Almost every character imaginable is being included in Namco Bandai’s upcoming DBZ title, Dragon Ball Xenoverse. In addition to one of the largest fighting game casts on current gen platforms, you can even create your own character and choose from over 200 special moves from the Dragon Ball world. Of course you have to use in-game currency to buy these special moves, which takes some time.
When you first start the game, you may want to look at the existing roster to get a jump on the competition while you collect money to buy special moves for your custom character. With such a wide variety of characters to choose from, it can be difficult to determine which characters are the best. Luckily we narrowed it down to the top characters who we think will shine over the others when Dragon Ball Xenoverse hits in February.
Vegeta
Almost every form of Vegeta has been included in Dragon Ball Xenoverse. His GT incarnations are here, as well as his DBZ incarnations, including Majin Vegeta, which is arguably your best choice. The combat system in Xenoverse caters to players who can string together big damage combos while baiting their opponent to teleport behind them, burning their Guard Gauge. Vegeta can force an opponent to burn through their Guard Gage (which takes two teleports), leaving them open to a devastating attack.
Vegeta can continuously attack with a combination of physical attacks and Ki Blasts. This causes most players to teleport to avoid taking damage, but they’ll have to teleport multiple times to avoid the lengthy series of attacks that Vegeta is capable of. As soon as your opponent uses their two consecutive teleports, launch into a combo that ends with an Ultimate Attack to drain 50 percent of their health gauge.
Frieza
The main bad guy in the upcoming DBZ film is also included in Xenoverse. In the game, you can choose between his first three forms, his final form, the full power version of his final form and his Mecha Frieza form. You’ll want to stick with his final form, full power final form or Mecha Frieza form to make sure you can take advantage of the best array of special moves Frieza has to offer.
Frieza beats out most other characters in Xenoverse because he has several of their attacks, plus more. For example, from a strictly gameplay-related perspective, there’s no need to use Krillin when you have access to Frieza. Krillin’s best attack in the game is the Destructo Disk, which Frieza has in his arsenal. In fact, Frieza’s is better because it can home in on the opponent. Of course, if you use it as the end of a combo that isn’t a significant factor, but it can come in handy toward the end of a match in the right situations.
Goku
Just about every form of Goku imaginable is included in Dragon Ball Xenoverse. In fact, there are two different Goku characters you can select, each with their own set of forms. You can select Goku from DBZ or Kid Goku from GT. DBZ Goku allows you to select the Super Saiyan God version from the recent movie, while GT Goku gives you access to his Super Saiyan 4 variant. Both Goku characters have a wide variety of attacks and the sheer number of different forms means you have a few different play styles you can use to mix things up.
The versions of Goku with less power (pretty much anything below Super Saiyan 3) are beneficial because you won’t have to rely as much on Ultimate Attacks to inflict damage. His physical combos, with a few Ki Blasts to offer a bit of variety, are more than enough to hit an opponent for 30 percent of their health gauge. Add in an Ultimate attack at the end and you’ll see more than half their health gauge disappear in an instant. However, with the teleportation system in the game, you’ll likely want to stick with the base combo attacks and save your Ki Gauge for guaranteed Ultimate Attacks once an opponent’s Guard Gauge has been depleted.
The more powerful versions of Goku don’t have the physical attack prowess that the other versions offer. Instead, if you connect with an Ultimate Attack it’s very difficult for the opposing player to make a comeback. Setting up an Ultimate Attack can be a little more difficult than landing normal combos, which is why these versions of Goku play a bit differently than the less powerful variants. You’ll have to feel them out to determine which version best fits your play style.
Gogeta
The ultimate version of Vegeta and Goku is raw power. He loses a lot of the finesse you’d find in playing as the normal versions of Goku or Vegeta, and he doesn’t have a lot of health (Saiyans in general have lower health than other races), but if you’re good at landing combos, it won’t have much to devastate an opponent with Gogeta. You even have access to Super Saiyan Gogeta and Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta.
It will likely take a very specific kind of player to perform well with Gogeta, but in the right hands or on the right team with a more balanced character, he could be extremely destructive. As with many of the other more powerful characters, you’ll have to watch out for opponents teleporting away from your attacks. Save your Ultimate Attacks until your opponent’s Guard Gauge is below two bars, then unleash a powerful Ultimate Attack to finish them off.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse is still being adjusted, so be sure to check back to Prima Games once the game releases for any changes that may have occurred.
Published: Dec 19, 2014 11:24 pm