Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 continues the success of the Xenoverse franchise, this time with a far more open world than the previous game’s Tokitoki city, and a much more lively online world than before. While at times it can be a bit repetitive, Xenoverse 2 does manage to get plenty right that was wrong with it’s predecessor.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is an 2016 open-world, fighting game, it is developed by Dimps, and published by Bandai Namco, it is available on PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.

Character creation reaches a new level in Xenoverse 2.

The long-awaited sequel to acclaimed and financially successful Dragon Ball Xenoverse has arrived, featuring tons more to do than its predecessor, a far more vast roster, well defined gameplay, and other improvements Xenoverse 2 is an excellent sequel that mostly works, but isn’t free of issues.

Dragon Ball history mixes together once more in Xenoverse 2.

THE GOOD: The very first thing you notice in an amazing instantaneous like feeling is the tweaked and reworked gameplay. It often feels completely redone from scratch, while still having a familiarity for seasoned players. Transformations are no longer a somewhat useless feeling Ki drainer, the player now has the option to stay in the transformed state of their respective character’s race at will, so long they have at least one ki bar upon transforming. Core gameplay has also been changed a bit, and super spamming is officially a thing of the past. All five races now have race specific quests, while some of these are accessible to any race chosen, depending on the race you choose, you can end up with some quests exclusive to said race. Of the five race quests, the Frieza quests are by far the best within the game, it felt like the Dimps team did some serious thinking when writing these, and you can choose who you align with or back stab.

True improvements are a rarity to Dragon Ball game sequels, but Xenoverse 2 does it well.

THE BAD: Most of the side quests beyond the aforementioned Frieza quests and the Vegeta quests (if you’re a Saiyan), feel repetitive and often times useless. I also noticed a dip in AI for certain enemies, and it felt like bosses were the only enemies with intelligent AI more than once. The story kind of felt a bit been there done that for my taste, which is disappointing considering the new Dragon Ball Super continuity. Cut scenes, while impressively close to the anime often felt too short compared to Xenoverse 1.

Some glaring problems holds Xenoverse 2 back.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a rare Dragon Ball game sequel that really improves upon it’s previous entry, tweaked and reworked gameplay makes this a must for Dragon Ball fans. However, there’s a few annoying problems such as lack of effort in some cut scenes and some side quests feeling empty and repetitive, but Xenoverse 2’s saving graces makes it definite go for those interested.