn't close when the DragonBallOnline client opens.
- The launcher doesn't save the user's login information. (This could be a "pro" for some people.)
- Small community with minimal players online at any given time.
- Some translation errors and inconsistencies. ("Orc Monument" rather than "Beastman Monument"?)
- Some untranslated content such as side-quests and characters.
- No clear indication about how much of the content has been translated, nor in what languages.
- Inaccessible quests. (Example: There's a Level 7 quest regarding a "Follower of Baba" that appears on the region map, but can't be accessed.)
- Occasional line break issues and frequent text overflow in dialogue boxes. (For example, the word "loaded" may end up displaying as "load" with "ed" on the next line.)
- Smaller base inventory size than Zenkai. (16 slots instead of 24.)
- Game and forum accounts are separate. (A player has to register for the forum separately from the game and vice-versa.)
Dragon Ball Online Zenkai
Overview:
A very pretty and very professional-looking experience, but very much an ongoing effort which isn't for the impatient.
- Professional presentation, right down to the website.
- Enhanced launcher with launch options, patch notes, and a language selection.
- Launcher can save up to five login accounts.
- Playable in several different languages – including the original Korean and Chinese.
- Enhanced launcher shows exactly how much content has been translated in each of the languages.
- Prettier in-game fonts and multiple different fonts in use.
- Provides a wider range of in-game options for interface customization.
- Character creation shows a preview of adult and transformation forms.
- Realistic EXP and Zeni drop rates.
- Larger base inventory size than Global. (24 slots instead of 16.)
- Text is, for the most part, formatted properly.
- The player's Scouter can be upgraded and displays a proper On/Off message when toggled.
- Game and forum accounts are unified. (A player can login to the forum with their game account.)
- Even smaller community with even less players than Global.
- Game options occasionally fail to save properly, such as controls or window options.
- None of the translations are 100% complete. (In particular, the Polish translation is barely started, at this point.)
- "Bug fix" patches are rare as the game is updated in bursts. (As of writing, it's impossible to equip / unequip anything or even sort one's inventory without the use of a Bank. Yes, really.)
- Less seasonal events than Global.
- The game client seems a little more resource-intensive than the Global one. (Though neither one will make your budget laptop break a sweat.)
- Smaller Bank size than Global. (7 rather than 16.)
- Some graphics don't appear when they should. (For example, the "Age" markers when doing Time Rift quests.)
- Some sound effects don't play.
- (For example, the "objective updated" noise for quests.)
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Honestly, I'd love to see these two versions of the game come together and make an ultimate version that's pretty, authentic, and lots of fun, but I understand that the founders of each project have their own differing priorities. For my (non-)money, though? I'm leaning toward Global as the version to play, right now because, despite the text formatting bugs and the somewhat annoying automated events and notifications, it really does feel more "finished" than Zenkai. That, and I'm a player who constantly needs to organize their inventory. So, you know, not being able to do that in Zenkai really kind of ruins things for me. Hee~
Thanks for reading!