The DragonBall universe has been around for years but still remains very popular. It’s been a while since a DragonBall game was released but now that Xenoverse is up for sale, fans of the franchise finally got the game they always dreamed of. In this game, you’ll create your own warrior to join the historical combat scenes of the anime. But is it all really that good?
We need a new hero… We need you.
Playing as your own avatar is new for the DragonBall universe, so a reason why this is possible is needed. A new and powerful enemy has corrupted the timeline of the DragonBall characters. This enemy is capable of changing the course of time. This means that victories from the past can change to devastating losses in the present.
Trunks, who’s part of the future Z Warriors, summoned the mighty Dragon and wished for a strong new fighter to take down this new danger. This is where you enter the game. Creating your character will take some time since there’s simply a lot that you can change. First of all you can select the race you want. Ever wanted to be the brother of Frieza? Or perhaps you’d like to be a mighty Saiyan? Why not even a normal earthling? Picking your race is the first step in creating your warrior. Afterwards you’ll be given a lot of freedom in order to create the warrior of your dreams.
Once your character is created, you can assist Trunks in his mission to prevent famous Z warriors to fail in combat. The ‘new’ history always features a stronger enemy that you’ll need to take down side by side with famous characters. It’s a shame that making the enemies stronger is the only change is this story.
Welcome to Toki-Toki city.
As you might have guessed, Xenoverse is rather different form other DragonBall games. This time, you won’t find any game modes in menus; everything is gathered in one central HUB, Toki-Toki City. This big but rather empty city is home for a lot of shops to get your hands on new clothes, abilities and items but that’s not all.
Aside of the shops, you’ll also find important buildings for combat. Some will let you battle friends, while other locations take you straight to your next mission. Setting up a central HUB is great but since it’s a little empty, the best way to play is online. While playing online, you’ll see other custom characters running around town. You can fight those or join them in specific quests. Fighting enemies is also a bit different then before.
Huge arenas to fight.
Battles in Xenoverse can be compared to the battles of Tenkaichi episodes.This means you won’t fight on a ‘flat’ environment like classic fighting games, you’ll fight in huge 3D arenas and this comes with some changes. The biggest one is of course the freedom to move away from your enemy. Since you’re playing with a hero, flying isn’t a problem at all. A lot of the fights therefore consist out of attacking, flying, blocking and attacking. Learning the controls isn’t hard but is something you’ll need to master on your own. This game hardly gives any tutorials so the combat can be brutal at first.
During battles you can also charge up a powerful attack to inflict even more damage. Those attacks need time to load but really are worth it in the end. Aside of those attacks, dodging at the right time is crucial if you want to last longer. If you’re able to dodge at the right time, you’ll ‘teleport’ to your opponent to give him a serious beat down.
Battling your enemies is fun thanks to this freedom but don’t be mistaken. Xenoverse is a hard game to complete; defeating legendary enemies won’t be easy so you’re better prepared to train as hard as possible.
Play with others.
Beside the regular, Time Patrol (story) missions, you’ll also be able to go all out in Parallel Quests. These Quests aren’t affected by the main story but offer some fun missions. Want to take down Vegeta as Goku and Raditz? It’s no problem at all in the Parallel Quests! These quests can be played offline where you’re joined by a CPU or online together with another player. It’s no surprise that hooking up with another fighter is way more fun than playing it offline! These Parallel Quests are great and give you the needed experience to advance in the main story.
Want to fight other players? That’s possible in the Battle Mode. This is the only mode where you can truly compare your power to that of other players. These battles allow a maximum of three VS three and are another fun game mode.
So Xenoverse isn’t a MMO but is something in between. You can play everything while staying offline but the game is way more fun online. Playing online feels more natural and it really is the way the developers intended it to be.
Conclusion:
All in all we can say that DragonBall Xenoverse took us back to our youth, back to our favorite Z Warriors. It’s a fun game for sure and the story has some interesting twists to the original story. The addition of Parallel Quests is great and fighting other players remains fun for years. The game is meant for fans so newcomers will have a hard time with figuring out the controls and combat. It isn’t an easy game and it isn’t the best looking game on the market but it’s a lot of fun to play!
