The Dragon Ball franchise is often regarded as highly influential, not only by the series veterans who’ve followed its meteoric rise across the globe, but also the newcomers to manga and anime who, without its severe popularity, might never have explored those avenues. In the past, as exciting and as over the top as they can be, Dragon Ball games have largely felt all too familiar with each other, let’s hope its first venture onto the newest generation of consoles can spice things up a little.
In a hope to freshen up the series of games that, unfortunately, can’t delve into new canon story arcs, developers’ Dimps have chosen to incorporate the ol’ fan favourite time travel mechanic. Instead of repeating classic storylines from the past ad nauseam, instances in time have been altered in order to create some seriously fan-salivating moments. Whilst the plot itself will neither truly excite nor disappoint fans, it’s the clear attention to fan-fiction that will prevail; thinking of the game as more of a sequence of ‘what if’ moments will largely set the tone for what you’ll be playing. The inevitable downside being that, once more, newcomers to the series will likely not appreciate, or even vaguely understand the source material here.
New in this iteration, is the inclusion of a loose, if not terribly addictive set of RPG mechanics to tinker with. Starting out, you’ll create a character from a fairly diverse set of races including Saiyans, Majins and others; with each race also possessing bespoke abilities that are reflected in the show. That’s not where it ends either, you’ll also have to pick between either a male or female combatant, the male being physically stronger, in comparison to the females’ higher agility. Once you’ve finally plastered on an outfit and of course, chosen the most outrageously overt hairstyle, it’s pretty much time to explore the city of Toki-Toki.
In a style oddly reminiscent of Destiny’s Tower, Toki-Toki is where the MMO style (yes that’s right, MMO) hub is located. From here you can strut about, adorned in all but the commonest of clothing options, hoping people will notice your, not entirely unique pose. Clearly aimed around a centric community atmosphere, you can form up groups, request help from others, and even start a ruckus with a stranger, the usual stuff really. Whilst it seems to be the way games are going in this generation, they do still require a little work in terms of fluidity and streamlining. The separation between having an eye watering, airborne battle, complete with more anime effects than you can physically comprehend, before trotting about casually on your way to the shop is jarring to say the least. I suppose everyone has to have some downtime, but the pedestrian pacing can often be too much, especially when a simple menu would often suffice.
On top of the starting levels of customisation, Dragon Ball XenoVerse has plenty of loot tricks up its ghee too. On your way through the games’ many, many quests, there are quite literally hundreds of skills and pieces of equipment to unlock and acquire, not only satiating many a hoarders needs but also attempting to ensure each character can have a fairly versatile and distinct feel from one another.
It wouldn’t be a Dragon Ball game without completely over the top battles; needless to say, this one doesn’t disappoint either. Whilst the combat might seem a tad too familiar to veterans of the series, there’s still a lot to appreciate. Fighting still takes place in enormous, dense and rich 3D arenas ripe for exciting brawls. Alongside the myriad of moves at your whim, there’s also a smattering of destructibility to the environments too, perhaps not as much as I’d like, but enough to echo moments of the show when they do occur. Attempting to once more add to the veritable spectacle are the 3 vs 3 fights where you would expect all hell to break loose. Unfortunately, they’re more frustrating than epic as your AI controlled ‘teammates’ will just nonchalantly sit back and relax whilst you’re getting beaten from all angles. It doesn’t help that the targeting system largely shows its true colours here either, often being the cause of many a cock up.
Once more, in terms of fighting, people new to the series will struggle to keep up for quite some time. There is a tutorial, but as is the trend with pretty much every fighting game, it’s of little help. Grasping the basics should, and will certainly inspire some to explore further into chaining attacks and such, but the true newcomer will likely be either spamming basic attacks or getting beaten up relentlessly. When eventually you do end up playing with some modicum of skill, the fights can genuinely become as epic as some of the franchises most well renowned moments. Patience and experimentation are usually their own rewards with fighting games; this is no different.
Whilst there is fantastic roster of nearly 50 fighters to choose from, I felt that my own unique(ish) creation was always my go-to character. Levelling up and unlocking both abilities and game altering items was by far my greatest draw. Others who’re much better versed in the lore of the series than I will likely relish the opportunities of certain matchups and scenarios, but I’m always partial to a little levelling! Content is certainly one area where the game simply doesn’t let up, as described earlier there’s no shortage of missions, unlockables and playable characters to whet ones appetite. Add to this, the sheer amount of fan service included and devotees of the Dragon Ball universe are bound to be happy.
Dragon Ball XenoVerse is probably the nearest you’re likely to have come so far, to playing an interactive version of the show. It simply looks fantastic. The outrageous special moves and detailing of each and every character really help draw you in to the game. Vibrant and bright colours splash everywhere and are a treat in comparison to the many variants of brown and grey on offer elsewhere. The only slight let down sadly being the city of Toki-Toki, without much interaction on offer besides a smattering of shops and quests, for a hub, it seems a little too sparse and barren for somewhere to truly savour and enjoy.
There’s no doubt about it, XenoVerse has been imagined, designed and tailored for the fans. It’s got a plot that they won’t instantly know the outcome of; it’s got set pieces with a variety of ‘what if’ situations and a decent RPG base. The unfortunate downside to this is that newcomers won’t have a clue what’s going on for the most part. The story will make no sense and the tutorial’s lacking anything beyond basic actions. If you can get past that however, there’s no shortage of content to sink your teeth into.
