Dragon Ball Xenoverse

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Lagamorph
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PostDragon Ball Xenoverse
by Lagamorph » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:35 pm

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This game doesn't have its own thread yet which is an absolute travesty, since it most certainly should have one.




The latest Dragon Ball Z game is essentially an abridged re-telling of major battles and events from the Dragon Ball Z series, right from the Saiyan Arc all the way up to the events of the Battle of Gods movie. Only this time there's a twist. Rather than simply re-creating battles from the series, this time around history has been altered causing events to play out differently, for the worse. That's where you, or more your created character, comes into play, travelling the timeline to put right what once went wrong along with your guide Al, I mean Trunks.

Yes, rather than simply playing as an existing DBZ character you get to create your own original character instead, one of the biggest draws of the game. And for creating that character you have a massive array of customisation options to make them truly your own. First of all are the various races you have available to choose from,
    Saiyan (Male or Female)
    Earthling (Male or Female)
    Namekian (Male only)
    Freiza Race (Male only)
    Majin (Male or Female)
Each race has their own various pros and cons. For example Saiyans can transform into Super Saiyans (though created characters are sadly limited to SSJ1 and SSJ2, no 3/4/God), however to generate Ki they must either strike opponents with normal attacks (which doesn't work when transformed) or recharge using a charge skill that leaves them vulnerable. Humans on the other hand naturally generate Ki continuously. Namekians have a greater reach for basic attacks whilst Majin have higher defence. The choice of Male or Female also gives other differences within the races. Once you've picked your race you get a multitude of options available for appearance customisation, including a wide array of facial features and hair styles. Once you're in the game the customisation doesn't stop. You can further alter your appearance with an array of cosmetic accessories and outfits that also have various impacts on your stats.
You're also free to choose your own moveset, with new skills available in a variety of different ways. They can be purchased from the Skill shop, obtained as rewards for Side-quests or taught to you by the DBZ cast if you apprentice yourself to them (and not just the heroes).

Ontop of the story mode are plenty of the aforementioned Side-quests, known within the game as Parallel Quests. These are further battles of a distorted history where you'll be siding with both the heroes and villains of the series. Completion of these quests can reward you with XP, new Skills, Accessories, Costume Items, Z-Souls (another equippable that not only effects your stats but can have a variety of other effects too) and even Dragon Balls, with collecting all 7 allowing you to summon Shenron in order to make a wish. The downside is that the rewards are completely random, with you sometimes getting nothing at all, and certain rewards seeming to have very low drop rates. Parallel Quests may also have hidden conditions too that will trigger bonus objectives, which are sometimes necessary to get a chance of a specific reward.
These side quests aren't just solo affairs though. You can choose to bring along one of the characters from the pretty extensive in-game roster, or even choose to play as one of them if you want. You can also recruit other Player characters to be computer controlled, or even go online and do these quests along with other player controlled characters (sometimes a great way to get through some quests when you're farming rewards)

Between missions (story or Parallel Quests) you have a small hub world to explore. This is where you'll find various stores to purchase skills, accessories, items and costume pieces, as well as sign up to do Parallel Quests. If you choose to go online the world is also inhabited by other player characters. If you choose the Single lobby then there will still be player characters standing around, though not running about.

Character progression is done through a levelling system. Every time you level up you will get 3 attribute points to spend on various stats,
    Max Health
    Max Ki
    Max Stamina
    Basic Attacks
    Strike Supers
    Ki Blast Supers
Though from level 1-40 you'll automatically get some minor boosts to Ki and Stamina too. With a level cap of 80 this gives you a total of 240 points to spend, giving you plenty of options to create a character suited to your own play style.

The battle system is definitely a case of easy to learn, but there's plenty there to master if you're willing to put the effort in, something you'll have to do if you want to have a shot at PVP. Movement wisse the battle arenas give you full 3D movement, though personally I do think they're a little on the small size with the invisible walls/ceilings. There is a nice variety of locations, though sometimes the Parallel Quests do seem to rely a bit heavily on the Earth based ones so you might occasionally find the locales a little repetitive.


The game has you covered for almost every major platform, currently being available on,
    Xbox 360
    Playstation 3
    Xbox One
    Playstation 4
    PC (Steam)

In terms for resolution and framerate,
Console - 1080p @ 30fps
PC - Up to 4k @60fps (There are in-game options for locked 30fps, locked 60fps or variable)


Here's some screenshots from my own playthrough of the game, spoilered for large size as they were taken at 1920x1080,
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(Yeah I know, my character costume sucks. It's the only one I've unlocked so far with some stat boosts I wanted to help me get through the story)

The launch of the game did have its hiccups. The online component was completely broken which unfortunately impacted the single player experience. When the server disconnected you it also kicked you out of the hub world and back to the title screen. Fortunately these issues now appear to have been resolved.

The first DLC pack has already been launched, primarily focusing on bringing some GT content into the game, with at least 2 more DLC packs in the works.


If you're a Dragon Ball Z fan then there's plenty here to love and it'll be a strong contender for your GOTY 2015. If you're not a Dragon Ball Z fan, well there's still plenty here. A strong fighter title with plenty of variety, though it probably isn't going to win many awards with you.

TL;DR, whether you like Dragon Ball Z or not, go buy Xenoverse, it's awesome.

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TheTurnipKing
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by TheTurnipKing » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:55 pm

Wait, so this is an actual, commercial game, and not a free to play monstrosity?

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Lagamorph » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:12 pm

TheTurnipKing wrote:Wait, so this is an actual, commercial game, and not a free to play monstrosity?

Yep, and a damn good one.
Why would you think it was one of those F2P gooseberry fool fests?

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Trelliz
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Trelliz » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:19 pm

DBZ totally passed me by as a kid - growing up in the middle of nowhere and sometimes pretty poor, we didn't have cable or satellite, so I only heard about it from others and/or the spanish exchange student who went on about it almost non-stop. I watched the giant bomb 'quick' look of this, and it seems so utterly impenetrable to someone not versed in the series bonkers anime goings-on. I know they are totally not the same game style, but for nonsensical 3d open world fisticuffs i'll stick to Dynasty/Hyrule Warriors thanks.

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TheTurnipKing
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by TheTurnipKing » Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:55 pm

I dunno. The name "Xenoverse" just screamed "free to play".

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Irene Demova
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Irene Demova » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:00 pm

TheTurnipKing wrote:Wait, so this is an actual, commercial game, and not a free to play monstrosity?

Nope but it does have the worst use of RNG in videogame history.

% chance that the characters needed for "ultimate finishes" even spawn
% chance that they actually drop items or skills
And then you have to hope that the item/skill that you need is the one that drops

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Lagamorph » Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:01 pm

I wouldn't say worst. Destiny would probably take that title.

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Zellery wrote:Good post Lagamorph.
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LewisD
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by LewisD » Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:52 am

Used to love budokai 2&3.

Wanted to get this but only on a next gen console, so I shall have to wait :(

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Godzilla
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Godzilla » Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:29 am

I got it at launch. Its fantastic. I know nothing about the show but the story takes you through all the classic battles.

It looks immense, plays great and has huge replayability. The missions are ranked so you can replay and get better ranks and this changes the mission so a new challenger appears.

Completely customiseable too. I've unlocked some great moves but I'm only 10 or so hours in.

Highly recommended.

Wish my image sig would work
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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Dragon Ball Xenoverse
by Lagamorph » Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:50 pm

Second DLC pack is out today.
A few new Post-game story quests added and 3 more Parallel Quests. Also some new characters, moves and costume pieces added, all GT based as before.
Some of the Randomness has also been scaled back a bit to make it a little easier to get the drops, much to the entire playerbase's relief.

Oh, and Super Kamehameha Z-assist. In space.
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