Dragon Ball XV Review

[Aqwafina]

Should I play DB: Xenoverse?



I'm sure there are some of you that are still on the fence about making this purchase (With good reason! The game without DLC is still a whopping $40). To be clear, I think this game is completely worth it, but before we get into that lets touch up on some DB history.



Akira Toriyama - If you're a person that thoroughly enjoys anime, but don't recognize this name I need you to get out. GET OUT! Are they gone? Ok.


This shy, Japanese mans' artwork inspired the likes of Bleach and One Piece. His mainstream success started with a manga named Dr. Slump and continued with his most recognized work, Dragon Ball, in 1984. That's 30+ years in a continuing franchise (even the Simpsons haven't run this long and they're the longest running American sitcom). Akira Toriyama also did game artwork for titles like Dragon Quest which explains the Dragon Ball doppelgänger appearances in-game. To clearly portray how successful he has been in his endeavors let's remember that it's 2015 and we're STILL making video games revolving around the Dragon Ball universe.

Now let's jump headfirst into why you should be playing this game this completely unbiased review of Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Here is what we'll be looking at:

• Gameplay
• Story
• Controls
• Graphics
• Should you play it? (spoiler alert: yes)

Gameplay


If you've played any DB game in the past couple of years then you're already pretty familiar with how Xenoverse is played. It's a 3-D fighter that uses that element pretty well in terms of pacing and overall action.


Destructible environments, battle worn armor and character, free flying and character transformations are just some of the features included on this title. You can collect skills and costumes through 'Parallel Missions" or do the main story and unlock skills and costumes at the store. My only gripe comes from the stamina system ( which resembles the system in such games as the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series) , but I guess they just HAD to balance the fights one way or another since Super Saiyans can literally spam their ultimate techniques when transformed. There are downsides to balance stronger transformations - when your stamina runs out you can't dash or use any skills for about 10 seconds.



In a game where you choose your race being Saiyan seems like the perfect choice, but that's just one out of five races. Note that each class aside from Namekian and Frieza Clan have a male and female gender with varying stats. Generally the men are stronger and the females are quicker. All-in-all the Dragon Ball XV has very crisp game play that perfectly fits the anime's universe.

You can read the rest of the review here. Enjoy, let me know what you think here on the forum or leave a comment on the site.

[FarmerM]

I can understand where you are coming from. However, DBX isn't designed to make that experience optimal.

As, stated the AI in DBX is extremely easy. DBX is a game designed to make you grind/play... a lot.

There's the problem, for most people, the easier something is the less rewarding/fun it is over extended periods.

Let's compare that concept to board games. Simple/Kids games like Candyland are fairly quick plays for just that reason. If a game of Candyland lasted an hour most people would not retain the same level of enjoyment they had at the 15 minute mark when most games are wrapping up.

However, other games like Risk and Chess can be played for hours due to them being more mentally stimulating/challenging.

It does ultimately come down to what players find stimulating.
However, the target age demographic for DBZ is 17-33 and I think that most people in our age group have matured to the point that they want more than the fighting game equivalent of Candyland.