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Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a huge game. There are tons of quests available, be they storyline or parallel, and there are other players you can challenge. You need to be at your best, not only to prove something, but to make some of the more tedious encounters less taxing. (I’m looking at you, Power x10 x2? Great Ape Transformation!) Fortunately, the Instructors are as helpful now as they were in Dragon Ball Xenoverse. In fact, I felt like the relationship with them actually mattered, in a way it didn’t before.
You’re able to begin training under familiar Dragon Ball series characters almost immediately in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. While Krillin is set up somewhat as the initial, tutorial instructor, you don’t have to begin with him. There are a number of people ready to start helping you as soon as possible, and the game let me start working with characters like Piccolo and Yamcha without checking in with Krillin first.
After your first Parallel Quest tutorial, you’ll start seeing these masters around the city. I ended up going with Piccolo as my first teacher, since I was going to rely on a human female with Ki blast attacks, instead. Since choosing a mentor to show you special moves is about finding one who fits with your playstyle, instead of favoritism, it’s okay to skip over some characters and rely on others. Piccolo gave me Evil Explosion right away, Yamcha taught me Fake Death, Tien offered up Dodon Ray, and Krillin offered Rise to Action. Since you won’t unlock the next round of instructors until after defeating Frieza’s lackeys, Dodoria and Zarbon, during the story, it’s important to make the most of these first few heroes, even though you will need to reach various ranks and training levels to reach them.
Even though you are a bit limited in scope with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2’s initial Masters, some of their first few skills are really quite great. Krillin’s Rise to Action will let you exchange Ki for Stamina, which can be quite a big help. Even though Krillin isn’t my favorite, his Destructo-Disc is a pretty amazing homing Ki skill that is a guaranteed hit. Tien’s skills are pretty all purpose too, as Dodon Ray and Volleyball Fist can work well with any movesets. The only ability that didn’t seem to be much help was Yamcha’s Fake Death. But then, that was really only because the camera can be finicky.
I think my favorite part of the masters this time around is how the Instructor element makes it feel like you really matter to these people. The friendship gauge isn’t anything new. It was present in Dragon Ball Xenoverse. But it seems like this time, my ally was more involved. Piccolo showed up during Parallel Quests. He made time to talk to me. It was like I was working with someone who thought I mattered. It was a nice little reward. Certainly, there are other perks from building up friendship with an Instructor. There are moves and occasional gifts. You can even get an icon to show you’re BFFs. Hearing Piccolo’s criticisms and praises during quests made it feel like this relationship was real. It added a level of authenticity that I appreciated.
Plus, it adds more opportunities to interact with characters in a way where they acknowledge and recognize you. In the story quests, where you’re fixing history, these characters won’t recognize you. They don’t really refer to you by name or treat you as someone special. It’s like you’re there, but not. The Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 master system feels even more immersive this time around.
You’re going to spend a lot of time with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 if you get this game, because anyone who opts in is doing so because they’re familiar with the series. While you could go ahead and focus on story and parallel quests, you really should try to interact with as many Instructors as possible. Even if you never use the moves you’re earning from these lessons, you’re getting a chance to feel like you’re actually a part of these virtual people’s lives. It’s quite a feeling.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is now available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in North America and will arrive in Europe on October 28, 2016. It will come to PCs worldwide on October 27, 2016. It will come to Japanese PlayStation 4s on November 2, 2016.
