Dragonball Xenoverse 2 Review: A Return To Form

Developed By: Dimps

Published By: Bandai Namco

Release Date: October 25, 2016

Platforms: Xbox One (reviewed), PS4, PC

Price: $59.99

I have been a huge fan of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z franchises since they first came to the states when I was a kid. Any fan like myself who has played almost every one of the games associated with the Dragonball franchise, with all of the duds and the select few that really kept that fire burning, really appreciated the original Xenoverse and the huge step it was in the right direction for the series in general. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely had its flaws and things that needed improvement but it got that fire stoked of what could be. Xenoverse 2 in turn it gave us a true sequel and was the first game that can actually show some appeal to people who aren’t the most familiar with the Dragon Ball world. With the series still moving forward with the new animated series Dragon Ball Super this game is left open for a good amount of DLC to keep interest for the long haul.

You still choose from the same old races Earthling, Frieza, Majin, Namekian, and Saiyan. Yes, I did just say Frieza race, someone didn’t put too much effort into that one. You can choose male or female for each of these except for the “Frieza” race. I went through a decent amount of the storyline with each race they all have their strengths and weaknesses. The most well rounded one in my opinion is the Frieza race. (that was hard to say)

Gameplay

The biggest improvement from the original to Xenoverse 2 is the addition of a new hub world called Conton City, when you first start you can either run, fly, or use a little hover board to get around the city a little bit faster. But once you get through Frieza and Cooler in the story line you are given the ability to fly around the city which makes traveling to trainers and missions a lot less annoying.

Storyline

One of the things pretty much all of the previous games really lacked is any sort of deviation off of the same old story line that we all know and love. I do really appreciate the story line of the original series and the fact that the games have really followed it to a tee up to this point but let’s be honest here it was time to mix things up. I loved the changes to the story line that were implemented into this game with different dark characters interfering with the normal story and providing those original characters with more powerful abilities throughout the story to provide that little bit of change that really kept me guessing where they may jump in at any moment in any of the sagas.

I would have loved to give this game a higher total score but it was far from perfect and there is always room to improve. Visually the game is quite impressive and really is a beautiful game to play whether it’s during combat or just roaming around the city. I really enjoyed the improvements that were made to what I saw as a somewhat robotic battle style to a much smoother and user friendly combat. The main reason I rated this game as an 80 is that it does still follow the same story line for the most part that we have seen for the past 15 or so years with just subtle changes also I am still not a fan of the whole time detective aspect of this series, though it provides an easy gateway into all of the time periods and sagas but in my opinion is still a little silly.