Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has become a staple within the community. Over the last ten years, the game has taken on a life of its own, creating multiple storylines I never thought possible when I first picked it up, fresh out of high school. As I enter a whole new chapter of my life, in a lot of ways, so is the franchise, thanks to its newly announced sequel, Xenoverse 3. During Summer Game Fest, I was able to go hands-on with the upcoming game, and as you might have expected, this included a lot of screaming and ki blasts being thrown my way.
For those unaware, Xenoverse takes place in an alternate timeline that’s separate from the one in the anime and manga. Even though it may not be canon, it draws on many of the show’s story beats and introduces original ideas. The basis of the first two games was that you played as an original creator, helping Future Trunks and the Time Patrol ensure everything played out as it was supposed to.
Xenoverse 3, however, is a bit different. This is because the game now takes place in the far future, and most of the heroes we all know and love are no longer around. In the wake of that, a new organization called XXX has been created to keep the peace in the Age 1000.
That’s where my time with the game started. Like all the other Xenoverse games, I was able to create a new original character and pick from a series of races. In the build I got to play, I had the option between an Earthling whose stats were good all around, and the other was a Saiyan who leaned more towards Strike and Key Blast attacks.
Before I was able to run around and throw hands with everyone in front of me, I had the option to lightly explore the general hub in which players would be spending a lot of time. As I was walking around, I saw Future Trunks and Vegeta (Saiyan Saga) hanging around. Before I loaded into the mission, I chatted with Gramma 1 in West City about what we needed to do. (Spoiler alert: it was to fight a bunch of people)
As I was getting ready to start the mission, I had the option to bring companions to help. These included the new original characters we saw in the game’s official debut trailer. Once I officially started up the level, I was blown away by how smooth the game felt.
Xenoverse has always been good at making combat feel fast and smooth, and this was no different. The game threw a lot of enemies at me, but I never felt like I was backed into a corner (even if I was being tossed into a mountain). It was quite the opposite, in fact. Since it’s a full 3D fighting game, you have a lot of room to move around and really play with the environment around you. There were times when I used cliffs for cover or baited a few grunts into exposing themselves.
When I did get swarmed, I was able to use my Ki attacks to help. Something that I immediately fell in love with was my Ultimate Attacks. That was because, as soon as I saw a handful of people flying at me, I charged up a giant Kamehameha that locked onto just about everyone on screen, and as soon as it was shot, they all got a one-way express ticket to the Afterlife.
By the time I reached the end of the level, I was shocked to see Broly waiting for me. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom; there were a couple of reasons. This was largely thanks to my companions, because whenever my health faltered, they would come in and take most of the heat off me. On top of that, there was a new soul-link system.
For the build I had, my character was linked to Future Trunks, and whenever I needed an asset, he would appear and help out. But what was most interesting was that I had an ability called Soul Switch (Need to check later) that would allow me to turn into him. While playing as him, my entire kit changed, and I could perform powerful attacks. But the catch is that this was only for a short amount of time. So I needed to make each hit count. Thankfully, with the power of friendship and a Ki blast, I was able to defeat Broly, and that’s where my demo ended.
The power fantasy was one of the things I especially liked about Xenoverse 3. That’s because Dragon Ball is all about becoming stronger, and that’s exactly what I was doing while playing. Sure, my build was locked in, but I felt myself learning new combos and techs as I continued to play, and if I had to take a guess, I’m positive that the power scaling for my character and everything around me will only increase as time goes on. With the game taking place in a new setting that we’ve never seen before, I’m excited to see what’s in store for it upon the game’s full release.
