Namco Bandai are bringing the world another Dragon Ball title. This time however, we get Dragon Ball Xenoverse, our first attempt at a next-gen integration. We got to take a very short look at the very little game play they had on display as well as the trailer that was released to the public.
A big point Namco Bandai made to us was the return of their partnership with Japan-based video game development studio, Dimps. Not only are Dimps huge “fight fans” to quote the Namco Bandai rep, but they also worked on the most successful Dragonball Z games in their lifespan, the Budokai franchise. This is a huge boost to fans of the game who have felt let down by the titles that have followed Budokai 3.
After watching the already released trailer, we were shown three fighting stages, each one starring the main man himself, Goku, and the main villain from the last three sagas in the DBZ series, Frieza, Cell and Kid Buu. Graphically, for such an early code, the game looked stunning. They have kept the same graphical style but with the next gen powers now at their disposal, the detail and shine is far superior to any of it’s predecessors.You can see real emotion in the fighters faces during battle and environments looks stunning, even when getting destroyed!
There are some nice game play changes from the past games, such as cancelling special moves to use a more tactical approach, for example, start a Kamehameha and then cancel it and attack with some thing else from another angle to gain the advantage while your enemy is attempting to block. You can also now battle underwater (cool right?!), this adds a whole new dimension to battles and another tactical solution (think real battles in DBZ for reference!). Again, another advantage of this being a next gen title is the vast amount of new animations they can now include in the game! Another beautiful if not small detail… you can now transform to Super Saiyan real time with in battle!
We also have the news that the mystery character revealed in the release trailer is NOT an existing character in the Dragonball universe! He has been created specifically for Xenoverse, but unfortunately we weren’t given any more details on the mystery man!
We were also very lucky to get the chance to interview the Game Producer on DB: Xenoverse, Masayuki Hirano, with the help of his fantastic translator. Now obviously with the game being so early in production we were not being given a lot of information, but we tried to get as much information as possible.
Read the short interview below:
NGB: Will Xenoverse feature the original English voices?
Hirano: This hasn’t been determined yet but we are always listening to fan feedback.
NGB: How many people working on game are Dragonball fans?
Hirano: Everyone working on the game are working on it because they are fans of Dragonball, as well as Dimps who are fight fans in general!
NGB: When can we expect new info?
Hirano: No dates yet announced, but we have lots to be announced over time, but no time scale. We have a lot of mystery stuff to be released first and this may reveal more information on even more new mystery stuff!
NGB: Your favourite Dragonball character?
Hirano: *Laughs* I’ve been waiting for someone to ask! My favourite character is… Yamcha!!!
NGB: *STUNNED*
We would like to thank Hirano-San for taking the time to answer our short questions.
We are very excited to see more details on Dragon Ball Xenoverse, but what do you all think of the title? Excited to see more or not interested at all? Let us know below!
