Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

Having an anime background will definitely get you into the Dragon Ball universe much faster than a newcomer. Not to mention that if you haven't played the previous installment in the franchise, you'll a pretty hard time to adjust to the world of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. However, as a fighting-action game with some very interesting story elements, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 really shines.

The premise of the game sounds like a great scenario of the sci-fi movie, as you start the game as a member of an elite group called the Time Patrol.

Your mission is to right all the wrongs that the baddies, called Time Breakers, have done in the past and try to fix anything they changed in the past. As a Time Patroller, you've been selected to complete a mission of the highest importance, so you are to proceed to the game's main hub, Conton City, to be briefed on your next adventure.

For those of you who've already played the first game, Conton City is much, much bigger than Toki Toki City (like seven time larger). It's also worth noting that you'll be starting your adventure in Age 852, just two years after the events in the first game.

Moreover, you can import your character from the first game in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, along with parts of his/her suit. Anything else that can't be transferred will be turned into Zeni, the in-game currency. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 can be played as an open-world MMO with lots of stuff to do.

Players can choose to complete the story mode missions, as they go through a series of events meant to restore the timeline. There also parallel quests, which will allow you to play events from the Dragon Ball timeline with different condition and characters.

Then, there are world challenges, training mode, raid boss battles and a lot of other activities that you can pursue depending on your tastes. Each of these activities will reward players with skill points, item, money and other in-game stuff. As I've mentioned, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 can be played as a MMO, though it has an offline mode too. About 300 players can be online on a server at the same time, so you can play against or with your friends if that's what you want.

If you don't have a character from the previous installment to import, you can create a new one by choosing from five races, each with their own strengths and weaknesses: Earthling, Saiyan, Namekian, Frieza, and Majin. You can then customize your characters too look the way to want, there are plenty of options. It doesn't take too long to get into the action, but the if you haven't played any fighting games before the combo list will surely look intimidating.

The game mechanics seem pretty complicated and hard to master, but practice is the mother of learning. Developers have a consistent tutorial system that will teach you everything you need to know in order to beat your opponents.

Overall, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is quite intimidating for newcomers to the universe, but 20 minutes into the game and you'll get the hand of it, and that's developers' merit. It's not a perfect game since I've experienced some server disconnections while playing the game, but other than that it's worth a try if you're an anime fan.