Well that was a long first session I did just now, and while I had fun, it ended with melancholy when I realized that despite whatever merits the game might have, it will not satisfy what it is that I purchase DBZ games for.

I'm one of those DBZ fans who is decidedly not looking for anything new. BT3 was the pinnacle for me and I've been waiting for the next game that does just the same but more of it -- more characters, more forms, etc -- working towards an ideal I dub The Big One: the DBZ game that has all the characters (or close enough that I won't care), all their forms, and the ability to change between all forms in-battle, with different combos and move sets for each form, ideally with customization options to limit or expand the move sets as I please not only per character but per form (not to mention parameters and passive abilities to be able to craft experiences of my choosing as precisely as possible). All this, while also having compelling gameplay that feels cool and looks accurate -- notice the lack of any mention of the word "balance". BT3 not only came the closest to this ideal but established the vision for it: When it came along it blew me away by showing me that such a game as I had only ever dreamed of before (literally -- I once had a dream about such a game in the years before BT3's release) could be possible. It gave fans the goddamn moon -- more characters and forms than we even dared to wish for. I've been waiting for its "true successor" ever since -- a game that plays it safe by just iterating on the same ideas without sacrificing anything, unlike Raging Blast and its sequels which sound like they all took steps backward in different ways.

I should have realized that a game like Xenoverse whose selling point is that you're creating your own character would not even be trying to achieve what BT3 was going for, because they expect you to spend the majority of your time playing your custom character, and I don't know what I was thinking buying the game expecting the custom character thing to be just a cool story mode and Mii Fighter-like option on top of an otherwise BT3-like game.

Well, back to waiting I guess, but that's not to say my experience with Xenoverse was a waste, because it's trying something entirely new that I might grow to enjoy for its own sake.

EDIT several days later: And then I found this.

For sure, this game is more of an action rpg rather than a fighter. My all time favourite dbz fighting games are burst limit and tenkaichi 1 (cause I haven't played the other two). Xenoverse is there for the purpose of playing with your custom character and making the story mode fresh again--by no means is it meant to be the next big dbz hardcore 'fighter'. I went into it for the story and I came out happy. At this point I'm waiting for a tenkaichi HD remaster and then I'll probably give up on dbz games.

also, post your custom character pic!

Stan wrote: and then I'll probably give up on dbz games.

You'll come back ... you'll always come back

You know playing this has made me realize something: the lack of female saiyans in the series was disappointing, i mean they would probably get sidelined anyway but it was established that saiyan women fought just as much as the men, i want my barbaric muscular saiyan women dammit!

You'll have to settle for Seripa/Fasha as the only female Saiyan depicted officially. ( :( )

Speaking of which, in honor of her, I named my character (a female Saiyan) Parsely.

Screenshot to come... eventually?

yes because a character who was only on screen for a few seconds before she died is great.....also recently toriyama showed off goku's mother at a panel if i remember, sadly like most of the females in dragonball she was relegated to "im the empathetic wife character", even though for a saiyan that is massively out of their races character.

especially considering saiyans commit genocide at a very young age.

i was more thinking along the lines of these two:

Xenoverse 2 announced! New Thread