'Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2' brings motion control features to Nintendo Switch

By Gabe Gurwin September 5, 2017

DRAGON BALL Xenoverse 2 - Features Trailer | Switch

Last year’s Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 released to fairly positive reviews, with critics praising its story, art style, and improvements over the previous game. But it’s 2017, and that means that any game worth its salt better be hitting Nintendo Switch. The game hits the portable hybrid system in just a few weeks, and a new features trailer will get you caught up to speed on the new version’s unique features.

The trailer — narrated with Future Trunks’ signature raspy voice — shows a player doing the one thing every Dragon Ball fan wants to do in a game: launch an energy attack with their hands. By using the two Joy-Con controllers and their straps, you can draw back your arms to charge up a shot and thrust them forward to send it barreling toward an enemy. Piccolo’s “Special Beam Cannon” attack even makes you point the Joy-Con at your forehead as you charge it up. Screaming at the top of your lungs is completely optional during all of this, but are you really getting the full experience if you don’t?

If you want to bring a friend into the mix, the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is your best option. Using handheld or tabletop mode, you can battle in one-on-one battles, and you can even each use one Joy-Con turned sideways if you only have one system. Have a group of friends who all brought their own Switch? You can do local cooperative play with up to five at a time. The trailer shows these people playing together in either an apartment or a coffee shop. If it’s the latter, you probably shouldn’t use the motion controls or practice your scream.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is currently the only game in the series with a planned Switch version, but it might not be the last. Dragon Ball FighterZ, out for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next year, could also come to the system if fans demand it. Producer Tomoko Kiroki said that the system’s lower technical specifications shouldn’t affect its ability to run the fighting game.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is out for Switch on September 22.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

What games will Nintendo Switch 2 launch with? We have some ideas

Mario and friends zip through a race course in Mario Kart 8.

We’re officially on “new console watch.” Reports from credible publications like Eurogamer say that Nintendo secretly showed developers its next system behind closed doors at this year’s Gamescom. While it’s only a rumor, it’s a realistic one. We’re six years into the Nintendo Switch’s lifespan and even the longest-running consoles turn over at eight. If Nintendo’s next system is one or two years away, it’s time to start lining up support from third-party developers.

We’ve speculated on features we’d want in a new system before, but the reality of a new platform has me asking another question: What games would you launch with something like this? The Nintendo Switch’s launch day was crucial to its long-term success thanks to a bonafide classic in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While the rest of its launch lineup wasn’t as impressive, Nintendo capitalized fairly quickly with titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2. If Nintendo’s going to push Switch owners over to a new system, it’ll have to roll out the big guns.

Gaming

This hidden Switch feature will change the way you play Nintendo games

Two players play Nintendo Switch.

Any time I discuss the latest Switch game with my friends, I usually hear the same critique: “I wish I could remap the controls.” Major Switch exclusives like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Metroid Dread are seriously lacking in control customization, which can be frustrating if your brain has a specific idea of what a gamepad layout is.

There’s a fairly good excuse as to why those games don’t include controller customization options, though. It's because of a system-level controller remap option tucked deep away in the Nintendo Switch’s settings menu. If you didn’t know that existed (as few of my friends seem to), get ready for a solution to all your control issues that’s been hiding in plain sight all this time.

Gaming

Fire Emblem Engage makes the wait for a Nintendo Switch 2 more tolerable

Alear and Marth open a door in Fire Emblem Engage.

If you had asked me whether or not I was ready for an upgraded Nintendo Switch two months ago, my answer would have been an emphatic yes. I had just played Pokémon Scarlet and, like many people, was baffled by its poor technical performance. I began to wonder if Nintendo’s aging hardware had finally hit its limits, unable to meet developers’ growing ambitions. Perhaps it wasn’t just time for a Switch Pro, but a new console altogether.

That desire was a reactionary one. Two months after that Pokémon game's ugly launch, I find myself stunned by the Switch’s latest exclusive, Fire Emblem Engage. The tactical RPG is one of the console’s best-looking games to date. It’s a major step up from 2018’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses, with brighter colors that pop on my Switch OLED screen and silky smooth performance that makes it feel like a playable anime.