Did you ever get the feeling that things were supposed to happen one way but then the crazy villain you are fighting starts glowing purple and beating the crap out of you? That seems to be happening a lot in the Dragon Ball world, which is why the Time Patrol has wished upon the magical dragon Shenron for an ally capable of correcting these little mistakes. Now it’s up to you to go back in time to the most iconic moments in the most iconic Shonen anime to come to the west. Provided you can ignore how headache inducing time travel is as a plot device, of course.

This is the whole premise of Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the newest game to try to bring Goku and friends into the world of gaming. I’ve been following this game for a while now and have been excited to see how well it stands up to my ever ascending expectations. After all, I’m a fanboy of the highest order when it comes to Dragon Ball and it quickly becomes clear that I am exactly the kind of person that the developers had in mind when they were making this game.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a game that does not give a damn if you understand what is going on or not, either in story or in gameplay. Within seconds of firing it up (and sitting through a really cool cover of the show’s original theme song by Japanese band Flow) you are thrust into the middle of a fight against Frieza, one of the most famous of the show’s villains. What follows, at least in my case, was a showcase in panic and button-mashing as I realised there would be no tutorial and no hints at how to actually use any of Goku’s iconic moves. Much like the hero of Dragon Ball, my initial success or failure would be determined by how well I was able to punch things in the face. At least until my button bashing showed me how to use the Kamehameha, at which point I simply abused that until I made it to character creation and a tutorial in game mechanics.

Story-wise, there is very little hand-holding happening during this game. It assumes you have a very healthy knowledge of the Dragon Ball lore before you fire it up. As you play through an altered version of the events of the show, major characters and arcs aren’t introduced so much as thrust upon you with the expectation that you’ll understand what is going on. Before each mission, you’re shown what the altered version of history looks like, usually ending with the villain laughing maniacally into the camera as they are want to do. However, to anyone uninitiated in the proper course of events, there isn’t any hint at what should be happening.

Xenoverse looks to marry two very different types of gameplay into one game, with varying degrees of success, particularly early on. At the heart of the game it is a 3D fighter in the spirit of the Budokai Tenkaichi or Raging Burst games, though calling it a fighter is really to do it a disservice. Your main tactic will be to rush at whatever you’re meant to be fighting, whether it is a hoard of little green men or a mountain-sized ape, and punch it right in its stupid face until it stops moving, using a combination of strong and weak melee attacks and a handful of special moves that you’ve earned (more on that in a second). Combat isn’t particularly deep to begin with and it is possible to button bash your way to victory, though the real joy of the game comes from mastering the various combos and unleashing some of the signature attacks from the show. While the fighting portions of the game might not have the depth to lure in enthusiasts of the genre, it has its own little satisfaction to be had.

The other half of the game plays very much like an MMO. While you’re not taking on story missions, you’ll be free to wander Toki Toki City, interacting with NPCs, buying items, clothing, and special moves from shops, or challenging the computer or friends to combat in the World Martial Arts Tournament. You can also take on a variety of side missions, presented as “What If?” type moments from the show. These are generally interesting and fun, but you’ll spend quite a bit of time running through the missions over and over again waiting for a specific drop to happen or trying to trigger a certain event. Again, fans of the show will likely get a lot of enjoyment in seeing Goku, Piccolo, and Frieza engaging in a friendly sparing match against Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha, but if that series of names means nothing to you, you’ll likely just feel like you’re grinding for the sake of grinding.

As always, the most important question is “Is it worth the money?” and, despite the fact that I’m still getting quite a bit of enjoyment out of this game, I doubt it would be worth the effort if I wasn’t such a big fan of the show. For me, seeing my custom made Saiyen warrior doing battle alongside Goku and friends is a dream right out of that fan-fiction I still cring to think about twenty years later. However, if that’s not the kind of thing that makes you smile like a small child then I honestly don’t think there is a lot here for you. Fans of the show can rejoice. For everyone else, it might be best to give this one a miss.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is out now for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. Have you been rocking the dragon this past week? Let us know what you’ve thought in the comments below!

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