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SGGAMINGINFO » Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (PS4) review SGGAMINGINFO » Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (PS4) review

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (PS4) review

On November 28, 2016 by Ash Meehan

Now, straight of the bat people are going to wonder is there a difference between Xenoverse 1 and Xenoverse 2 and well I never played the first Xenoverse game, so therefore, I honestly can’t find the difference, which means this review will focus on talking about Xenoverse 2.

Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is the latest fighting game adaptation of the popular Dragon Ball anime. In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, players are tasked with defending time as a member of the time patrol led by the Supreme Kai of Time and Future Trunks.

The idea of protecting time is interesting, although by the time I put the game down I thought it was decent at best. Yes, you do see some time alterations such as Nappa turning into a Great Ape and fighting alongside Vegeta in his Great Ape form or Cooler attempting to help Frieza defeat Goku on Namek. Personally, I would have loved it if the game’s creators decided to go crazy with the concept and make small but impactful changes that altered the story in key ways, for example, I would have liked to see what would have happened if Krillin had killed Vegeta instead of letting him escape at the end of Saiyan saga.

As for how the overall story plays out, you are a new Time Patrol member who is tasked by the Supreme Kai of Time and the Elder Kai to help Future Trunks defeat Towa and Mira, who have powerful allies such as Thurles and Lord Slug.

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In terms of characters, there isn’t much to discuss, as most of it, is brief interactions that involve explanation dumps. However, I did like the Supreme Kai of Time, I don’t remember seeing her in the anime, but she was a nice joy filled character who loved doing her job as a protector of time.

Regarding the player-created character, its personality is up to you as you can choose from an earthling, Majin, Saiyan, Namekian or Frieza’s race templates. Past this race template, you can change the character’s features and armour colour. The further you progress and level up you can add powerful armour, gain new super and ultimate attacks, and finally boost any of your six main attributes.

Regarding gameplay, the game uses a hub city system. In the game’s hub town of Conton City, you can explore various segments of the city, you can train with fighting instructors who in turn will teach you their special attacks, for example, Krillin will teach you Destructo Disc. Take part in parallel quests, which are used mainly to level up and gain items and armour, online multiplayer battles, and of course the story mode.

For me, I thought there were a nice variety of activities to take part in, which in the end is important, as you might need to do a bit of level grinding to make sure you reach the recommended level for the next story mission.

Now, let’s look at the most important aspect of any fighting game, the combat. Personally, I thought the combat was decent, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either. Combat is a mixture of melee and energy based attacks with super and ultimate moves thrown in, and unlike in many other fighting games pulling off a combo of melee attacks followed by a super attack is very easy.

There were also various annoyances in the game such as slow recovery from knock backs, and the controls feeling sluggish to respond as I noticed that on more than one occasion my character didn’t respond to an action. Nevertheless, in the end, if you want fast-paced fun combat Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has that in spades.

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Regarding issues, I did notice that certain missions could be very easily exploited. For example, when fighting a Great Ape I just had to fly up as high as possible and fire energy attacks until it died, as the Great Ape could never reach me.

Conclusion

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a decent fighting game. The game offers an interesting premise and simplistic yet fast-paced combat.

SCORE: 7.5/10

Pros Cons
+ Interesting premise  – I wished the alterations in time had a greater effect on the story 
+ Numerous activities in the hub town   
+ Easy to understand combat   

 

Developer Publisher Genre Rating Platform Release date
Dimps  Bandai Namco Entertainment  Fighting  12+  PC, PS4, XBOne  October 28, 2016 

*A review code was provided by the game’s publisher.*

For more information on Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, visit http://www.dragonballxenoverse.com/en/

Author: Ash Meehan

Hi, I’m the creator of SG Gaming Info. When I’m not working on my writing or creating content for this site’s YouTube channel, I like to relax and enjoy character driven story games.