The character select menu at the beginning of the game.

We were able to play as either an Earthling or a Saiyan in the demo prepared for the event. The staff member chose to play as an Earthling! Earthlings are great all-rounders with well-balanced abilities, so it seemed to be the perfect choice for a first playthrough!
In the official release, you'll normally be able to access character creation at this point. But for this demo, we could only choose from characters designed by Akira Toriyama himself, saving the fun of creating our own avatars for launch!

Begin Your Adventure as a Resident of AGE 1000!

With wrist terminals, wall-mounted displays, plus much more, the game offers a futuristic vibe from the outset!

The game begins in Your Room, with stacks of magazines on the floor and a surrounding that perfectly captures the futuristic feel of the world. Just as we started to relate to the character and wonder if they are just as bad at cleaning up as our staff are, we got a call from Gamma 1! He instructed us to meet with him, so we headed out towards the Entrance.

We ran into Trunks just as we headed out!

Even in the demo, we were able to have brief conversations with popular characters in the Entrance. It's unclear how they'll make their appearance in the official release, but just being able to talk to our faves made us feel like we were really in the world of Dragon Ball!

Step out of the Entrance and into the unfamiliar world of AGE 1000!

New City exudes a futuristic atmosphere, with pipe-like tunnels in the sky, while still retaining traces of West City. This allows Dragon Ball fans to experience a blend of the new and the familiar. We really wanted to get out and explore the world, but the map was limited in the demo. Putting aside the exploration portion for the time being, we spoke to Gamma 1, who was standing nearby, and started the demo-exclusive Quest!

You can confirm Quest conditions and more in the Quest menu.

Our character was then sent to the Land of Ice and the Quest finally began!

Our Dragon Ball Experience Intensified With a Quest!

Some of the Quests in XENOVERSE 3 feature an exploration format where players have to conquer each stage across the map while achieving specific set goals for each Quest.

The Quest name and objective are displayed when starting the Quest.

The stages are connected seamlessly and movement is incredibly smooth! The brisk pacing with defeating enemies as you pass through the stages offers a completely new experience than to previous entries in this series! It makes it feel like you really are exploring the world of Dragon Ball!

Even just moving through the ice cliffs was incredibly fun!

Some moves even let you attack multiple enemies at once! The Super Kamehameha Ultimate Attack we were able to try in the demo is one of these moves! The exhilaration we felt blasting a group of enemies with one move is sure going to be addictive!

Suppressive Battle Drones blocked our path.

We unleashed a Super Kamehameha without a moment of hesitation...

and knocked out all the enemies at once with an Energy Wave that almost covered the entire screen!

Players can also embark on Quests as a member of the Great Saiya Squad. The GS Squad members (NPCs in the demo) helped us out a ton by blocking enemy attacks with Barriers, healing us when we took damage, and performing a variety of other actions!
Just like in previous entries in the series, XENOVERSE 3 is expected to support multiplayer. So, that should mean that players will be able to head out on these sorts of Quests with friends... We're getting hyped just thinking about it!

The poses in the cut-in shot as we began the Quest gave off a strong "squad" vibe!

We finally reached the center of the stage. But Broly (Super), SS Full Power from the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie, the boss of this Quest, stood in our way!

WARNING flashes across the screen when a formidable foe arrives.

Broly unleased attacks straight out of the movie, like firing Kidans in all directions! Getting hit by Broly's Kidan guarantees taking a massive amount of damage, so it's important to keep dodging while relying on the other GS Squad members to provide cover with Barriers. According to the hint at the bottom of the screen, you can take cover behind icebergs to avoid the Kidan (thanks for the tip!).

Hurry towards the iceberg visible at the bottom or right-hand side of the screen.

We managed to dodge a Kidan hiding behind an iceberg and glanced at the DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 producer standing beside us with their arms crossed. They responded by explaining, "We set the difficulty of Broly in this demo quite high!" We probably should have asked them about that before we started playing...

With some advice from the producer nearby, and help from my fellow GS Squad members, we were just able to defeat Broly! Having emerged victorious in this intense battle in the Land of Ice, we successfully completed the Quest!

In the demo we played, the Defense Breaker-type attacks had a red mark and Ki Drain-type attacks had a yellow mark.

Each attack type has different characteristics!
・Defense Break: Pierce an enemy's Guard and deal damage
・Ki Drain: Reduce an enemy's Ki significantly
・Critical Strike: Support Critical Strikes that deal lots of damage

In XENOVERSE 3, when your enemy's Ki Gauge reaches 0, they enter a Ki Break state.

The curved gauge next to the character is the Ki Gauge.
The number indicates the amount of Ki remaining.

When you attack enemies in Ki Break using a Critical Strike-type Super Attack or Ultimate Attack, a special Critical Strike animation is triggered! You then deal tons of damage to the enemy in spectacular style!

Here's the cut-in shot of Appule getting hit so hard you can see the sweat fly off him!

One of the more effective strategies seems to focus on utilizing Ki Drain to chip away at the enemy's Ki with attacks and Super Attacks, then landing a Critical Strike once they enter Ki Break.

One big change from DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 to note is that using Super Attacks no longer consumes the Ki Gauge! Instead, each Super Attack has its own cooldown that determines when you will be able to use it next!

You can see here that the cooldown started just after we fired off a Kamehameha.

Now, not only will you have to keep an eye on your enemy's Ki Gauge, but you'll also have to keep an eye on your own to make sure you don't end up in Ki Break! Take too much damage or use Escape Vanish too often and it'll eat away at your Ki, so it's crucial to watch how much Ki you have left while you fight!

Use Soul Switch To Channel the Power of Legendary Super Warriors!

Once your Soul Switch Gauge is full, you can activate Soul Switch to summon the Souls of Dragon Ball warriors and harness their power in battle!

A cut-in shot of the Soul Switch activation.

We channeled a Soul...

and turned into Trunks!

In this demo, we were able to Soul Switch to Future Trunks (Z)! After transforming, not only did our HP recover, but our stats also got a huge boost!
We managed to inflict a ton of damage to someone even as formidable as Broly, so we got the feeling that this might serve as some sort of trump card in the new battle system—made all the more thrilling by being able to switch to your favorite character!

Actions like Super Attacks are unique to each character.

In this demo, while we couldn't try the Awoken Skills that were featured in the last entry of the series, you can experience them by selecting Saiyan in the character select menu. If you're a Saiyan with an Awoken Skill equipped, you can transform into even stronger forms unique to the Saiyan race, like Super Saiyan! This also applies to other races, each with their own unique transformations! It's a truly thrilling battle system!




Although our time with the demo was limited, we were able to fully enjoy the latest Dragon Ball action! The movement and sense of speed were impeccable, with seamless transitions between stages, cut-in shots where you can feel the power of each punch, and the details involved in each move. Plus, with the cooldowns, Soul Switch, and the new types of Super Attacks, the tactics, battle system, and overall gameplay have been completely revolutionized!

Even though we don't know all the details yet, we will certainly be keeping a close eye on what kind of story will unfold in the world of AGE 1000!

We'll be sharing all the latest updates as they come right here on the Dragon Ball Official Site, including demo experiences and more, so please stay tuned!