As a huge DRAGON BALL fan, my lack of interest in the Xenoverse franchise has always been an internal point of contention with myself. “You love DRAGON BALL, why don’t you want to play the Xenoverse games?” I ask myself. Well, I believe that the answer is typically because they have been alternate timelines from the main series, non-canon stories, if you will. And so, when presented with the opportunity to see a hands-off demo of Xenoverse 3 at Summer Game Fest, my excitement was somewhat muted.
What a fool I have been. I realized that, while watching the demonstration take place and listening to the PR reps discuss the game, I was wrong to write off the Xenoverse games simply because they are alternate, what-if timelines to the universe. I had a realization that its not just the stories of the world of DRAGON BALL that I love, but the art style, the characters, and the storytelling that I adore. Xenoverse 3 takes place in Age 1000, which has never been explored in previous DRAGON BALL stories. There are going to be both familiar faces and new characters, which is something I find very exciting.
One of the key features of the game is actually learning about these new characters. For example, in this new era, there is a Great Saiyaman Squad that protects West City (the game’s primary setting), and one of those characters is named Brett. We were also shown Bulma, and were told that she is, in fact, the real Bulma, which leads into the greater mystery of this game and how the “familiar faces” are in this far-flung future. The team was very clear to emphasize that it was the same producer across all the Xenoverse games, and that “connection” is a key theme in the series.
The game promises to allow freedom, too, in how you choose to protect the world, following the steps of classic heroes like Goku and Vegeta, or the opportunity to carve your own path. You are creating your own custom character, with many races available to choose from, though the demo we were shown only had Earthling and Saiyan. Each race will have its own natural advantages to the stats the power the character, too. One neat aspect is that you as the player have your own room in West City as a home base where you customize the character, and eventually can “clean up” the room (it was messy in the demo). You are also free to wonder around the apartment that your room is located in, and while wondering in the demo we saw Future Trunks and Vegeta. As noted, West City is the primary setting, the PR team referred to it as the “hub” of the game. From there, you will also be able to receive side missions from characters.
As you go out on missions, up to three companions can join you. Combat looked relatively standard for a DRAGON BALL game, with light and heavy attacks, ki blasts, and flight. What looked different, and this may be because of my lack of familiarity with the prior Xenoverse games, is there was a cooldown system for special abilities, like a Kamehameha or Galick Gun. I’m left wondering how those cooldowns will impact the feel of playing, as most Dragon Ball games I’ve played are fighting games, where special abilities are input driven, though the PR reps did tell us that some abilities will shorten the cooldowns of other abilities. Another seemingly unique aspect of these abilities is that there are resistances and weaknesses, so some abilities do better against certain enemies, which I haven’t seen in Dragon Ball games previously.
I’m not sure why, but it seems like the new hotness in games with melee combat is a stagger meter, and DRAGON BALL Xenoverse 3 is no different. Everyone has a ki bar which will act as your stagger meter, and if it drops to zero, the enemies are stunned (it was not clear if you get stunned when the ki bar reaches zero). If your health drops to zero, one of your companions can come over to revive you within a limited amount of time. Other interesting features include the Soul Assist, that lets a backup character come in and assist you temporarily, and a Soul Switch, which literally lets you switch to a different character for a short while. The Soul Switch changes also refills your health, changes your combat style, and swaps your ultimate ability. And if you wondered about Super Saiyans? Well, that’s in lieu of a Soul Switch to another character.
Even though I’ve never played a Xenoverse game, DRAGON BALL Xenoverse 3 got my quite interested in giving it a chance. I’m not sure how I feel about some of the changes to combat away from what I’ve traditionally known, but the concept of having this city to explore, side missions and characters around, and a game so far removed from the story we all know and love is quite enticing. We don’t have a release date as of publishing this preview, but it is slated for 2027. The game has me interested enough that maybe I’ll go and check out the prior two Xenoverse games before it releases. I’ll leave it to the experienced Xenoverse players to say if the changes here are good or bad, but what I saw left me more excited than I thought I would ever be for a Xenoverse game.
