As someone who is extremely lucky enough to be given the opportunity to work a job, along comes the concept of something known as the “Leisure Budget”. From my small but hard-earned paycheck, I put aside a small amount to be used purely for fun and enjoyment. It acts as the respite from everything else in the world and the stress that comes from trying to run it.
Before February, I had already planned to buy Dragon Ball Xenoverse bang on the release date. I am not a Dragon Ball Z fan, and yet I have a strong affection towards the series which came from playing some of the videogames in the franchise. All I know about the characters, story and fictional universe comes from the games specifically. I have had a lot of fun playing Dragon Ball games, so I expected Xenoverse to be no different.
It began slow, taking a few hours to pick up, but it is starting to deliver that typical Dragon Ball Z experience, but…is it really worth the price? I can answer that already: Hell No.
The camera has this dodgy drunkenness to it; not good. The controls are slightly awkward, but for a game where people inexplicably float, that’s kind of a given. The game is a cobbled together mess like a poorly made matchstick statue. It is really heavy on the grinding, has a mediocre plot and just reminds me how much more fun other games across the history of the franchise are.
Buyer’s Remorse? Yes. Oh, absolutely yes.
The Day One Purchase—a crazy concept I have fallen victim to, time and time again, over the course of the last year. I bought Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze on release day, and I’ve played about an hour of it overall. Kirby Triple Deluxe? About three hours; I haven’t beaten it. Pokémon Alpha Sapphire? I’ve been on the same Route for three months. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U? About five battles, I haven’t even dug into all of the single player modes yet. Sonic Boom? Just over an hour, I think. I was disappointed with it, so I stopped. Hyrule Warriors? Actually, I went back to that recently and properly completed the main campaign, but there’s still a lot more to chip away at. Am I going to? Not really that likely, to be honest.
All of these were Day One purchases. Why don’t I learn? Why do I continue to spend my money in this way?
Do I desperately cling onto the image of being a gamer? Do I want to have the exclusive experience? Am I socially obligated to play these games as soon as they launch? To be the “Game Guru” all my friends can ask the gaming questions?
Actually, maybe I just really impatiently wanted to play the damn game. I’ll be kicking myself in a few months when it goes down to 50% in the Steam Sale.
I have to say I’m absolutely in love with this game right now. Then again, I’ve never been bothered by grinding and the game speaks to my inner 12 year old. Seeing my self-insert character go Super Saiyan just makes me so happy.
I friggin’ love this game. This blog post has been in the queue for a while.
About the only things I dislike now about the game are the server problems and the extremely high dfficulty level, but I’m managing. Beat the main quest-line and end-game story missions, polishing off the parallel quests but having trouble hitting Z ranks.
I pretty much just shut off my internet connection on my PS3. Didn’t see a point with the server issues.
Probably the easiest way to get a Z Rank is through spam honestly. It’s not a complicated game. I hit Super Saiyan, spam a bunch of supers and ultimates and rarely walk away from a PQ with less than an A as a result.
If you’re not a Saiyan and not Ki based it can really just come down to not getting hit. Bringing along some big dudes will help you with that. Saibamen won’t stand a chance against Broly and Beerus.
Is there anything that pudding-obsessed cat can’t do?
He can’t beat Whis.
I think I found the game to be more intriguing due to the fact that you create your own character. It’s a thing that’s never been done before in a Dragon Ball Z game. Controls and camera were a bit odd, but the part I found really annoying was getting attacked in a 2 on 1 scenario. To #@#% with that.