‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ wins with players and press

A round of strong reviews match an enthusiastic commercial reception for “Dragon Ball FighterZ”, while “Subnautica” is buoyed by its release from early access, and “Blik” shows its staying power amid comparisons to puzzle great “Portal 2” come Monday, Jan. 29, 2018.

Positioned as an essential pro-level tournament title, “Dragon Ball FighterZ” appears to have delivered on its promise with critical accolades as well as fan appreciation.

Launching January 26 outside of Japan across Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the PC version lands in Steam’s third and fourth places; a quirk usually ascribed to multiple retail editions, such as pre-order versions and packages including season passes and so on.

It’s also in top spot on Gamersgate, and accumulating a collection of high scores from game reviewers thanks to its combination of slick animé-grade visuals, tightly developed fighting styles, entertaining storyline and wide-ranging character roster.

Also enjoying a well-anticipated launch is “Subnautica,” an underwater survival and construction game which allows players to choose to contend with hostile sea creatures or simply build and explore to their hearts’ content; in Creative Mode, scary marine predators are still swimming around, but are happy to ignore you instead of eat you.

Available through Steam during its public development phase on PC since late 2014 (and on Xbox One since 2016), it’s a successful experiment in less violent gameplay from the team that created well-praised shooter “Natural Selection 2”: In “Subnautica,” players cannot simply slay the enemy when confronted by a hungry deep sea creature, instead finding different ways around an otherwise lethal problem.

Over on Itch.io, a demo for “Blik” stays in the top five ahead of a Feb. 6 full release on Steam.

The puzzle adventure preview wears its primary influence proudly, with plentiful visual and mechanical similarities to 2011’s excellent “Portal 2”, but wormholes are exchanged for energy-reflecting mirrors.

And there’s a gorgeously warm soundtrack greeting players on startup.

“PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” has spent 44 consecutive weeks at the top of the Steam chart.

Steam*
1. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
2. Subnautica
3. Dragon Ball FighterZ
4. Dragon Ball FighterZ
5. Total War: Warhammer II – Rise of the Tomb Kings
*Steam chart based on revenue rather than units.

Humble Store
1. Tom Clancy’s The Division – Gold Edition
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition
3. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
4. ARK: Survival Evolved
5. Destiny 2

GamersGate EU
1. Dragon Ball FighterZ
2. Unreal Deal Pack
3. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Year 3 Pass
4. Conan Exiles
5. Construction Simulator 2015

Fanatical
1. Skullgirls 2-Pack
2. Nemesis Bundle 5
3. Doom (2016)
4. Spintires: Mudrunner
5. Chronicle Bundle

GOG
1. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – Obsidian
Edition (pre-order)
2. Divinity: Original Sin 2
3. Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition
4. Railway Empire
5. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (pre-order)

Itchio’s Most Popular
1. AgnesDoll
2. Late Night Wanderer
3. Happy World
4. Blik
5. Apocryph: an old-school shooter
JB

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