Even as someone who is not too invested in the Dragon Ball games, the first look at Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 surprised me with how ambitious it seemed to be. Being able to not just customize your character, but also explore the massive hub of West City 1000 years into the future was a really compelling new addition. I was especially fascinated by the Soul Assist and Soul Change mechanics that let you summon and switch to a character from the Dragon Ball series. I had the chance to get a hands-on look at how Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3‘s ambitious nature was coming together during Gamescom 2026, and I left the demo no less impressed than I was when I watched the initial trailer.
The short demo I played is exactly what was shown in a recent gameplay showcase, but playing it for myself gave me the opportunity to appreciate how much effort was being poured into this new entry. The demo started with me being able to explore a little bit of West City, which is populated with futuristic buildings and plenty of characters that long-time fans (and even newcomers) will undoubtedly recognize. The visuals also looked gorgeous, and really appeared to be taking advantage of the new hardware that now exists a decade after Xenoverse 2 released in 2016.
The game really started to shine when I was sent to a level that took place in a snowy tundra. This was where I was able to truly understand how the gameplay worked, and just how fast it feels. Regardless of whether you pick a human character or a Saiyan character, the speeds you can reach to bridge the gap between enemies feel downright criminal. Further, the actual feeling of fighting enemies in combat is so satisfying. The sound design and controls especially cement this. Plus, the fact that the overall mechanics are so easy to pick up means that anyone can understand how the game works even if they have never played a Xenoverse game before.
I especially love that there is a button to instantly zoom to an opponent if you blasted them away in aerial combat. Your new set of abilities help to deal more damage to them once you bridge that gap. There are plenty of attacks you can pull off that can either do a straight line damage via a classic Kamehameha, or with a massive AoE attack that can destroy a bunch of opponents in one fell swoop. The biggest new inclusion is the “Soul” features, which I found function similarly to assists in assist-based fighters. Basically, this allowed me to summon beloved characters in the midst of combat to perform small attacks for me. These have a cooldown so you don’t spam it too much, thankfully.
Where I started to appreciate the game even more was with the level’s final boss: Broly, from Dragon Ball Super. Fittingly, he is quite a difficult challenge to overcome unless you are using your skills with the utmost precision. However, this is where your ultimate attacks come into play. In my first playthrough of the level, I picked the human character, meaning I could use the Soul Switch mechanic to outright change characters to a specific character. In this case, said character was Trunks, which gave me more damage potential thanks to his unique kit of moves.
As for the Saiyan character, you could reach Super Saiyan, which of course deals far more damage compared to the human character. In general, there is a lot more strategy in which character you end up picking. This applies to both your species of character, but also who you choose to have as your back-up Soul Assist. In the full game, there will likely be even more playable options to choose from, each of whom will have their own unique pros and cons for every level.
So far, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is shaping up to be a fantastic game. The new changes to the visual style and world, as well as the plentiful new mechanics and customization options, more than justify the 10+ year wait between entries. I am so curious to see what else the game has in store when it releases in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
