With the first two installments of Bandai Namco Entertainment's Dragon Ball Xenoverse video game series selling over 15 million units combined worldwide, a sequel to the popular fight RPG is something of an inevitability, especially given the enduring success of the Dragon Ball franchise and its continuing global momentum.
Having players travel across different key moments of Akira Toriyama's beloved manga/anime series to preserve the timeline from tampering by an assorting of time-traveling villains, the titles present fans the chance to become part of their favorite battles in the franchise while telling an original story with hard-hitting online gameplay. While not officially announced by Bandai Namco, here's what to expect with an upcoming third installment in the video game series.
WHAT IS DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3'S RELEASE DATE?
It has been nearly three years since the release of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, which first debuted in October 2016. The sequel was released a little over a year after the original game in February 2015. Historically, the Xenoverse games have been officially unveiled less than a year until their actual release so an announcement at this June's Electronic Entertainment Expo could lead to a possible release date in time for the holidays.
Another distinct possibility is a first quarter release for 2020. The original game was released during this sales quarter and, last year, Dragon Ball FighterZ was released in January to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. In following this strategy, a third Xenoverse game announced at E3 or Tokyo Game Show could lead to a release as little as five months later.
WHAT WILL DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 BE ABOUT?
In the final moments of Xenoverse 2's main story, Goku had suggested that the Time Patroller seek out the Time Patroller from the original game to spar and see who truly is the strongest Time Patroller of them all. This suggests that the game could potentially be a combination of sorts between the original game and its sequel with the vast Dragon Ball mythos as its backdrop.
The original game saw Time Patrol Trunks, a version of Trunks dedicated to maintaining the space-time continuum, enlisting the player character to the time-traveling villains Towa and Mira from manipulating the timeline. The sequel had expanded this premise with Mira and Towa adding recruits of their own including Turles, Lord Slug and Bardock to reshape the time stream in their image. While plot elements of Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT have been explored, a sequel would likely merge these worlds with alternate futures and other divergent temporal anomalies that are similar to the main timeline but still have a few distinct differences as a result of the tampering.
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 CHARACTERS
Just as Xenoverse 2 had featured a new, larger hub world than its predecessor, a sequel would likely go even bigger than either of the two earlier installments. Given its hinted premise, players will likely have the option to import either or both of their custom characters from previous games or create a new Time Patroller entirely. While the first two games had given players the option to design their own Saiyan, human, Namekian, Majin or member of Frieza's race, a sequel could add androids or deity figures like the Kais into the mix given their added prominence in Dragon Ball Super.
As for villains, while Towa and Mira are likely to play a role in continuing the proceedings of the first two games, a new overarching villain could be introduced. Dragon Ball Super has introduced the concept of evil Kais themselves tampering and destroying divergent timelines and the idea of a wider Dragon Ball Multiverse. That could provide a way for alternate versions of classic characters, from either alternate dimensions or timelines, to be introduced along with a more extensive look at the Multiverse's other 11 universes.
Possible Changes
In addition to new missions, refined combat and new gameplay modes, fusion is expected to play a major role in Xenoverse 3. The process of joining two separate fighters into a single, more powerful character played a major role in both Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Super: Broly to fan acclaim. Given that previous Time Patrollers are expected to come together in Xenoverse 3, fusion either through the ritual dance or Potara earrings would seem a natural extension of this.
With the Dragon Ball franchise continuing to expand, a third Xenoverse would serve as the ultimate love letter to the entire franchise including plot points and moments in its history not fully seen before while remixing elements of franchise and blending them in new, interesting ways that see fan-favorite characters and ideas collide together for the first time.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is developed by Dimps and Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.