E3 2016: Relive Your Favorite Fillers In ‘Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2’
It turns out messing with time has its own set of repercussions, as we’re set to find out in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. In the first game, we took our custom characters and inserted them into key moments in Dragon Ball Z history to stop an evil time traveler from changing history. Since that battle came to its conclusion however, it turns out we screwed things up more than we realized. It’s because of this that the Supreme Kai of Time decides the only way to fix it is to bring in MORE warriors to square off against DBZ’s best, which is where we’re reintroduced to the game world.
Taking place in the new hub world of Conton City, which can hold up to 300 players online at a time in real time, the team at Dimps developed this sequel with fan feedback at heart, looking to fix what didn’t work in the original while improving on what it did best. Players will once again create their own custom warrior by choosing between the human, Namekian, Saiyan or Frieza races, and do battle with some of the most iconic fighters in anime history. Allowing our characters to freely move between iconic locations like Planet Namek and Frieza’s spaceship among other areas, they weren’t kidding when they promised us a bigger, better Dragon Ball experience.
With such a huge hub world to navigate, players will be able to do a lot more when they’re not fighting this time around, with side missions and mini games to help you unwind after an intense round of screaming and charging up. Some of these modes missions will call back to some of the more obscure moments of the anime’s run, including the ability to drive a car. Why you would ever need to when you can fly as much as you want both in battles and in the hub is a mystery better left unsolved, but either way, nothing beats racing your friends online to see who the best driver in the DBZ universe is. Much like that time where Goku and Piccolo tried to learn how to drive with comical results, you too can struggle to live a normal life as a super powered fighter. And say what you will about Goku’s strength, but did he ever get his driver’s license? That’s one you’ll always have over him. Other Capsule Corp gadgets were promised, hinting at plenty of distractions to keep us busy when we want to give peace a chance.
But as you know, Dragon Ball Z is all about the fighting, and Xenoverse 2 will have us covered on that front. Promising to run at 60 FPS across all platforms it’s available on, it will be an impressive sight to see considering how battles can switch from being in the air to on the ground and underwater in a matter of seconds. Streamlining battles seems to be the goal this time around, with a Homing Dash to close gaps between opponents faster, the Burst Aura Dash, which lets you dodge attacks while flying forward, and curving Ki Blasts which not only look more like the show, but help ensure that launching them won’t end up being an endless back and forth. With so many energy beams being shot, punches being thrown, and vocal cords being shattered from all the ki gathering, we’ll be happy to see this consistent framerate maintained despite everything that goes on in your typical fight. New characters like Future Gohan, Turles, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku and Golden Frieza will make their debut as well, making it looks like we’ll have plenty of ways to put the game to the test when it releases at the end of the year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
What are you most looking forward to in the next big Dragon Ball Z game? Let us know in the comments!
