Dragon Ball Xenoverse is one of the better Dragon Ball games, for a variety of reasons, and is one of those rare gems that objectively isn’t a phenomenal titles, but will be extremely worthwhile for the correct fanbase. Dragon Ball Xenoverse is solid and enjoyable title that fans of Dragon Ball Z will love, and is only brought down by a few design flaws and shortcomings.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Developer: Dimps
Price: $60
Platform: PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One (Reviewed)
A review copy of Dragon Ball Xenoverse was supplied to us by Namco Bandai
Dragon Ball Xenoverse starts by throwing you into some of the most iconic battles from Dragon Ball Z. 
Playing as Goku for most of these scenes which are in essence tutorial levels. They teach the player about combat, button mechanics, ki and stamina. Soon after you defeat every enemy thrown at you, something seems off. All of the most powerful villans, Frieza, Cell and Buu, are getting back up after they should’ve been done for. You are then thrown into a character customization menu, allowing players to choose a male or female character or multiple Dragon Ball races. These races include Humans, Saiyans, Freiza Clan, Majin, and Namekians. Each race is very unique in their play styles. For example, Namekians aren’t very powerful offensively, but they have the highest base health stats of any race by far and have quickly recharging stamina. This system is very fleshed out, and allows players to create unique characters with vastly different stats from the get go.
Apparently, the character you’ve just created was retrieved by Shenron at the request of Trunks with use of the Dragon Balls. Trunks goes on to tell you that he’s a member of the “Time Patrol,” a somewhat silly if not appropriate name, and that he needs you to help him restore the time stream. After a few more tutorials and systems the game becomes more apparent. Dragon Ball Xenoverse borrows some mechanics from MMO games like Destiny, complete with story missions, side missions and a main hub with hundreds of other players. A great feature is Dragon Ball Xenoverse is the ability to play the game offline, which is necessary due to its frequent server issues at launch.
The main story, if anything, is interesting and mostly enjoyable. The entire main story is built around the player correcting integral moments in history. These include the death of Raditz, Vegeta’s arrival, Freiza’s destruction of Namek and pretty much every other big moment you can think of from Cell to Majin Buu. Because of a mysterious entity, these events have been changed, and now the fights all lean in evil’s favor. Like when Gohan gets angry and sucker punches Raditz, allowing for Goku and Piccolo to subdue him. In the altered timeline Gohan misses, and is then destroyed by Raditz. Most of the missions are enjoyable and appropriately challenging, but on occasion there are missions with too few checkpoints or stretched out portions where instead of taking on 5 assailants there are 20. Sadly, most AI supporters are often underpowered as well. But aside from a few overly long missions, everything else is solid. There’s the occasional cheesy or misplaced dialogue, but overall most of the story is actually on par with the show.
Graphically, Xenoverse is impressive in its style. The graphics are about as close as one could hope to achieve to the show in a 3D world, and all of the combat and map effects feel very akin to show. Dragon Ball Xenovers also features hand-drawn cut scenes alongside in-game ones, bringing the game even closer to its origins. Technologically the graphics are moderate, but they’ll do just fine for any of the fans.
Combat is especially satisfying in Xenoverse even if it’s hard to learn at first. Every character has base light and heavy 
attack, along with ranged low-level ki blasts. These can all be performed with a simple button. Then there are skills, both super and ultimate, that are assigned manually to buttons. Super attacks are used by pressing the right trigger and then the corresponding button (if you have some ki), and Ultimate attacks are used by holding both triggers and pressing the corresponding button. Every attack from the show is a skill you can use. Skills also include transformations to Kaioken and Super Saiyan, traversal techniques and special abilities. With the MMO style of unlocking and purchasing abilities no two characters are alike.
Online connectivity has been a bit unstable, but when it works Xenoverse is all the better for it. Side missions can be completed cooperatively. You can bring AI alongside you on these missions, but other players are much more useful. Player vs. Player combat is incredibly fun, fast-paced and challenging, although there is no scaling so I recommend you only challenge those of your level or wait until later.
The Final Word
Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a game for fans of the show, fighting games and MMOs alike. Although some elements are technologically challenged or more or less average, this game is enjoyable. With fleshed out leveling, combat and skill systems, Dragon Ball Xenoverse can keep you engaged for months to come.
– MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
