Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is an action role-playing fighting game developed by Dimps and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment based on the Dragon Ball franchise, and is the sequel to the 2015 game Dragon Ball Xenoverse. It was released on October 25, 2016, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on October 27 for Windows. In Japan, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 was initially only available on PlayStation 4. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan on September 7, 2017, and later released worldwide on September 22, 2017. The game was released on Stadia on December 17, 2019.
The game had sold over copies worldwide as of 2023.
Gameplay
The game is very similar to its predecessor in terms of gameplay. It is primarily set in 3D battle arenas modeled after notable locations in the Dragon Ball universe, with the central hub being an expanded version of Toki-Toki City, known as Conton City. As reported by the creators of the game, Conton City is seven times larger than Toki-Toki City. Players are able to freely traverse the hub world, and in some areas are capable of flying, once they have unlocked the ability to fly. Players are also able to travel to other locations such as the Namekian Village and Frieza's ship. As in the previous games, some skills have to be learned through masters and other non-player characters, some of whom are found exclusively in those additional areas. Xenoverse 2 is the fourth Dragon Ball video game to feature character customization, and allows players to choose from five races: Humans, Saiyans, Majins, Namekians and Frieza's race, each with different strengths and weaknesses.The game also features race-specific quests, minigames, and transformations. Players also have a much greater role in the story, as their choices can affect how the story unfolds. Multiplayer servers hold up to 3,000 players at once. The game also has a training mode called Training School. The player can use different kinds of ki blasts, and the ki blast type depends on the player's race or Super Soul. Additionally, players are able to transfer their save data from Dragon Ball Xenoverse. This results in a projection of the player's custom character from the previous game appearing as Toki Toki City's "Hero" in the middle of the square. Players may also select a premade avatar to serve as the "Hero" if they do not transfer save data.
Plot
Two years after the events of Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the protagonist—now a member of the Time Patrol—receives a mission from Elder Kai to correct distortions in history. They meet the Supreme Kai of Time and her bird Tokitoki, who is preparing to lay an egg that will give birth to a new universe. Their first mission involves assisting Goku against his older brother Raditz, who has been strengthened by dark magic. Behind these changes are Towa and Mira, who are recruiting powerful allies across timelines.During the Saiyan Saga, the Time Patroller teams up with Goku to stop Turles from sabotaging the battle against Nappa and Prince Vegeta, defeating both Saiyans in their Great Ape forms. On Namek, the Patroller aids Gohan and Krillin, foils Captain Ginyu's body-swapping schemes, and helps Goku defeat Frieza and his brother older Cooler, who arrive together. The Patroller also intervenes in Future Trunks' timeline, saving Future Gohan from a reprogrammed Android 16 and repelling Mira. Despite being forbidden to interfere, Trunks briefly joins Future Gohan's fight against the Androids before Gohan convinces him to accept his fate and safeguard their future.
The Patroller later aids Trunks' younger self after the Cell Games, defeating both Future Cell and the Androids with Trunks' help. With Trunks' timeline stabilized, the Patroller moves on to the Majin Buu era, stopping Broly's interference during Vegeta's sacrifice and helping Goku and Vegeta defeat Kid Buu. In Hell, they face Janemba, enabling Vegeta's return to Earth and the fusion into Vegito. The Patroller next confronts the Masked Saiyan—revealed as Bardock, Goku's father—during Goku's battle with Beerus. Mira intervenes, but Beerus' rage over a pudding incident forces the Patroller and Whis to calm him down.
The story continues with the Resurrection 'F saga, where Frieza returns with Metal Cooler. Towa manipulates events, but Whis rewinds time, allowing Goku, Vegeta, and the Patroller to defeat them. Bardock, now freed from Towa's control, sacrifices himself to stop a black hole trap, while another masked warrior—actually the protagonist from the first game—fights alongside the Patroller before vanishing. History is then altered so that everyone in Conton City believes the new protagonist is the original hero. Investigating, the Patroller prevents Towa from killing Shenron in Age 850, restoring the timeline and summoning the original hero back.
Towa's final plan involves stealing Tokitoki's egg to control the multiverse. Mira betrays and absorbs Towa, becoming a near-unstoppable foe. With Goku's help, the Patroller defeats Mira, and the egg hatches, birthing a new universe. A celebratory feast follows, conjured by Shenron due to the Supreme Kai of Time's infamous cooking. The two heroes of Conton City spar to test their strength, though the result is left unknown.
In addition to the main "Critical Mission," the Patroller investigates five large Time Rifts tied to the player's chosen race—Saiyan, Earthling, Namekian, Frieza Race, or Majin. Each rift offers unique rewards, race-exclusive Awoken Skills, and Distorted Time Eggs, remnants of Towa's attempts to replicate Tokitoki's egg. Though stable, these rifts contain altered histories not recorded in the official scrolls, so the Supreme Kai of Time opts to contain rather than erase them.
Collecting all five Distorted Time Eggs unlocks the Unknown History Saga, revealing Bardock's battle against Mira. Bardock ascends through Super Saiyan 1 to 3, defeating Mira before vanishing from the rift. The Patroller then witnesses a new, alternate future created by the Eggs, where Trunks successfully aids Future Gohan in defeating the Androids. The Supreme Kai of Time asks the Patroller whether this timeline should remain. Regardless of the player's choice, the Kai's final decision remains ambiguous. Having seen the Eggs' potential to reshape reality, the Time Patrol takes measures to ensure no further distortions threaten history.
Development
The game was originally teased by Bandai Namco Entertainment on May 16, 2016, as a new "Dragon Ball project", with it being announced on May 17, 2016. A Bandai Namco spokesperson confirmed that the game would be released on the PlayStation 4 in Japan, and for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in North America and Europe. Bandai Namco announced at E3 2016 that the game would run at a frame rate of 60 frames per second on all three platforms, would have a hub city that is seven times larger than its predecessor, and would also feature a new transportation system.An open and closed beta for Xenoverse 2 was announced by Bandai Namco in August 2016. Both the open and closed beta were available exclusively on PlayStation 4. The closed beta began on October 8, and ended on October 10, and the open beta began on October 14, and ended on October 17.
The Collector's Edition of the game includes the game disc, a soundtrack CD, a collector's box, an exclusive steelbook case, a Time Patroller's Guide artbook, and a statue of Super Saiyan Goku. It is available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
A Nintendo Switch port was revealed on January 12, 2017, in the Nintendo Switch's "Software Line-Up" Video.
On March 20, 2019, a free-to-play "Lite Version" was released on PS4 and Xbox One with a subset of the full game's content and a lower level cap.
The Stadia port was revealed on December 17, 2019, on the "Stadia Community Blog" by the official Stadia team and released three hours later.
The versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were announced in October 2023. Available as a free upgrade to existing owners, the ports were released worldwide on May 24, 2024. The Xbox One version was also released in Japan on the same date.
Downloadable content
A series of downloadable content packs have been released, generally including two to four characters, main/extra story missions, stages, new moves, skills, parallel quests, and other elements for the added characters.- Pre-Order Bonus - Includes Goku Black from Dragon Ball Super as a playable character and the Tao Pai Pai Stick as a hub vehicle. It is also included in the Nintendo Switch version and Stadia version.
- Steve Aoki Pack - Free DLC that adds the "DJ" NPC to Conton City which, when interacted with, plays one of Steve Aoki's two remixes of Cha-La Head-Cha-La or We Gotta Power made for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. Later delisted from most digital stores.
- Masters Pack - Free DLC that adds 5 Masters: Android 16 from the Android Saga, Bardock and Future Gohan from The Father of Goku and The History of Trunks television specials, Cooler from the film Cooler's Revenge, and Whis from Dragon Ball Super. Included with the base game on Steam and Stadia.
- DLC Pack 1/Dragon Ball Super Pack 1 - Includes Frost and Cabba from Dragon Ball Super as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 2/Dragon Ball Super Pack 2 - Includes content from the Universe 6 Saga: Vados and God of Destruction Champa as playable characters, the Universe 6 Saga for story mode, and the Nameless Planet stage from DB Super
- DLC Pack 3/Dragon Ball Super Pack 3 - Includes Rosé Goku Black, Zamasu from Dragon Ball Super, and Bojack from the film Bojack Unbound as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 4/Dragon Ball Super Pack 4 - Includes content from Future Trunks Saga: Fused Zamasu and SSGSS Vegito as playable characters, the Warrior of Hope Saga for story mode, and the Future in Ruins stage from DB Super
- DLC Pack 5/Extra Pack 1 - Includes Majin Buu, Dabura from Dragon Ball Z's Buu Saga, and Android 13, Tapion from the films Super Android 13 and Wrath of the Dragon as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 6/Extra Pack 2 - Includes Goku, Jiren, Android 17 from Dragon Ball Super, and an original character named Fu as playable characters, and a new extra mission "infinite history saga".
- DLC Pack 7/Extra Pack 3 - Includes Kefla from Dragon Ball Super, and Super Baby 2 from Dragon Ball GT as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 8/Extra Pack 4 - Includes SSGSS Gogeta and Broly from the 2018 film Dragon Ball Super: Broly as playable characters, and the Tournament of Power arena from Dragon Ball Super.
- Anime Music Pack 1 - Includes 11 songs from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. Not available in the Stadia version.
- Anime Music Pack 2 - Includes songs from Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Super, and extra songs from Dragon Ball Z. Not available in the Stadia version.
- DLC Pack 9/Ultra Pack 1 - Includes Ribrianne and SSGSS Vegeta from Dragon Ball Super, and another variation of Vegeta from the 2018 film Dragon Ball Super: Broly as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 10/Ultra Pack 2 - Includes Uub as Majuub from Dragon Ball GT and Android 21 from the 2018 video game Dragon Ball FighterZ as playable characters.
- August 2020 Free Update - Includes Supreme Kai of Time as a playable character in honor of the game selling 6 million copies worldwide.
- DLC Pack 11/Legendary Pack 1 - Includes Pikkon from the film Fusion Reborn and Toppo from Dragon Ball Super as playable characters, as well as two new expanded extra missions.
- DLC Pack 12/Legendary Pack 2 - Includes Kale, Caulifa, Jiren from Dragon Ball Super, and Gogeta from the 2018 film Dragon Ball Super: Broly as playable characters, the Volcanic Wasteland stage from DBS Broly, as well as three new expanded extra missions.
- Legend Patrol Pack - Includes the entire story campaign from the original Dragon Ball Xenoverse, in addition to its GT Saga DLC campaign. Initially as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, it released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC & Google Stadia alongside the launch of the Conton City Vote Pack.
- DLC Pack 13/Conton City Vote Pack - Includes Goku, Dyspo from Dragon Ball Super, and Vegeta from Dragon Ball GT as playable characters, as well as two new expanded extra missions.
- DLC Pack 14/Hero of Justice Pack 1 - Includes Gamma 1, Gamma 2 & Gohan from the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 15/Hero of Justice Pack 2 - Includes Orange Piccolo, Piccolo and Gohan from the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero as playable characters, the Red Ribbon Base stage from DBS Super Hero, as well as three new expanded extra missions.
- DLC Pack 16/Future Saga: Chapter 1- Includes Broly from the 1993 film Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, and Android 18, Videl, and a new version of Goku Black and Vegeta as playable characters, as well as nine new expanded extra missions.
- DLC Pack 17/Future Saga: Chapter 2 - Includes Goku from the 2024 anime Dragon Ball DAIMA, God of Destruction Belmod and Jiren as playable characters, A free trial update/campaign for this DLC started on Wednesday 20th November 2024. It fixed some bugs, increased the level cap from 140 - 160 and added Goku as a free DLC character
- DLC Pack 18/Dragon Ball DAIMA Pack - includes SS4 Goku and SS3 Vegeta from 2024 anime Dragon Ball DAIMA as playable characters.
- DLC Pack 19/Future Saga: Chapter 3 - includes Broly and Golden Frieza as playable characters.