Dragon Ball Xenoverse - PlayStation 4

It's about time that Bandai Namco finally brought in a developer that can actually deliver a Dragon Ball game that lives up to the expectations that fan's have had since the Budokai games. Dimps if you do not know were the developers of the Budokai games which goes to show why the game came out as good as it did. They were also the developers of a very popular Japanese arcade game series; Dragon Ball Z: Data Carddass. The past couple years we have seen a few (personally) terrible games such as sorely misnamed Ultimate Tenkaichi which had a halfway decent CaC option, but had a clunky and unfriendly battle system as well as Battle of Z which had simple and tedious battling and almost completely useless AI teammates. It's a good feeling knowing I didn't waste my money on another shelf-filler.Onto the main guide/review:**Minor Game Play Element Spoilers Ahead (no major spoilers though)**[Create a Character]**Once you create a character you will not be able to create another without first finishing ALL Time Patrol Quests**You start off the game with three battles where you are in control of Goku which serves as a tutorial of sorts. After that you are then able to create a character. There are 5 character classes including Majin, Saiyan, Earthling (which will all include male and female versions) Namekian, and Frieza's Race; Icer (which only include male versions). Each race will have differing base stats and advantages in game play styles which also branch off depending on which gender you choose (i.e. Majin males will have more HP and lower movement speed and vice-versa for females).Each race allows customizing for Height, Body Type, Head/Hair, Eyes, Pupils, Nose, Mouth/Jaw, and Ears. There are about 7-15 different types of Head/Hair - Ear choices. There is also custom color choices for Skin, Hair and Eyes as well as color customizing for each of the race's specific outfits broken up in to four separate parts Upper Body, Lower Body, Hands, and Feet.Overall the character creating system is very nice although there are a few limitations I highly doubt unless you were trying to, your character won't look exactly like anyone else's. The only disappointment personally was with the Majin race. I was really looking forward to creating a Kid Buu type character, but I was only able to achieve this with a female version because the male version must always look like Majin Buu (fat buu).[The Hub City: Toki Toki City]Toki Toki City will serve as your command center for the game, and is split into three areas. The first area "Plaza of Time", the second area "Time Machine Station", and the third area "Industrial Center" I will describe each separately.Plaza of TimeThis area will be the first area you start in right after choosing your class. In this area you will find the entrance to the area in which you start or continue Time Patrol quests or review/replay completed missions. Right before going into this area is an NPC that will reward you with items for completing patrol sagas (i.e. Saiyan Saga). On the opposite side of the area you will find the World Tournament section where you can fight 1 on 1 with friends on the same system or fight in an online tournament. Next, in the middle of the area is where you will find the Dragon Ball shrine where you can summon Shenron after collecting all seven dragon balls. The last thing you will find here is the Timespace Delivery kiosk where you can send and receive gifts from other players.Time Machine StationIn this area the main focus (For the time being) is the Parallel Quest building where you have a choice to play these quests offline with a three man party with AI controlled allies or Online with a party of other players from around the world. The next large building is the battle is the Battle building where you can battle offline 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 against AI controlled enemies or battle online (same as offline) against other players. The last places in this area are the Team Registration kiosks where you can register a three man team (due to the servers being offline I don't have much in the way of information yet for the actual purpose of these kiosks, but they should be pretty self-explanatory when the time comes).Industrial CenterThis area will serve as your marketplace where you can buy everything you need or want. I will explain each shop individually.•Item Shop: This shop is where you can buy items that you can bring into battle for healing, raising stamina, raising ki or healing negative effects such as poison. You can also buy Z Souls here as well.•Mixing Shop: This shop is where you can use the materials that you find during Parallel Quests to create items, equipment, and other things. You can either take two items and mix them together or you can create items using a recipe.•Accessory Shop: This shop is where you can buy different accessory items as you unlock them during Time Patrol Missions such as different colored scouters, swords, hats, and other accessories based off characters from the Dragon Ball/Z/GT anime.•Clothing Store: This shop is where you can buy Upper Body, Lower Body, Hands, and Feet clothing items from many different characters as well as alternate versions of the default clothing items for each race (Technicolor Icons)•Skill Shop: This shop is where you can buy skills that are unlocked after each saga is completed they include Super Skills, Ultimate Skills, Evasive Skills, Support Skills (Ki Charge), and Transformation Skills (Kaioken).Toki Toki City (as long as you are playing online) is also the the place where you can chat with, challenge, and use your emotes to otherwise fool around with all the other players that are also online.[Time Patrol/Parallel Quests]Time Patrol QuestsThe Time Patrol Quests are the main story in the game. Unlike it's predecessors XenoVerse doesn't just follow the main story of Dragon Ball Z (and GT after the release of the first DLC pack). Instead it takes you through those events, but with a mysterious force altering the timeline and changing history. It is your job as a Time Patroller to realign the timelines and set things strait. After completing one of the twelve quests you unlock items for all shops as well as a new set of Parallel Quests.Parallel QuestsThe Parallel Quests are bonus missions that normally have you joining the bad guys to defeat the good guys, or complete other challenges like finding Dragon Balls (does not count towards your own collected Dragon Balls). There are also hidden objectives that normally take multiple play throughs to achieve but unlocks extra enemies and extra experience. The rewards for each quest differ between difficulty (1 Star - 7 Star), but normally contain various Super/Ultimate attacks, Z Souls, Items, Equipment, Accessories, and a set amount of Zeni. There are also some quests that must first be taken from various Dragon Ball NPCs wandering around Toki Toki City.[Equipment]Equipment is separated among the four Clothing slots, Z Souls, and Accessories. I will explain each separately.•Clothing: Clothing as explained above are separated among the four parts of the body and can be purchased at the Clothing Store or as rewards for completing Parallel Quests. The clothing with the solid colored icon next to it cannot have it's color edited such as Goku's Training Gi. The clothing with the technicolor icon next to it can have it's color edited and mostly pertain to your default clothing or alternate versions of these clothes which can be bought at the shop.•Z Souls: Z Souls are equipment items that give your character certain bonuses in battle like chances to instantly charge Ki, come back from death with some health, or provide bonuses to certain skills.•Accessories: (See Toki Toki City>Industrial Center>Accessory Shop).[Skills]Skills are separated into five categories (See Toki Toki City>Industrial Center>Skill Shop) and delegated into two menus. The first menu has four slots which can be opened by holding down the R2 button in battle. Super Skills, and Support Skills are the only skills that can be equipped into these slots. The second menu also has four slots and can be opened by holding down the R2 and L2 buttons in battle. Only one Evasive Skill, and one Transformation Skill can be equipped into these slots as well as two Ultimate Skills.Super Skills and Ultimate Skills are separated by their own types. A skill with a icon that resembles a white circle is a melee skill thus is effected by the Strike Supers stat. A skill with a icon that resembles a Kamehameha Wave is a ki skill thus effected by the Ki Blast Supers stat. Evasive Skills like Super and Ultimate Skills are also separated into melee and ki types, but some also have an icon that resembles a person powering up which simply means that it is not effected by any skills.The skills are amazing and with 200 different skills to choose from as well as being able to have different DBZ's character skills together at the same time really adds a lot of depth and uniqueness to the game.[Stats]As you play through missions and quests, you will earn points that can be used to increase your character’s stats. There are six stats you can modify: Max Health, Max Ki, Max Stamina, Basic Attacks, Strike Supers and Ki Blast Supers. With each level up you receive 3 stat points that can be allocated into any of the six stats. Put up stats that match up to the type of character you are, for example if you choose to start a Namekian race then you have high health, so there would be no reason to put too many points into the health stat.Having a point allocation system in a fighting game was an amazing idea. With this it makes this game feel more like a Action RPG rather then solely a Fighting Game.[Combat System]Now to the fun part, the Combat. The Combat System is kind of like that of the older games like the Budokai Tenkaichi games, and is for the most part pretty easy to get a handle on. I will explain exactly what each button does separately.Shape Buttons•X Button: The X Button handles the dodge (teleport behind enemy) which consumes two bars of stamina. The button also allows you to ascend, jump, gain your balance or rush back to the enemy after you've been knocked away.•O Button: The O Button handles the firing of a barrage of small ki blasts as well as for adding extra hits to some skills.•[ ] / /_\ Button: The [ ] and /_\ Buttons handle your basic attacks, when used in certain combinations you can preform extended combos that may result in knocking your opponent away or other interesting results. When used while rushing towards an opponent (See Below) will result and another set of possible combinations.Shoulder and Trigger Buttons•L1 Button: The L1 Button handles your blocking. When blocking at the right time this can result in a counter block which breaks your opponents attacks and also completely depletes their stamina.•R1 Button: The R1 Button handles your targeting. You can use this to target an enemy or a way point in a Parallel Quest.•L2 / R2 Buttons: The L2 Button when used by itself enables you to rush around and when locked on to an enemy rush into and enemy. For the R2 Button (See Skills)D-Pad Buttons•Left Button: This Button activates your scouter (you do not need to have a scouter equipped for this to work). You can use your scouter to look up your opponents level and location. The scouter also helps locate materials lying on the ground (or in breakable items like boulders), or to locate a waypoint in a Parallel Quest•Up Button: This Button opens up a menu that allows you to check your current quest's objectives as well as a area map.•Down Button: This Button simply opens up a list of commands you can issue to your party.•Right Button: This Button opens up your battle items (which you can equip from the menu in town). Only one type of item can be equipped to one slot at any time, but the slot refills automatically after every "Finish!" in a Time Patrol Quest or a "Complete!" in a Parallel Quest.Joysticks / Joystick ButtonsLeft Joystick: This Button controls the direction in which your character moves (the joystick must be out of its standing position in conjunction with the L2 button to rush.Right Joystick: This Button allows you to change a target that your locked onto, or controls the camera position when not locked on or when your using your scouter.L3 Button: This Button simply allows you to descend when pressed.R3 Button: This Button does absolutely nothingAll together the battle system is pretty entertaining. The way that your Basic Attacks and Super Attacks transition rather smoothly makes for a very enjoyable combat system that we haven't had in a Dragon Ball Z game for a very long time. The only qualm I had with the combat system was how awkward it is to open and close the scouter button when under attack or just using it to look around for materials. Other then that the system is pretty flawless.Now onto the Pros and Cons[Pros]Create a Character:•Diverse array of races to choose from.•Plenty of customizing options to make your character unique.•Something I didn't mention above, was being able to choose ANY name without worrying about not being able to use it because someone else already chose it. (No annoying xXs or random numbers!)Toki Toki City (Gameplay options)•Plenty of other things you can do after you complete the main Time Patrol Quests.•A lot of shops with plenty of options to buy items that can customize your character to the max.•LOCAL BATTLES! although they are kind of lacking, just being able to fight someone on the same system is something that was simply missing out of the last Dragon Ball Z game.Time Patrol/Parallel Quests•The story isn't just recycled from the main Dragon Ball Z story instead it has it's own unique story.•With over 50 different Parallel Quests and with even more coming with the 3 confirmed DLCs you will not get bored or be left with nothing to do for a good time coming.•Having really awesome rewards and to be given incentive to replay missions for desired loot, but without it getting too repetitive too soon is a big plus.Equipment•400 pieces of equipment and more to come what can you hate about that.•The ability to mix and match pieces of different sets together, makes for very interesting combos.Skills•200 skills to make your fighting style even more unique•Separating melee and ki blast skills to match your preferred fighting style is a awesome way to make your character your own.Stats•Having stats in this game gives this Fighting Game a very nice Action RPG feel.•Better then those stupid cards or blocks from previous games.Combat System•The combat system flows almost seamlessly creating a enjoyable fighting experience not seen for a very long time.•Each race has it's own style of fighting and completely different combinations of basic attacks.•Size does not effect whether an attack hits you or not. Which has been a problem in previous DBZ Games.[Cons]Character Creation•Having to wait until you beat the game with one character before your able to make a new one in case you don't like your decision.•(Personally) Not being able to change the male Majin into a skinnier Kid Buu type character.Toki Toki City•Not being able to sprint/run in town is kind of annoying, but not game breaking in the least.Time Patrol/Parallel Quests•NoneEquipment•Not being able to alter the color scheme of DBZ Character equipment.Skills•NoneStats•NoneCombat System•Having a button as important as the scouter button in a awkward place as the left D-Pad button (during Parallel Quests only really).All in all if your a fan of any of the Dragon Ball animes or games and have been as disappointed as I have with the last entries into the genre I implore you to spend the $60 and get buy this game. It is most definitely worth every penny.

Ok, there we go DBZ. Finally a DBZ game that one can be proud to play. Here is my list of Pros & ConsPROS:1) Pretty Easy to Understand. This was the thing I was worried about the most. Some commented that it was really difficult to understand the controls and the gameplay. As someone who hasnt played a DBZ game since really the PS2 (partially played one on the 360), I found it easy to pick up and start playing. By the 5th-6th match you can figure out some basic combo's and be on your way.2) Changing History. This was a great take on the storyline. Instead of constantly playing the samething over and over (like the past DBZ games), you actually feel like you have a job to save the past. Makes it fun when you play the sidequests of actually helping out the baddies take out the heroes.3) Home Area. I really like how they created it. They made it feel more like an rpg than a single player game. Enjoy walking around and doing things instead of just completing the storyline. Makes you feel like you are part of the game.4) Voice Actors. I have only played a few hours, but so far many of the original English speaking cast are back in their role (or have someone who sounds super close to the original). Made me think of my childhood days. Only one so far that sounded off was Frieza.5) Player Customization: This is where it really is simple and great. You get to choose through many preset faces, eyes, ears, hair, hair color, body color. I thought when I first read that it wasnt as customization as today's games (with scrollers) I was worried. They really give you the ability to make your person look how you want him/her to look.CONS:1) Home Area is Empty: Was really hoping to see more activity. Was the only player at the Home Area. Maybe I am misunderstanding how it is supposed to work, but I thought it would be more social. Could be it just released so the playerbase is low.2) Small Glitches: Had Trunks floating a once or twice when talking to me. Other than that havent had any other problems.Overall, it is a fun game where I can see many hours being spent playing. 1v1? 2v2? 3v3? Storyline? Parrell Quests? Side Quests? Online or Local VS? You have a lot to choose from to keep you going. Want something that reminds you of your childhood where you imagined yourself in the show with your favorite heroes? This is the game for you.

I love it. I grew up watching DBZ and I never really paid the Budokai games for the previous consoles so this was a new experience for me. Its great. I'm typically into action/adventure games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted but if you're looking for something different I def recommend it. Unlike other fighting games like Mortal Combat or SF, these fights are long--they aren't rounds (best 2/3). It'll take a nonstop 5-10 minute brawl with your opponent. This isn't the typical fighting game and you might need some time like me to let it sink it. It took me about 2-3 days of not playing to miss this game. Character selection is great and you get to choose different Gokus /Vegetas with different stats as you unlock the story line.Graphics are 10/10 - Voices 10/10 - Controls - 10/10 - Story 7.5/10Overall a 9/10 for meThe only thing I don't like about Xenoverse is its childish touch in 1 way or another. DBZ has always been this way from the beginning but it is a kid's show after all so I'm just being unreasonable. I just wish they made DBZ a little more M rated for those who grew up watching the series back in the 90's/00's and are now in their 20's