Well and getting fragged by an Ultimate at close range, getting combo rolled yourself which, I will say, takes judgment on how to get out of it. If you just panic teleport, congratulations, you're just getting hit some more and now you're out of stamina too. But yeah, I feel there is a gamier side to the combat, where it's less about perfect execution and more about how to trick the AI. One fight I remember I pretty much just used throws and the tap-dash move to beat Frieza 1v1. It almost worked but I still died. Then I came back later and couldn't land a throw on him to save my life, he'd side step me every time.
I do feel like there's a skill threshold somewhere in this game where if you're playing really tight, you can do amazing things. It's just that the other 80% of it is sort of abusing mechanics. Prior to Super Saiyan and Powering Up, fights felt a lot more tense. Now, with a tactical nuke at my beck and call, it's more like a race to finish before the enemy can hurt me at all. (And when you've been coasting for the last few levels killing dudes with your Ultimate, suddenly they stop dying so fast and start hitting like a freight train.)
And I think the game understands this, as some of the later missions start dog piling multiple super saiyans on you, in attempt to keep you too busy to face roll one guy, insane durability or not. They'll shred your AIs like wet toilet paper and then double team you, or worse, triple team you. And I know sort of what's in store next on that front. Eventually my punch damage and Ultimate Damage will get so high, I'll be able to two shot them and move on to the next tier of super tough guys. I think the levels do go all the way to 100 so....there's quite a grind.
I can't and probably shouldn't try to speak to the MP, but I imagine it must be hard finding a balanced match across the vast spectrum of character levels, gear combinations and one-trick pony builds. That's the term I've been fumbling for. The game kind of starts to feel like it's made up two parts: the melee combos and your one-trick pony of choice. I don't have buyer's remorse but, this is a game that presents very well and takes a while to realize a lot of things/move/strategies don't amount to much. Setting aside character balance and yadda yadda, I can safely say Budokai that I bought years ago still feels like it has deeper and more responsive combat. It just lacks the multiple d00ds in fights. (Which, if I'm being honest, I crave intense 1v1 fights more than I crave chaotic shit storms of DBZ combat. Getting lasered in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly be focusing on is kind of annoying. Getting fucking weak Ki blasted over, and over, and over in the back and being unable to turn around and block is beyond fucking annoying.) Whatever was gained by adding two extra enemies and two extra broskies somehow took away from the quality and depth of 1v1 fights.
So as I kinda said from the outset, how much you might like this as a DBZ game depends on how much you like paling around with friends doing missions or team fights, and the quasi-MMO approach and how important a custom character is to you. Because that stuff is pretty decent. If, on the other hand, you crave the absolute best 1v1 DBZ fighting experience you can find, chances are one of the other games is still doing it better.
Author
Topic: Dragonball Z Xenoverse. DBZXV-XYZPDQLMNOP. Bay12 Force, Assemble! *pose* (Read 56790 times)