Mini Review: Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 (PS5) - An Insane Amount of Stuff in an Ageing Game

Still being updated and still being played by plenty of people, Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 is a prime example of Dragon Ball's seemingly eternal appeal. The fighting-RPG is almost eight years old, and has just been handed yet another shot in the arm through this native PS5 port. It's even getting a brand new, four-part DLC saga over the coming months. The longevity is simply unbelievable.

If you're unfamiliar with the XenoVerse pitch, you primarily play as your own custom Dragon Ball character, who fights to restore corrupted timelines in franchise canon. This acts as the perfect excuse to replay iconic battles from the source material, all while a time-travelling tale unravels in the background.

It's a fun premise that ties neatly into Dragon Ball's tone, but a combination of slowly-paced plot points and some awkward, barely animated cutscenes hold the storytelling back. While it is cool to see how various timelines could twist if left untreated, the overarching narrative isn't really the main draw of XenoVerse 2.

Indeed, it's the character progression that'll keep most players invested. This is a grindy game, as you level up your hero, distribute skill points, acquire new attacks, and get your hands on stat-boosting equipment. Each and every mission comes with its own set of loot drops, and so you're encouraged to retry quests over and over to get the gear that you desire.

And that's pretty much the crux of XenoVerse 2. Even just the base game — with none of its many DLC packs included — is absolutely massive. If you're totally new, the sheer amount of stuff can be overwhelming, but once you've settled into the grind, you'll probably be thankful that there's a seemingly never-ending supply of missions and subsequent rewards.

The only problem with XenoVerse 2, here in 2024, is that its core gameplay has never truly evolved. Yes, more and more ways to upgrade and customise your character have been added over the years, but the actual combat feels basic and a touch too finicky by today's standards. Wailing on CPU opponents over and over again with the same old combos and super moves gets repetitive a lot sooner than you might think, and with so much content to chew through, diving into this title as a newcomer can be a very tall order.

XenoVerse 2's outstanding longevity must be praised, and it's still a fun game to explore, but it can be difficult to recommend. Parts of this time-travelling adventure haven't aged well at all, and although the game's impressive scope does counterbalance a lot of its flaws, you need to know that the core gameplay loop is an almighty grind — now more than ever before.