“Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2” is a love letter to fans of the Dragon Ball universe.

The game doesn’t change many things when compared to its predecessor, but it’s still a ton of fun and  easier to appreciate if you’re a long time fan of the anime or manga. “Xenoverse 2” is the second Dragon Ball game on next-gen consoles. The game is based around your very own Dragon Ball hero preventing history from being changed by the forces of darkness.

 

Players can choose one of five races: Human, Namekian, Saiyan, Majin and the Frieza race. Each race has their own special attributes and transformations.  In the original game, not every race got a transformation, leading many players to choose Saiyan. In the sequel, every race now has one and they’re all fantastic.

 

Aside from the more unique traits that come with each race, players can customize their character’s move-set with iconic techniques from the show. Players can also choose a character from the show to train under. As you progress in the game, this character teaches you more of their iconic techniques from the show. Choose multiple teachers and you can really make your character your own.

 

The game offers a wide variety of characters from the series you can play as too, each with their own stats and skill sets. I found that I really only stuck with the characters I created, and you can create quite a few of them.

 

The first game’s world was relatively small, but this time around, players have access to a much bigger map to find missions and activities on. It’s also nice to occasionally explore every nook and cranny it has to offer.

 

The storyline in “Xenoverse 2” is  familiar to the first game. Most of the missions are the same with the addition of characters from a few of the series’ movies. Overall, it’s a nice distraction from the main bulk of the game, and fans of the anime or manga should enjoy it.

 

The bulk of the game will be played outside of the story. Training under one of your favorite characters, collecting mew gear and performing cooperative missions that can be played with or without multiple people are all a part of the game’s experience. There’s a wide variety of things to do that’ll appeal to any hardcore Dragon Ball fan.

 

From the sounds of battles to the music, the game honors its source material.. It was a real treat experiencing it as a long time fan of the anime.

 

The combat is  improved compared to the original. For the most part, I always felt like I had direct control of my character and targets. The camera could be a little wonky on occasion but not nearly as bad as I recall in the original game.

 

The player versus player combat does not work nearly as well as I’d like it to. This is not necessarily the game’s fault; it’s the fault of the poor online connection issues. It’s a real shame, because pitting your very own Dragon Ball characters against one another would be really cool if it worked.

 

“Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2” doesn’t change much of what the original brought to the ring, but it does fix a lot of the things that didn’t work in the first. I’d say if you’re a long time Dragon Ball fan, you should have a blast with “Xenoverse 2.” If you’re not too familiar with the series, I’d probably recommend waiting for a price drop. The game is a solid attempt at allowing fans of the legendary series to live out their DBZ dreams.

 

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