Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3 Could Be the Bigger Budget Sequel the Series Needs

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 has been actively supported for so long that it almost feels weird to be talking about Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3 — but it's happening, and I've seen gameplay with my own eyes.

Bandai Namco recently showed off footage to members of the press, and although it was taken from an early build, the presentation did enough to increase my hype levels.

Publicly, we've seen nothing of XenoVerse 3 up until now, outside of its cinematic reveal trailer. I went into this preview pretty much expecting a flashier version of the previous game — and that seems to be what we're getting.

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XenoVerse 2 is a decade old at this point, and so while it's not at all surprising that the sequel boasts much improved visuals, they still left me fairly impressed.

Based purely on the demo I saw, I'd say the graphics are more in line with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, complete with crazy particle effects and large-scale environmental detail.

The animations, too, appeared to be way smoother than what we're used to with the XenoVerse series, which has remained fairly rigid since the first game's arrival all the way back in 2015.

The majority of the demo showcased a typical mission, from the perspective of a custom human female character.

Structurally, XenoVerse 3 seems to be the same as its predecessors, sporting a hub where you pick up quests before teleporting off to a set location in order to complete them.

This particular mission took place in an ice-filled canyon, where the protagonist was joined by three other original heroes. One of these allies was Brett — the guy from the reveal trailer — while the remaining two were just unnamed support NPCs of some kind.

It's worth noting that the NPC duo were of the Frieza and Majin races, confirming that both are making a return, alongside humans, Saiyans, and Namekians. I didn't spy any new playable races, but it's still early days.

Anyway, the idea is that you fight as a unit, and so the party smashed its way through a number of standard enemies — Frieza soldiers, in this case — while navigating a mostly linear environment.

Combat will be immediately recognisable to anyone familiar with the XenoVerse series; it's a mix of quick melee combos and special attacks, with this human hero opting for a kamehameha at almost every opportunity.

But as mentioned, the improved animations go a long way in making fights look more fluid. There were some great-looking close-ups scattered throughout the skirmishes as well, adding just a little more spice to proceedings.

And then came the highlight of the demo: a boss battle against a berserk Broly. The iconic mountain of muscle took several minutes to bring down, thanks to a lengthy health bar and an all-encompassing attack that had to be avoided by hiding behind nearby pillars of ice.

It was a hectic encounter against a clearly powerful opponent, but a new transformation mechanic allows players to even the odds.

After staying in the fight for a couple of minutes, the protagonist was able to 'Soul Switch' with Trunks, replacing the player character for 30 seconds or so. Trunks' attacks were far more potent, and his finisher — the Heat Dome — dished out massive damage before he left.

Truth be told, I wasn't keen on having to bring in existing Dragon Ball characters to get the job done. After all, you're playing as a custom hero here — and you want to feel like you're the main character.

It's fortunate, then, that there's actually an alternative to summoning. Instead, you can choose to activate an awakening — and I got to see this in action when a second, Saiyan hero was able to go Super Saiyan against Broly.

Same problem, different solution — and I quite like the fact that you get to choose when kitting out your character.

And that was it for the demo. If nothing else, it confirmed that XenoVerse 3 is still very much a XenoVerse game, but I don't have any issue with that if the bar's being raised in terms of presentation and gameplay options.

Are you hyped for Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3? Are you a fan of the previous games? Take a trip through time in the comments section below.