Dragon Ball fans were treated to plenty of exciting announcements at Games Battle Hour over the weekend, like more DLC coming for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. Fans also got an extended glimpse at Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, which also teased another possible adaptation of the Resurrection ‘F’ film. The biggest announcement was the reveal that Dragon Ball Project Age 1000 was in fact Xenoverse 3, which was leaked back in February.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is due out in 2027, more than a decade after the last entry in the series. The first Xenoverse dropped in February 2015 and the sequel arrived in October 2016. Since then, Xenoverse 2 has been supported with too many DLC packs to count. It’s a great, must-play RPG for Dragon Ball fans. If you haven’t checked it out yet, now would be the time to do so, since Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 leaves Xbox Game Pass at the end of April.
Like its predecessor, Xenoverse 2 plays with established Dragon Ball canon to tell a unique story. You create your own character, a Time Patroller who works with Trunks to protect the timeline. Each of the five playable races has different strengths and weaknesses, like the Saiyans, who have low health but strong attacks. All races get transformation skills like Kaioken, while Saiyan characters have access to a smorgasbord of powerful transformations, like Super Saiyan Blue or Gohan’s Beast form from Super Hero.
I created a Saiyan and named him Taro, in keeping with the series’s tradition of vegetable Saiyan names. Having him fight alongside the Z Warriors is a delight. He keeps getting sent to the most consequential events in Dragon Ball, fights his way to victory, and dips out like he was never there.
The off-kitler riff on consequential events gives Xenoverse 2 narrative momentum. If you want Dragon Ball’s story played straight, 2020’s Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot excels at doing just that. But if you want to fight both Vegeta and Nappa as Great Apes, or duke it out with brothers Frieza and Cooler simultaneously as Namek slowly (very slowly) explodes, then Xenoverse 2 is for you. It continually plays with time travel and continuity, by doing things like making non-canon film villains huge parts of its story. That willingness to play fast and loose with the series’s history gives it an identity separate from most other Dragon Ball games.
Xenoverse 2’s fighting may not be as deep as Dragon Ball FighterZ, but it’s still a good time. You have everything you’d expect from an arena fighter Dragon Ball game: melee combo strings, racing after your opponent after you send them flying, and ki blasts out the wazoo. I may result to straight-up button mashing more than I’d care to admit, but even mashing a light attack combo still makes for a fun time.
The character customization carries over into combat as well. You can change your created character’s loadout, fine-tuning their moveset and abilities. Dump all your attributes into strikes and melee specials, and show your foes why these hands are rated E for Everyone. Conversely, go ki attack heavy and spam Kamehameha until your heart’s content. (You know you want to.) The RPG elements actually matter in Xenoverse 2, and playing with builds is part of the fun.
There’s a lot on offer in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, including the main story quests, plenty of side missions, and a bevy of DLC. It leaves Xbox Game Pass on Thursday, April 30, so you still have a weekend gaming binge ahead of you if you don’t want to miss out. Xenoverse 2 is also frequently on sale across digital storefronts if you want to pick it up and ensure the time-traveling adventures never end.
