Dragon Ball Legends looks like an anime fan's dream on paper: flash-happy 3D combat, fast 3v3 action, and an original storyline featuring Akira Toriyama character art. Swipe controls make throwing energy blasts and dodging snappy, giving young fighting fans immediate payoff.

Under the slick hood, though, sits a standard free-to-play mobile revenue engine. The game centers on gacha mechanics, where unlocking top-tier fighters depends on chance-based card summons that heavily incentivize buying virtual currency. Combined with real-time online PvP where paying players routinely hold the advantage, the friction points stack up quickly.

If your kid wants to jump in, set strict limits on in-app purchases right from the start. As a casual, zero-dollar anime fighter, it's flashy fun; as a long-term competitive pursuit, it's designed to tap their wallet.