This article was originally published in Italian on Thegamesmachine.it in 2016.
A few weeks after our hands-on preview, we are back to discuss Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the million-seller title for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, now exclusively for current-generation gaming platforms. As mentioned in the preview, Xenoverse 2 is a sort of “expanded and enriched” sequel that manages to improve the gaming experience significantly without completely overhauling the structure of the original.
Conton City is not just the hub of the adventure, but also, and more importantly, a mini-city to explore, populated by avatars of other connected players and non-playable characters ready to offer some advice or engage players in side missions.
The MMO aspect of Xenoverse was the main feature that ensured its success among Akira Toriyama’s fans, and of course, in this second installment, we find a terrifying number of clothes, accessories, and techniques to customize your ultimate “Z warrior.” After selecting one of the five available races, each with specific strengths, you dive into a story that once again follows the events of the prequel: the evil Mira and Towa (characters from Dragon Ball Online, an MMO that unfortunately never made it to the West) are once again trying to alter the history of Son Goku and his friends, changing key events and attempting to bring down the Saiyan warriors. It is up to Future Trunks and the Time Patrollers to protect the timeline of Dragon Ball Z, uniting forces against a new wave of fierce enemies, mainly from films inspired by the animated series (no, we’re not referring to Dragonball Evolution).
Although Xenoverse 2’s story still resembles a somewhat uninspired fan fiction, it is definitely a step up from previous entries, thanks to more careful direction of the cutscenes and a surprisingly strong soundtrack, with several tracks that emphasize dramatic and solemn moments. However, there is still a sense of missed opportunity, especially considering that revisiting a world-renowned story could have resulted in experimental scenarios with “what if” plots and branching paths, none of which are explored in this installment. The linear progression of increasingly crowded situations is still enjoyable, mainly due to the refinement of the battle system.
The airborne, hyper-fast fights of the muscular warriors are similar to what we saw in Xenoverse, but a noticeable rebalancing of the difficulty—now accessible to younger players—and several additions and modifications to the battle system have made the experience more enjoyable, especially in the long run.
Combat balance now revolves around two key bars: aura and stamina. These indicators, like all other stats, can be improved as you level up from battle to battle. Aura is essential for using special techniques, energy blasts, and ultimate moves, while stamina is used for quick movement, teleportation dodges, and defensive maneuvers, which are finally effective compared to past entries. Managing enemies while keeping an eye on these two indicators is crucial to avoid getting hit by combos without the chance to counter or break through them. As mentioned, the rebalancing of enemy strength during the story events is a pleasant surprise, but replaying the same situations from Xenoverse (since Dragon Ball Z’s storyline doesn’t change) might disappoint or bore returning players. Clearly, a lot of effort has been invested in creating a world for millions of players, with both main and optional activities to keep them busy for months to come.
Despite Akira Toriyama’s character design suffering from some self-referencing, it’s nearly impossible to find identical characters among those created by players, especially considering the vast array of techniques and special moves at their disposal. In addition to the “parallel missions,” which were also seen in the prequel and can be played online with friends’ help, Xenoverse 2 expands the offering with “raid” battles against extremely tough enemies (which can be completed in teams), and group brawls against massive opponents, like the formidable oozaru, the giant apes the Saiyans transform into during full moons. There are also various side tasks, some of which are race-specific: Saiyans can take on special missions with Vegeta, humans are tasked with earning money as bodyguards for Mr. Satan, and so on. These tasks reward players not only with currency that can be spent in Conton City shops but also with costumes and accessories, encouraging further customization of their characters.
As you can see, Bandai Namco is clearly pushing the online aspect of Xenoverse 2, and it’s no secret that this was one of the main factors behind the prequel’s success. We hope the servers hold up: both Xenoverse and the public beta of Xenoverse 2 faced several issues with the online infrastructure. During our brief testing phase, we didn’t experience any major issues while competing or collaborating with other players, even without the optimal connection indicator. However, the quality of the online experience will only be measurable once the game is fully released. I’d also like to point out that upon launch, a season pass will be available, which will include various DLCs, including characters from Dragon Ball Super, the new animated series from Toei Animation, expected to air in Italy between 2017 and 2018 on Italia 1 and Italia 2.
Technically, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 doesn’t differ much from its predecessor, but at least the visuals are enhanced with 60 fps on consoles. This decision finally aligns the PS4 and Xbox One versions with the PC edition, which will surely bring relief to fans of high-speed action games. However, the lack of effort in managing the environments is disappointing, as they still feel “detached” from the action, with almost no interaction. It’s surprising considering how, ten years ago on PlayStation 2, this aspect was handled much better, faithfully recreating the destruction caused by some characters’ special moves. It shows dedication.
The same issue applies to the characters, especially the avatars: despite good cel-shading, they fail to convey emotion, with blank stares and robotic expressions that make you miss what CyberConnect2 achieved under the same Bandai Namco label. The Japanese voice acting is solid, and it’s the only one synced with the characters’ lip movements during cutscenes, while the English voice acting is disappointing. Thankfully, it only takes a few seconds to switch the voice settings and remove Trunks’ forced raspy voice from the U.S. dub. Ah, what a time to be alive!
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 continues the story of Akira Toriyama’s expanded universe with MMO experimentation. A revised and refined gameplay system and a solid amount of content (both original and recycled from the prequel) manage to convince and entertain, but I admit that at times it feels like repeating situations already seen and resolving conflicts already faced. The longevity of the online component remains uncertain, but with giant enemy battles, special events, and the ability to cooperate on side missions, there’s plenty of content to keep players engaged.
