Dragon Ball Xenoverse represented a new beginning for DBZ video games when it arrived in 2015, finally giving fans the chance to fully immerse themselves in the expansive Dragon Ball universe. The sales for the game were indicative of this too, and soon it became the highest-selling Dragon Ball game to date.
One year later, Bandai Namco and Dimps are looking to capitalize on the success of the first game by releasing a sequel, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, that is slated to arrive later this year.
Though the news was great, fans didn't really know what to expect from the upcoming game. Fortunately, that changed at E3 when Dimps had a presentation where it revealed some of the new features that will be coming to Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2.
Avatar Customization
The character customization system from the first game will return with added options. However, there is now more at stake than just certain moves and stats, with a player's character affecting what locations they will be able to visit. For example, Namekians will be able to visit certain places on Planet Namek that someone of the Majin clan wouldn't be able to access.
New Characters
The only new characters we've seen thus far are Turles (the antagonist in the Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might movie) and Future Gohan, but considering just how many characters were noticeably absent from the first entry, it's more than likely that a good portion of them will make an appearance in DBX 2.
Combat Changes
Standard Ki Blasts arc in the air now, instead of flying straight forward. Furthermore, there are now two new types of dashes: a Homing Dash and an Aura Burst Dash. The former is simply a quicker form a dash, while the latter lets the user dodge attacks while approaching the enemy - presumably at the cost of Ki or extra stamina.
Other changes include improved FPS, a larger hub city, a new transportation system and post-launch support.
While these changes are all well and good, it's unclear if some of the more glaring issues from the original will get similar treatment. For example, while the original game's customization options were well-received straight off the bat, it soon gave way to arguably its most poorly executed feature: the loot system.
Yes, players could go around and fight other Dragon Ball characters to acquire their special attacks or abilities and combine them all into a unique moveset, but they still had to actually get them.
On paper, this was easy: beat the opponent and get their attack. In reality however, this actually meant fighting an opponent multiple times, as the attack/ability didn't always show up as a reward. Even worse, sometimes these moves would require players to fight special characters in the middle of a fight who needed special requirements to be fulfilled in order to show up, but even if those requirements were fulfilled, them showing up wasn't guaranteed.
In short, players had a chance, upon a chance to get an attack or ability they wanted.
Of course, this only became worse when the missions get longer and more difficult, such as a certain late-game mission where the game has you face off against the game's protagonists back-to-back.
From what we've seen so far, Xenoverse 2 is going to be a definite improvement over the first, but it will do the game little good if it keeps the same loot system. It's still early though, so there is plenty of time for Bandai Namco and Dimps to alleviate any fears concerning it.
