Preview Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 3: A future that shakes up the formula, says Gamespot

Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 3 revisits the time-travel concept so dear to the series, but this time projects it into Age 1000, a distant future that once again serves as the Time Patrollers' playground. West City has become a futuristic metropolis, decked out with neon lights and skyscrapers, serving as the main hub. There you'll come across familiar faces from the manga as well as brand-new characters unique to this alternate timeline. Enough to immediately give the impression of exploring a parallel timeline rather than a simple nostalgic best-of, says Gamespot.

Xenoverse 3 aims to stay true to its DNA: open arenas, fast-paced 3D combat, and a vast avatar creation system, with an expanded offering of races, body types and fighting styles. Combo strings are still triggered via a mix of light and heavy attacks, but the preview highlights two new features: Soul Assists and Soul Switch.

Soul Assists let you briefly summon an ally from the series - Goku, Vegeta or another iconic character - to chain a signature move into a combo, somewhere between a classic fighting game assist and a supercharged mini cutscene. Used well, these interventions can turn the tide of a duel, particularly during co-op quests where combat readability has been significantly improved compared to Xenoverse 2.

The Soul Switch, for its part, plays more with pacing according to the journalist: by filling a gauge, your avatar can access a temporary, overpowered state, altering certain properties of your attacks, character speed, and sometimes even finishing animations. Combined with a cleaner interface and more legible visual effects on the current generation of consoles, this tool makes fights more readable, but also more impressive.

With its futuristic setting, its leaning toward assist mechanics, and its clear intent to flesh out both solo play and online co-op, the Gamespot journalist states that Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse 3 gives the impression of wanting to fully embrace its status as an ambitious sequel, not just a simple update. It remains to be seen whether the variety of missions will live up to this promising first impression, and whether post-launch support will measure up!