Dragon Ball, created by the legendary Akira Toriyama, is undoubtedly one of the most famous manga and anime series of all time, with millions of fans around the world gripped by the high-octane fights between the likes of eternal rivals Goku and Vegeta and many, many others. In terms of video game adaptations, there has been a plethora of Dragon Ball titles, the vast majority of which, unsurprisingly, fall under the umbrella of the fighting game genre.
One of the most popular and commercially successful sub-series is DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE, developed, like many Dragon Ball games, by Japanese studio Dimps. Whereas most Dragon Ball adaptations retell the story of Goku and company, what most sets the two XENOVERSE entries apart is that they allow for players to create their own characters, who then go on to serve as the protagonists of brand-new stories written just for these titles.
11 years after the release of the original XENOVERSE and 10 years after its sequel, Bandai Namco and Dimps have announced DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3, slated for release sometime next year. Beyond retaining what makes this sub-series memorable, this new iteration promises to reintroduce players to Age 1000 – the time period featured in the now defunct MMORPG Dragon Ball Online and the furthest point in the franchise’s timeline.
Earlier this month, Bandai Namco invited me to attend a roughly 20-minutes long hands-off demonstration of DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 and I’m happy to report that the showcase left me impressed. To kick off the proceedings, two key things were explained to me: a) that the world here is brand-new but featuring original and familiar alike, and b) that XENOVERSE 3 exchanges former hub areas for a vibrant hub city in the form of a future version of Dragon Ball’s West City, now dubbed New City. In New City, then, the player character is a recruit of the Great Saiyaman Squad alongside Brett – an Earthling recruit who is likely to play a pivotal role in the story.
“…the gameplay at the heart of DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 looked rather tried and true: expect earth-shattering combos, instant transmissions and ki blasts galore.”
As for the narrative behind DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3, players can expect to step into a world that Goku and his allies once protected, with them having to protect it now, in their absence. Little else was revealed about the game’s story during this presentation, but the producer, Masahiro Kashino, who held the same position for the original game and its sequel, called out “connection” as one of the central themes behind the narrative and this is evident as, although the circumstances are new, I was able to spot familiar characters such as Bulma, Vegeta and Piccolo. For now, how and why said familiar characters find themselves in New City remains a mystery.
Otherwise, the gameplay at the heart of DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 looked rather tried and true: expect earth-shattering combos, instant transmissions and ki blasts galore. Instead, what I found more interesting is how the gameplay is set up. For starters, this new game will allow for up to three different official and/or custom characters to join the player on missions, which can open up interesting attacking scenarios.
Adding to that, all of the four “super attacks” that the player has available during missions – Kamehameha, Gallick Gun and so on – are customisable to, in theory, account for the greater variety of enemy types that can be encountered. The Bandai Namco representatives in charge of this presentation made it clear multiple times that having the correct loadout will be paramount to the success of each mission, but it remains to be seen to what extent that will prove true.
The final gameplay element on show was the so-called “ultimate ability”, which allowed the player character, which, in this case, was an Earthling, to “soul-switch” or change into a version of Future Trunks, complete with his trademark attacks and abilities. As Future Trunks, the player character’s life bar was restored back to full and their power was increased. The catch, however, is that this transformation doesn’t last for longer than a minute and, from what I understood, the amount of times you can use “soul-switching” in battle is limited. Like the “special attacks”, the ultimate ability, too, is customisable, meaning that players will be able to choose to transform into one out of many of DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3’s playable fighters.
On the other hand though, for players who select for their character to be a Saiyan rather than an Earthling, the ultimate ability will allow them to go Super Saiyan up to at least SSJ3 for what looked to be an indefinite amount of time. The team behind the game confirmed that players will be able to choose between more races than just Earthlings and Saiyans for their custom character and that, furthermore, different races will have different ultimate abilities. What these races are and what their associated ultimate abilities will be is still under wraps.
By the end of the presentation, I was left convinced that I will have a great time with DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 when it launches next year on Steam, PlayStation 4 and 5 and XBOX One and Series. Whether or not the swings that the team over at Dimps seems to be taking with the story will land, the gameplay seems familiar enough for me to know that this will give me precisely what I want from a Dragon Ball game: a good ol’ fight or two.
