Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 has a difficult balancing act ahead of it. The previous game has had an unusually long lifespan, receiving years of additional content, so a sequel arriving a decade later needs to feel like more than simply another collection of missions and familiar characters. After getting hands-on time with the PlayStation 5 version during Gamescom, however, there are already some interesting changes beneath the familiar Dragon Ball combat formula. The biggest question is whether its new setting and combat systems can give the series enough of a fresh identity to justify the long wait.
What we know
Developed by Dimps Corporation and published by Bandai Namco, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is an action-adventure RPG that takes the series into an entirely new era. Set in AGE 1000, the game moves away from the familiar historical periods of Dragon Ball and places players in a futuristic version of West City. This new setting is populated by original characters as well as familiar faces from the franchise, although exactly how characters from different eras have ended up in this distant future is one of the game’s central mysteries. Players take control of a custom-created fighter who joins the Great Saiya Squad and becomes involved in the events unfolding around the city.
As with its predecessors, character creation and progression are important parts of the experience. Players can construct their own fighter and select a race that influences their abilities and fighting style, with the final game offering Earthlings, Saiyans, Namekians, the Frieza race, Majins and the newly introduced Android race. Characters can then be further developed through equipment, techniques and abilities inspired by the wider Dragon Ball cast. The game also allows players to build connections with established characters, which feeds directly into its combat systems.
Combat retains the fast-paced 3D fighting of the previous Xenoverse games, with flying, close-range attacks, Ki blasts, Super Attacks and Ultimate Attacks all returning. At the same time, Dimps is introducing systems designed to add more tactical considerations. Ki can be depleted to put enemies into a vulnerable state, while different Super Attacks have their own properties and effects. Soul Assist allows an established Dragon Ball character to temporarily enter a fight and perform a powerful attack, while Soul Switch temporarily transforms the player’s character into a connected character, providing access to their abilities and combat style. Race-specific Awakening abilities offer another route to increased power, including Super Saiyan transformations for Saiyans.
The adventure can be played solo or cooperatively, with squads consisting of up to four characters. West City also acts as more than just a backdrop, providing a hub where players can encounter characters, undertake missions and develop their custom fighter. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is currently scheduled for release in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam, with no more specific release date announced yet.
What we saw
Our preview was based on a hands-on session with a demo build of the PlayStation 5 version during Gamescom, where we got to sit down with Bandai Namco and experience a slice of the game for ourselves. The demo introduced the futuristic West City hub before sending our character into a combat mission, giving us an opportunity to experience the game’s movement and fighting mechanics directly rather than simply watching them in action. The session ultimately built towards a confrontation with Broly, while also showcasing several of the new systems surrounding Soul Assist and Soul Switch.
What we thought
The most immediately interesting aspect of Xenoverse 3 is its new setting. Moving the story to AGE 1000 gives Dimps considerably more freedom than another trip through the established Dragon Ball timeline would have offered. West City has evolved into a futuristic metropolis, while the Great Saiya Squad provides a new group of characters for the player to interact with. At the same time, familiar characters such as Vegeta and Future Trunks appearing in this distant era raise some obvious questions. The appearance of characters who seemingly shouldn’t still be around is clearly intentional, and while the demo didn’t provide many answers, that mystery is more compelling than simply revisiting another retelling of the anime’s major events. The presence of original characters connected to Akira Toriyama’s final contributions to the franchise also gives the new setting some additional weight.
The actual fighting, meanwhile, feels immediately recognisable to anyone familiar with Xenoverse. The PS5 demo delivered the expected combination of rapid movement, aerial combat, melee combos and increasingly ridiculous Ki attacks, and there is still something satisfying about being able to freely zip around a battlefield while juggling enemies through the air. The controls felt responsive during the session, with the familiar attack structure making it easy to get into the action. At the same time, the basic combat hasn’t suddenly been reinvented after ten years. That could be seen as a strength for returning players, but it also means Xenoverse 3 will have to rely on its additional systems to provide the sense of progression that a full sequel needs.
Those systems do show promise. Soul Assist is a fun way of incorporating the enormous Dragon Ball roster without simply making every established character playable in the traditional sense, while Soul Switch is considerably more interesting from a gameplay perspective. Temporarily becoming a character such as Future Trunks changes the available moves and gives the player a powerful tool to turn around a difficult encounter. Because the ability is temporary, it isn’t simply a permanent upgrade that removes the need for strategy. There is also more thought going into preparing a character for particular encounters, with enemy properties and different attack effects encouraging players to consider their loadout before heading into battle. Whether this ultimately develops into meaningful tactical depth or remains a layer of preparation on top of familiar brawling will depend heavily on the variety of missions and enemies in the full game.
Visually, Xenoverse 3 remains firmly within the established Dragon Ball aesthetic rather than attempting a dramatic visual reinvention. The character models, attacks and effects look suitably faithful to the source material, and seeing the futuristic West City alongside its flying vehicles and dense architecture helps sell the AGE 1000 setting. The presentation isn’t yet suggesting a generational graphical leap, though, and some of the environments and character presentation still feel quite close to what the previous game established. The audio and combat effects, on the other hand, do exactly what they need to, with the familiar impact sounds and explosive Ki attacks helping the fights feel appropriately powerful. After a decade, the safest criticism is also the most obvious one: Xenoverse 3 currently looks more like an evolution than a revolution. Fortunately, the combination of a new era, a mystery-filled cast and mechanics such as Soul Switch gives Dimps enough new material to potentially make that evolution worthwhile.