It’s been a decade since Bandai Namco graced Dragon Ball fans with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, but you’d be forgiven for assuming it was more recently than that. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has had some of the most enduring post launch support of any Bandai Namco game I’ve ever seen. It has outlasted more recent Dragon Ball games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. It’s endured longer than Fortnite has existed. It launched the same year as huge industry titles like Overwatch, Persona 5, and Uncharted 4. But it kept surprising fans with more and more content, tying into tons of newer Dragon Ball content from Super, Daima, and the modern films. In fact, as of this article, there is still a whole brand new content pack dropping in the summer of 2026.
All of that is to say the fact that Bandai Namco and Dimps are working on a true, honest to goodness sequel is a big deal. What possibly could they offer that is new to fans that have been enjoying fresh content for a decade? How can Xenoverse 3 convince die hard fans to drop their Xenoverse 2 Create-a-Character (CaC) for a brand new hero? Well, Bandai invited me to their behind-closed-doors hands-off preview at Summer Game Fest, and what I saw made me excited for what the future of Xenoverse holds for us.
New Decade, New ‘Verse
We were shown a guided tour of some early moments in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, while a Bandai Namco rep narrated the experience and explained some of the new features and mechanics to us. We were shown two different race options – the iconic Saiyan race, and the potential-filled Human race. After choosing a female Human, we were dropped into the new Age 1000 era. It was then that we met fan-favorite newcomer, Brett. As one of the final characters designed by the late Akira Toriyama, Brett has a lot riding on his shoulders. And, despite having the most un-Dragon Ball name in the history of Dragon Ball names, Brett has already been fully embraced by the Xenoverse community. With a cool design and a distinct personality, I can see Brett having a lot of fun moments throughout the story.
Speaking of story, we didn’t really get to experience much of it. For currently unknown reasons, Bulma is in Age 1000, an era seemingly at peace with a huge city filled with bustling citizens and members of a peacekeeping force named after Gohan’s Great Saiyaman alter ego. A force your newly created warrior belongs to alongside Brett. After getting a mission from Gamma 1 and running into both Saiyan Saga Vegeta and Android Saga Trunks (neither of which were given an explanation for what they were there – but knowing Xenoverse rules, time travel shenanigans are definitely at play), we were whisked away to combat.
“It’s unclear if these will be fully randomized or if you get to customize and edit your own”
The first thing I immediately noticed was that it isn’t just your CaC that gets sent on a mission. We were paired with three other warriors when we phased into a cold, desolate frozen mountainous range. It’s unclear if these will be fully randomized or if you get to customize and edit your own elite “squad” or not. We got paired with a member of the Frost Demon race and a Majin as well, showing that the different races from Xenoverse 2 have carried over. No confirmation yet on Namekians, but I would be shocked if they weren’t part of it.
Another big change is that you don’t get dropped immediately into a boss battle. Pulling direct inspiration from Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, you and your team can maneuver around the environment progressing towards icons where battles against larger groups of enemies would spawn in. Once combat kicked off, it was very clear that the developers are building off of what made Xenoverse 2 so satisfying to play. A customizable selection of attacks, ki blasts, and defensive techniques are mapped to the face buttons, with an Ultimate attack available as well. Light and Heavy attacks can be chained together, and there was even a button dedicated to Boost Chase, allowing you to close the distance on an enemy you’ve knocked back so that you could continue an exceptionally flashy string of strikes.
If you force the enemy into a Ki Break effect, an ability called Break Smash becomes available. This allowed for even more uninterrupted attacks. The demo CaC used both a Kamehameha to force the Ki Break status before following up with a Kaioken meteor combo to finish off an underling. There is a brief, satisfying cutscene when you pull off a Break Smash that has you ramming your fist into the target’s face before flinging them forward. A lot of the other battle mechanics will be very familiar to anyone who has played a Dragon Ball game recently. Ki blasts, charging ki, teleport dodges, ki dashes, knockbacks, and so on all return to make combat feel fast and frenetic.
Big Boss Battles
One of the other minion mob battles had them facing off against a large group of smaller enemies. They used this as a chance to pull off their Super Kamehameha Ultimate attack, showing us how bigger moves can be used to wipe out huge swaths of small fries in one fell swoop. While these smaller battles were not overly difficult by the looks of them, they still seem like they will force players to be conservative with their health and energy so they don’t enter the big boss battles at the end with a diminished force.
And boy, was there a boss battle in this preview! I was expecting such an early look with the game to show us someone more standard, like Raditz or Frieza. Instead, the demo mission ended in an all out brawl with Full Power Super Saiyan Broly ripped straight from the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film! Broly started off fully powered up, launching his signature scattershot ki blast volleys, forcing the demo player to hide behind parts of the environment to avoid damage. Rushing in close to get off some combos before Broly attacked again led to what looked like strategic potential instead of just staying in close and button mashing.
“Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 certainly looks like it will be perfect for fans”
One of the newest mechanics shown off was known as the “Soul Switch” which allowed the CaC to swap out with an iconic character from Dragon Ball. Android Saga Future Trunks in this case. For a few seconds, you take full control of Trunks with all of his movesets and attack abilities complete with a cool looking Capsule Corp halo over his head. Within the time frame, Trunks had pulled out his Burning Attack and his Heat Dome attack before disappearing back into the ether. The Soul Switch also granted the CaC a full heal mid combat, which feels like a very powerful after effect of such a cool mechanic. After the fight concluded, we also got a brief taste of a Saiyan CaC employing a mid-match transformation, which is always a crowd favorite. While we all pretty much suspected that was returning, it was nice to get confirmation.
Without getting hands on myself I can’t say it definitively, but the demo for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 certainly looks like it will be perfect for fans. It looked like an evolution of Xenoverse 2, married with some of the gameplay sensibilities of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. The graphics have received a bump, looking much closer to an enhanced Kakarot than Xenoverse 2. With the new Soul Switch mechanic, the new GS Squad mechanic, the new Break Smashes, the Battle Stances, the potential for new races, new movesets, and a brand new story, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is shaping up to be the perfect new entry for fans old and new. And with the Dragon Ball anime poised to return soon to adapt the newer Dragon Ball Super manga chapters, Xenoverse 3 will have content to pull from for years to come.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 launches 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
