Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 Preview – Let’s Go For Another Decade

Dragon Ball has never been short on games that allow players to step into the shoes of Goku and his friends, but the Xenoverse series has always offered something a little different. Instead of following the established heroes, players create their own fighters and become part of the universe themselves. It’s a concept that helped distinguish the original Dragon Ball Xenoverse in 2015, and its sequel built on that foundation in 2016, eventually becoming a long-running experience supported by nearly a decade of additional content.

However, after spending so much time with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, I think there’s a reasonable question about what a third entry can offer beyond more characters, transformations, and familiar battles. The series has already established a formula that players enjoy, but there’s still room to explore what being your own fighter in the Dragon Ball universe can look like. After all these years, I’d like to see the next game do more than build on what’s already there.

A New Era for Xenoverse

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 takes the series into Age 1000, a distant future featuring a developed West City and original characters brought to life by Akira Toriyama. Players join the Great Saiya Squad, opening the door for new stories outside the events we’ve revisited countless times across Dragon Ball games. I appreciate the change in direction because, at this point, we’ve experienced Goku’s greatest battles from just about every possible angle. Exploring a period of Dragon Ball history that hasn’t been covered nearly as much is something I’m looking forward to.

After spending time with the game at Tokyo Game Show 2026, I got a better idea of where developer Dimps wants to take the series. The sequel places greater emphasis on creating a fighter that reflects how you want to play, although I’m not entirely convinced that having more customization options will be enough to push the formula forward. Still, there are some interesting ideas here, especially when it comes to how players can develop their characters.

Creating a Fighter That Feels Like Your Own

Ahead of my hands-on session, the development team walked us through the expanded customization systems, which seem to be the foundation of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3. The game introduces a mentor system where players can summon familiar Dragon Ball characters using collectible items called MistyPix. Once summoned through the Fortuneteller Gal, these characters offer missions that increase their bond levels and unlock additional abilities through individual skill trees.

The system includes 130 characters, including non-playable ones, so there’s no shortage of familiar faces to interact with. Still, I’m curious how involved these relationships will be, especially for players who want to invest in multiple mentors. Building relationships with recognizable fighters feels right for a Dragon Ball game, but I hope the process doesn’t become another cycle of repetitive objectives just to unlock an attack.

The customization gets more interesting when you consider how these characters influence combat. Soul Assist lets you summon support characters during battle, such as Dende for healing or Gogeta Blue for an offensive attack. Meanwhile, Soul Switch lets you temporarily assume another character’s appearance and fighting capabilities, offering a different way to experience familiar heroes through your created fighter.

Players who prefer maintaining their original character can instead rely on race-specific Awoken Skills, including transformations such as Super Saiyan. The developers also confirmed that Awoken transformations no longer operate on a fixed timer, giving players more freedom to maintain their powered-up forms as long as they can manage their Ki.

Personally, the Fighting Style system caught my attention more than the transformations themselves. Players can inherit another character’s movements, animations, and combos, which means equipping Whis’ fighting style also gives your character his distinctive staff-based attacks. The staff doesn’t provide any additional statistical advantages, but I like seeing customization extend beyond which special attacks you’ve equipped.

I’ve always enjoyed creating my own fighter in Dragon Ball, but I find it more appealing to control how that character moves and attacks. Combining fighting styles with your preferred Super and Ultimate Attacks, while adjusting abilities that affect attack range and other combat properties, opens up plenty of room for experimentation.

At the same time, I’m a little concerned about how these systems will hold up once players begin discovering the most effective combinations. Dozens of options sound great, but I’d hate to see everyone eventually gravitate toward the same handful of abilities because the others aren’t nearly as useful.

Taking the Fight Online at Tokyo Game Show

My hands-on session focused on online cooperative PvE missions, letting us explore part of the multiplayer structure without diving too deeply into the full progression system. The build available during my session featured four selectable races and six prepared character presets, although players could also access equipment and battle settings to make adjustments.’

The developers encouraged us to use the presets for our first mission, which made sense given the limited time available. Even so, given how much Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 emphasizes player expression, I would’ve appreciated more time to experiment with individual abilities and see how different combinations affected the experience.

After exploring the options, the session moved into matchmaking for cooperative missions, where we used our chosen configurations alongside other players. Cooperative play has always been part of the Xenoverse experience, and the expanded support systems seem designed to give players more ways to approach encounters. Having one player heal while another focuses on damage sounds like a natural way to use the new abilities, though I’m curious how much coordination the missions will actually demand.

After all, Dragon Ball Xenoverse has never really struggled to make its battles look exciting, especially when several characters are throwing powerful attacks around at once. My concern is whether the mission design will encourage players to explore the different systems or if dealing as much damage as possible will remain the preferred approach. There’s potential for more varied encounters here, but I’d like to see how the developers handle that across the full game.

Outside of the cooperative content, the development team also confirmed one-on-one and four-on-four PvP modes during the presentation, although those weren’t part of my session. I’m particularly curious about how Fighting Styles will work in competitive play, where different combinations and unexpected abilities could make encounters less predictable.

Can Xenoverse 3 Move Beyond Its Predecessors?

For everything Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is introducing, I think its biggest challenge will be keeping the experience rewarding after the initial excitement of unlocking new abilities wears off. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 maintained an audience for years, but the sequel will have to build on the familiar cycle of completing missions, improving your character, and returning for more content.

I’m especially curious about the mentor system and how much time players will spend developing relationships with the various characters. Unlocking new fighting styles sounds appealing, although I can imagine the process becoming tedious if too many abilities are locked behind similar objectives. There’s also the question of how Age 1000 will contribute to the overall adventure. Moving away from familiar Dragon Ball stories gives the developers more creative freedom, and I’d like to see them take advantage of it.

My time at Tokyo Game Show left me interested in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3’s direction, particularly its approach to making custom fighters feel more distinct. However, I don’t think the series necessarily needs additional customization for its own sake. I’ve always enjoyed the fantasy of creating a character who belongs in the Dragon Ball universe, and the sequel seems determined to give players more control over that experience. Now, I just want to see the missions, progression, and combat keep up with those ambitions.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 launches in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.