xenoverse-back2

Super-Same Same

You’re going to love this, trust me. What you’re seeing now is my normal games reviewing state. Now this, this is a Super games reviewer. And this, is what is known as a Super games reviewer who has ascended past a Super games reviewer. Or, you can just call this a Super Games Reviewer 2. AND THIS…IS TO GO…EVEN FURTHER BEYOND!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (5)

Okay, not entirely true. Maybe. Ignore my flowing blonde locks and shimmering aura. But here we are, a little over two years later since Dragon Ball XenoVerse was released. Make no mistake, I loved that game. It took the power fantasy of the Dragon Ball franchise and injected some new blood into a stagnant series that had somehow lost its way during the Xbox 360 and PS3 era with the likes of Burst Limit and Raging Blast.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (1)

Games which had become bogged down with clumsy controls and fighting tactics that relied on Super-Staazer levels of cheese to win a match. XenoVerse however, went back to basics, threw in an original tale that remixed the usual sagas and gave players an unprecedented amount of choice for a Dragon Ball game. It was fun, massive and addictive stuff.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (13)

It wasn’t perfect however. The main player hub was a massive grind to explore, Parrallel Quests to earn rare items and powers were often a toss of the RNG coin and combat still relied on some cheap tricks as the AI abused that system frequently. Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 on the other hand, fixes a lot of that rubbish design.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (14)

Conton City may be bigger, but you’ll soon earn a flying license that takes you anywhere you need to go if you don’t feel like instantly transmitting yourself via the services of one of the many handy droids dotted around the hub. Combat itself feels familiar yet technically more polished. It feeds into that power fantasy that I enjoy ever so much, creating a character who can rearrange your face with a planet-shattering combo of punches and energy attacks.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (3)

At it’s core, XenoVerse 2 is still good stuff. A mix of fighting in a three-dimensional arena with a heavy dollop of role-playing mechanics lathered on top of it, that easily finds a nice balance between action and growth.  Damn good stuff then, with a few other ideas thrown into the melting pot as well where online play is emphasised.

And yet, it’s not enough. Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 feels a lot more like Dragon Ball XenoVerse 1.2 when you look closely at it. Yes, there is new content and a storyline that is unfortunately rubbish even by Dragon Ball standards. But all of that new content is also supported by a lot of recycled materials as well.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (11)

Half of the Parallel Quests that players use to level up with are the exact same quests from the first games. Characters models are essentially the same, but with a new coat of paint on top. Hell, even the voice acting is exactly identical to the first XenoVerse. And I get why some of those materials would need to be recycled for a sequel. After all, many games do just that. But XenoVerse 2 abuses the idea, to the point where it feels like a more polished version of the original rather than a true sequel.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (4)

The story itself is another missed opportunity, drafting in characters from the otherwise ignored Original Video Animations in a manner that feels just as meaningless. Whereas XenoVerse 2 culminated in a fight with a demonic god whose very existence threatened all of reality as his home dimension sought to devour our reality, XenoVerse 2 is essentially you playing clean-up with the leftovers of the past. Barring at least one clever twist near the end, the story underpinning this new saga is utter tripe.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (6)

It’s still an improvement over a great game. Where Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 succeeds is in how it layers on some thick fan service for a community who can’t get enough of muscled gods shrieking at them on their TV screens for several episodes straight. But that’s also the greatest weakness of XenoVerse 2, as it completely forgets to offer anything more substantial than a mere polished version of the first game.

 

Last Updated: November 8, 2016

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2
Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 makes some massive strides towards improving on some of the deep flaws of the original game. It’s just a super-shame that it also forgets to actually add anything to that foundation to help it feel like a true sequel. I’m just Saiyan’ that is.
6.0
Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 was reviewed on Xbox One
73 / 100

14 Comments

  1. I scratch the balls of my dragon every morning as soon as I wake up.

    Reply

  2. VampyreSquirrel

    November 8, 2016 at 16:01

    This is Krillin me, I was hoping this would be good.

    Such a Bulma.

    Just Saiyan.

    Reply

    • Andre Fourie

      November 8, 2016 at 16:04

      XD

      Reply

    • Pariah ???

      November 8, 2016 at 16:04

      At least my pun went the distance. 😉

      Reply

  3. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    November 8, 2016 at 16:06

    Oof, that’s a kick in all seven DBZ’s balls

    Reply

  4. For the Emperor!

    November 8, 2016 at 16:24

    Tell me this, are you allowed to level more than one character at a time? Also, do characters progress individually? I so despised having to clear Xeno 1 to make a new character, only to then see it shared the completion status with the original character 🙁

    Reply

    • KingDrax

      November 8, 2016 at 16:51

      You can level more than 1 character at a time, you have 8 character slots unlocked from the start of the game, so you can create 8 different characters before the first story mission if you wanted to.

      The characters do not share story progress…yet. People have been complaining they don’t want to do the story again for every new character and I heard there are plans to patch this…but don’t know if that’s from official sources (I like doing the story for every new character so its kind of a bummer for me)

      The only thing characters share are your inventory and resources like gear you have bought, zenni, super souls, qq bangs, unlocked moves and tp medals.
      For every new character you have to redo story an redo parallel quests and expert missions

      Also all characters that are unlocked in those quests have to be “re-unlocked” with your new character i.e. if you have beaten Broly in the story with your first character you can use Broly in non story related missions but if you create a second character you cant use Broly while logged in as the second character until you beat him again in the story.

      Reply

      • For the Emperor!

        November 8, 2016 at 17:12

        Thanks for the detailed response! I don’t mind sharing “lootz” and unlocks. But I really like to progress each character on their own through the story. I stopped playing Xeno 1 when I saw my new “Frieza” character could not do the story 🙁

        Reply

  5. Ghost In The Rift

    November 8, 2016 at 18:38

    Really hope they add SSGSS for custom saiyan character builds, seems SSJ3 ,SV2, Future SSJ is the last transformations for the Saiyan race which just pisses me off.

    Reply

    • Saiyan

      November 8, 2016 at 20:18

      3 is more than enough for one character lol

      Reply

      • b1nd3r

        November 9, 2016 at 10:08

        3 and future ss are actually insanely strong if you build your character towards them. the game is actually very well balanced now between the races. no more ss ki blast spams

        Reply

  6. b1nd3r

    November 9, 2016 at 10:12

    im enjoying the game alot more than the first one, and i do agree with you they havent changed much or added anything majorly new but hell these games have been better than alot of the other dbz games in the last few years. Im still wating for ESF to fully release XD. if others jam this game and looking for another sa player to do parallel quests and online battles add me steam name: b1nd3r512 account name jpera

    Reply

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