Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review

Who it caters to

Fans of the original Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse title will feel right at home since much of the gameplay is still intact, with a few little-added touches for more versatility. Xenoverse 2 is a fighting role-playing game that takes place two years after the events of the original, so there’s a lot of fresh action to look forward to. It’s a very unique game where two contrasting elements are combined together to create a wonderful experience. Past Dragon Ball games like Budokai or going back even earlier to the SNES versions, much of them placed much of the attention towards the fighting aspect while only having a small dose of role playing. Now you’re able to travel around, collect items and use for mixing, along with completing a wide variety of quests along the way.

What to expect

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
Xenoverse 2 places a lot of its emphasis on its story mode and multiplayer elements which are primarily where the game shines. Expect there to be a lot of challenging bouts between you and the AI during story battles, and plenty of battles to take part in once you hop online to the multi lobby where players from around the world are waiting. There are a total of 68 characters in the game to choose from, along with your own customizable character that you create during the early stages of the game.

Having this many characters at your disposal is quite the treat for any die hard DBZ fan, and there are plenty of other secrets that you’ll find on your adventure throughout the game. The game is 7x larger than Toki Toki City from the original, and as your progress further you’ll unlock abilities to help get you around town much more efficiently. Be prepared for a ton of fast-paced, off the wall action in this sequel.

Launch Trailer


Story 

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
You’re a new protagonist to the city of Conton City, and you’ve been called upon from the Supreme Kai of Time to help travel to eras where changes in history have been made and to fix any errors that occurred. Time Patrol has expanded into a much bigger enterprise and they need your help to fight against the mysterious enemies who are plotting something sinister and are on a mission to bring torment to those in the future.

Gameplay

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Introduction - Customization | Events

Much like the earlier iterations of the Dragon Ball series, customization is a big thing and you’ll be able to create your own Time Patroller right before you jump into the game. If you owned the previous Xenoverse title, you’re actually able to transfer certain costumes and skills to help assist you in battle. TP data from the first can be carried over and such skills and equipment that you can bring over include Upper Body, Lower Body, Hands, and other various features. We thoroughly enjoyed the customization experience because it really allowed you to create something of your own, and made your character stand out.

You can choose from five races which range from Humans, Saiyans, Majins, Namekians, and Frieza’s race. All of them come with their own unique features, and as you progress through the game’s Time Rift Events you’ll receive extra bonuses for choosing that particular race in an event. For example, if you decide to choose the human race and often traverse to Hercule’s House in the Time Rift Events you’ll more than likely receive double zeni from his missions than if you were to choose a Majin race. It’s a nice little feature that perhaps will encourage players to try out new races, which in turn creates more replay value in the long run. Once you’ve played around with customization and you’re pleased with your creation, then it’s time to embark on a new journey as a Time Patroller and come face to face with the challenges that await you!

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review

Story Event

Once you jump into the game you’re greeted by the Supreme Kai of Time who tells you everything that’s transpiring, and that it’s up to you to ensure the safety of history. If you had a previous warrior from Xenoverse, you can actually choose it as the ‘Legendary Warrior’ that is displayed as a hologram in the center of the Recreation Area, but if not they provide you with some cool presets. In Story Events you’re pretty much working alongside Supreme Kai of Time, Elder Kai, and once you progress even further, Trunks. You learn of the enemies that are trying to twist history around and they’re no laughing matter. Toma, Mira, Lord Slug, and Turles are out to ensure that history gets screwed over in some way and they use fruits from the Tree of Might to provide even more power to other enemies in the game.

In the earlier stages of the game you’ll not be able to fly which is according to the rules of the town, but once you finish a certain mission everything will be ready for you. We will tell you though that if you’re new to the Xenoverse series, some battles may infuriate you because the game can sometimes be unforgiving. As you progress through the Story Events you’ll receive attribute points which you can then distribute among your character. You also receive zeni along with bonus items that can help boost your character’s abilities such as clothing. While you’re still getting a hang of the game, Xenoverse 2 allows you to take part in what’s known as Instructor Events which pretty much teach you the basics of the game and how to pull off basic combos, all the way to the more advanced. Various events are in the game that will help newer players become accustomed to the functionality while allowing more experienced players to perhaps refresh their memories and hone their skills.

Quest Event

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
As aforementioned, there are a plethora of events to choose from in the game so we’ll only cover the ones that you’ll most likely be traveling to throughout your journey. Quest Events allow the player to take part in what you’d call “side quests” that don’t really have much to do with the main part of the story but allow you to achieve skills, equipment, and special items that you can use along your journey. NPCs are scattered throughout the map and can be seen with a blue icon with an [!] symbol in the middle. From there you can take part in challenging battles which can at times reward you with some rare and powerful items, so we encourage you to really grind your way through.

This, in turn, will help your experience in the Story Event feel more rewarding since you’ll have stronger powerups to use against difficult bosses along the way. There are also race specific quests available so be on the lookout for those while playing. Some NPCs have [?] over their heads which pertain to Time Patroller Battles in some scenarios. These are little bonuses scattered throughout the game.

Time Rift Event

This is where a lot of the fun takes place because you’re pretty much racing from one Time Rift to the next, trying to help save each race from their own hardships. As stated earlier you have five races to choose from, and these five have their own respective locations: Hercules House, Guru’s House, Frieza’s Spaceship, Capsule Corporation, and Majin Buu’s House. All of these can be reached by speaking with the Transfer Shop Clerk, who are constantly dispersed all throughout the city so you’ll always be able to find one.

These events provide bonuses for those who’ve chosen a specific race, and as we mentioned earlier with regards to Hercule you receive extra zeni for being his bodyguard if you’re human. If you’re not human you still receive the benefits, just not as much. These events are constantly in flux meaning that various events will take place at more than one location, so it’s up to you to decide which objective you want to clear first. We found this to be very exciting because it always keeps you on your toes as to when events happen, but also because of the small perks you receive for completing them.

Parallel Quests

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
Parallel Quests are another exciting feature that we loved because you’re able to play this either offline or online depending on your preference. We managed to dip our feet into the online side of things, but because our connection with NA servers is quite bad, we were kicked out of rooms 95% of the time which was unfortunate. Maybe once servers are up and running consistently the ability to play with any region would be ok, but for now, it was a let down to not be able to take part in Parallel Quests with other people frequently. Be that as it may, the offline side was great and we had a blast working our way through our patrolling duties.

Up to three characters can participate in PQ and will assist you during your objective. In offline mode, these characters are of course controlled by the AI, while in online you can team up with other players. For new players, we recommend doing the PQ because it really helps you to level up faster than Quest Events, which typically only show up after you’ve completed parts of the Story Event.

Training Event | Instructor Event | Challenge Quests, Etc.

Training Events are where you can work on improving your skills with NPCs which also provide you with experience along the way. These training events tie in with Instructor Events, which are spread out across the city but much of them can be found near the Patrol Headquarters where you initially started out. As you complete these instructor events you’ll become more accustomed to how to pull off combos and perform very precise timing techniques such as just guarding to come out on top during battles.

Advancement Tests are also available which help to raise your class. Challenge Quests are essentially an extra little-added bonus to help you understand the fundamentals but to also take things a step further if needed. We didn’t really find any gripes with these events at all because despite how long they were, it truly does help you get a hang of the game and will make your online play time that much greater.

Single Lobby | Multi Lobby

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review
The major selling point that we felt really came from the online lobby system, which allows players from around the world to play together in one environment and build teams to fight in Patrol Quests. You can create your own team by going to the Resort District which can be accessed by speaking with the Transfer Shop Clerk. The Single Lobby experience honestly speaking felt empty in a way, simply because it was just us running around with other NPCs and getting our quests over and done with. Of course, everyone will have their own preference to how they’d like to approach the game, so if having the peaceful experience of wandering on your own is your forte then that’s all for you.

One thing that we were scratching our heads over however was the 3-hour time frame that was placed on the Multi Lobby, simply because once the time runs out you’re disconnected and then sent all the way back to the start screen to log in again. Our only assumption of this implementation was to prevent cheating such as boosting, or to help keep the server smooth at all times and not have random people just sitting idle. Only one server is used so perhaps limiting the amount was to be accounted for. In spite of that, both the offline and online experiences were both wonderful in their own right and we have a blast working our way through quests, collecting items, and grinding through the Story Event to stay up to date.

If you don’t have a PS Plus account, the game greets you with a 2 day trail to get you started, but once it’s over you’ll need to sign up otherwise only the single lobby will be available and all of the multi lobby options such as online battles, timespace deliveries, and auto patrols will not be of use. Just a heads up for those who are new to the PS4 world.

Curse Your Camera!!!

If there’s one thing that truly made us roll our eyes was the incredibly horrid camera, because this thing just couldn’t maintain a consistent position which made battling at times quite annoying. One example is when we were in a Story Event and were kicked to the game’s invisible wall, we got trapped there because the AI wouldn’t stop attacking us and the camera kept convulsing so we weren’t able to block any of the incoming attacks. This happened on many different occasions which made the experience at times feel so frustrating because we had no control over it. Of course, the game is wild and frantic, which it should be, but the camera shouldn’t take on the same purpose because it truly takes away from the action and just makes you not want to play anymore.


Honey's Gameplay Consensus:

Honey's Pros:

  • Incredibly fast and exciting gameplay, as expected.
  • Easy to hop into for those already experienced with Xenoverse.
  • High replay value
  • Various options to choose from which adds more versatility.
  • Very entertaining story event.
  • Awesome Multi Lobby
  • Extremely helpful tutorial

Honey's Cons:

  • Poor camera function during battles.
  • The quests can prove very difficult at times.

Honey's Final Verdict:

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review

There’s so much to do in this game that it’ll keep you occupied for hours on end. We hope that the areas we’ve touched on will help you become more accustomed to how the game works and that your own experience with the game will be satisfying. The game has well over 30 hours or more of play time just in the single play alone, but with the multi lobby in place, this game feels like you can go on and on for days. Let us know what you think of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 in the comments below, and be sure to share, like, and tweet our articles to keep the community buzzing!

As always for all things sweet, with all the buzzing news straight from Japan, be sure to keep it locked here on Honey’s Anime.

Dragon-Ball-Z-Xenoverse-2-Captcha-Image-1-300x374 Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 2 - PlayStation 4 Review

Editor/Writer

Author: Rob "NualphaJPN" B.

A passionate fan of gaming, writing, journalism, anime, and philosophy. I've lived in Japan for many years and consider this place to be my permanent home. I love to travel around Japan and learn about the history and culture! Leave a comment if you enjoy my articles and watch me play on twitch.tv/honeysgaming ! Take care!

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