A new trailer is out, and it’s all about the shenanigans you’re going to get up to in West City, the stage for a far-future adventure that’s bringing fresh and familiar faces to a story where you harness the finest warriors’ powers and put your own spin on it all. Of course, the new choice-based system is definitely an attraction, letting you gain unique options based on your character’s origins. That carries over to the combat, where a Saiyan can harness their Super Saiyan forms while the Earthlings have some tricks of their own up their sleeves.

However, it’s the Soul Assist system that’s caught our eye. It’s how Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 brings back fan-favorites like Piccolo and Tien to the table. We were worried we wouldn’t see any of the old guard, considering that this one’s set far into the future, but thankfully, that’s not the case.

All in all, things are shaping up pretty well for this one in the run-up to its 2027 release on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. All that’s left is for developer Dimps to give us a release date so we can start counting the days off our calendars.

It’s set in West City, a place where the Greater Saiyans are counting on you, their newest recruit, and your allies in the program to protect the world from a currently unspecified threat. Like the titles before it, you play your own character, and this one looks like quite the departure, with a futuristic setting that includes Capsule’s own take on social media and music streaming, all of it integrated into your Scouter.

There’s also what appears to be a gear system, and, of course, faces both fresh and familiar courtesy of the legendary Akira Toriyama. We spotted Piccolo and a few unique takes on characters we know and love from the anime and manga in the announcement trailer (showcased below). From the looks of it, you get to play side by side with other Greater Saiyan recruits, complete with Saiyaman-esque uniforms.

It’s all so enticing, we wish we could summon the Dragon and have 2027 arrive sooner (though you can likely expect a steady stream of reveals until then). Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC

Over a decade later, Freedom Wars returns in remastered form, yet the landscape is utterly different. Mobile has overtaken handheld gaming, and several action RPGs boast massive open worlds and stellar production values. The closest comparison would probably be Monster Hunter Rise on the Nintendo Switch, and that experience translates to current-gen consoles without much trouble. Even if it’s more streamlined comparatively, does Dimps’ classic still hold some modicum of appeal today?

"The other off-putting aspect is the new English voice-acting for Percy Propa (the mascot of the committee running your Panopticon) and your Accessory, an android monitoring your every move who can assist in combat."

The answer will doubtless vary. If you remember the original and feverishly waited for it to return, then Freedom Wars Remastered may speak to you (on console, but more on that later). Those curious about all the fuss will discover an action RPG of highs, lows, and antiquated – albeit intriguing – design.

Set in the far future, where humanity’s resources have dried up and every little thing is a crime, you control a Sinner who’s committed the ultimate offense: Being born. Countries have ceased to exist – there’s only the Panopticons competing against each other for what little remains.

The story begins in the middle of an operation, where your character has lost their memories, and a mysterious individual named Aries M. appears to tease a pivotal event. It’s back to square one afterwards, packed into a nondescript cell, adding to your nearly one million-year-long sentence for even walking more than five steps.

There’s honestly a lot to take in, and Freedom Wars’ writing sometimes does it no favors due to some long-winded dialogue. The other off-putting aspect is the new English voice-acting for Percy Propa (the mascot of the committee running your Panopticon) and your Accessory, an android monitoring your every move who can assist in combat. Their dialogue sounds like it’s been generated by a text-to-speech program, perhaps meant to match the Japanese voice-acting from the PS Vita version but sounding much worse. The performance by actual humans is decent, though some characters like Mattias sound a bit low at times.

"However, the loop devolves into entering a mission, slaying enemies, gathering resources, customizing and improving your loadout, and repeat."

Nevertheless, the world-building is fascinating, as you earn Entitlement Points from completing missions and donating materials. Some resources are outside your level at first – only by qualifying and passing the CODE Exams are you permitted to keep them. The same goes for earning other privileges, like the right to wander outside your cell, sprint and even get some distance from your Accessory.

Learning more about citizens, those with rights above the Sinners, and encountering rival Panopticon members is one thing, as you must tussle with the mysterious Abductors. Even with its idiosyncracies, the overall pacing of the story is pretty quick, and it’s not long before you encounter Beatrice, and things really get going.

Though there’s a lot of info from the outset, the overall gameplay will be familiar enough to fans of action RPG hunting games. You have different weapon types, with melee and ranged options available (which can be improved with Modules). You also have different Thorns – tools that serve as grapples but can also immobilize enemies, boost your team’s defense, and even heal when charged up. Their main purpose will be to attach to the Abductors, and either topple them or sever parts with enough button mashing. During combat, you can issue commands, instructing your Accessory to perform necessary tasks (which I found somewhat finicky at times).

However, the loop devolves into entering a mission, slaying enemies, gathering resources, customizing and improving your loadout, and repeat. Higher CODE Levels grant tougher missions but the variety is sorely lacking. Also, between flat desert plains and a few ruined cityscapes with structures to grapple to, the environments don’t serve to mix up the gameplay.

"Even as you work through the story and unravel the world’s happenings, it’s not long before the gameplay starts to feel overly repetitive."

The Abductors can be intriguing since you can break off different parts and collect them. Some objectives may also require rescuing citizens from their grasp, which means targeting their central pod. If an Abductor has a shield, grappling onto those components and severing them is key.

You may even blow up certain parts like missile launchers to deprive an Abductor of its more lethal weapons, but that’s more or less it. Most other times, you’ll alternate between heavy and light attacks to execute simple combos, fire from a distance, execute a grapple strike and maybe chuck a grenade or two. I would have liked to be able to set the camera back farther.

Transitioning between different attack functions isn’t the most fluid, though it’s not a lost cause. It’s somewhat surprising how responsive the combat can feel. Shredding through an Abductor’s armor can feel satisfying, and newer options, like animation cancelling by activating Thorns, certainly add more nuance.

If only there was a greater variety in enemies or more mission types (how do so many citizens end up needing to be rescued anyway?). Even as you work through the story and unravel the world’s happenings, it’s not long before the gameplay starts to feel overly repetitive. Nevertheless, for those who can get into it, there are enough upgrades and unlocks to keep you playing for dozens of hours.

"If this is really the first step towards reviving the series, I’m keen to see what the team can achieve with more contemporary mechanics and design."

Aside from quality-of-life features like Module Synthesis and a higher difficulty in Deadly Sinner mode, the other defining aspect of Freedom Wars Remastered is the visuals. While it sticks to the same anime-esque aesthetic with the listless color palette befitting a future of surveillance and despair, the 4K resolution and 60 frames per second performance make a significant difference. The details are crisp, and on PlayStation 5, I didn’t encounter any performance issues (which is reportedly not the same story on PC, so beware if you’re looking to get it on Steam).

Again, the visual fidelity isn’t going to compete with your Wuthering Waves or Zenless Zone Zeroes, but it’s a unique atmosphere, unlike so many other titles. Oppressive, yet oddly jubilant, perhaps in part thanks to the soundtrack. The mix of orchestration and edgy rock feels just right, lending some much-needed gravitas to the overall presentation.

On the surface, Freedom Wars Remastered doesn’t seem like it aspires to much more than simply bringing the classic to current-gen platforms. That itself is noteworthy, and the quality of life features are appreciated, though I can see action RPG connoisseurs rightfully demanding more, even at this budget price point. If this is really the first step towards reviving the series, I’m keen to see what the team can achieve with more contemporary mechanics and design. For now, this is a remaster that will be most appreciated by long-time fans, best experienced on PS5.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Set in a dystopic version of Earth, nations are replaced by Panopticons as most of the populace suffers from prison sentences. The protagonist is sentenced to one million years for the “crime of living” and must undertake missions to battle Abductors and hostile Panopticons to reduce it.

While Freedom Wars Remastered offers the same gameplay and aesthetic, it supports resolutions up to 4K and 60 FPS, a new difficulty level, quality of life features for progression, and improvements to combat. For example, movement speed is faster, and you can cancel attacks with Thorns. You can also remap the controls.

Multiplayer also offers new options, while all previous cosmetic DLC are available for customization. The character voices have also been refreshed. Check out the systems trailer for more details.

More noteworthy upgrades include increased movement speed and animation canceling when activating Thorns. Players can also look forward to renewed controls, including full remapping. There are also some quality-of-life features, like modules functioning as separate items, letting you attach and detach them from weapons as necessary.

Module Synthesis has also been added to upgrade modules, with the success rate increasing if you take help from rescued citizens. Those seeking a challenge can engage in Deadly Sinner mode, which increases the years of sentence from penalties, while all previously released cosmetic DLC is included for customization.

Freedom Wars Remastered launches on January 10th for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It also features various graphical improvements, including 4K resolution and 60 frames per second support.

The premise involves a far-flung future where humanity is confined to Panopticons, fighting over resources. As a Sinner, you have a one million-year sentence to serve and must participate in combat operations against the Abductors to fight for freedom. While it retains the same combat and story, Freedom Wars Remastered features a 4K resolution, 60 FPS support, and improved textures on PlayStation and PC.

Alongside difficulty settings and a revamped crafting system, it also features “refined” controls. The eight-player co-op remains intact, though it remains to be seen if the League of Panopticons online feature carries over. Stay tuned for more details on Freedom Wars Remastered, and check out some extensive gameplay below courtesy of Famitsu.

Characters that will be a part of the Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero roster include Beerus, Whis, Gohan (Adult), Videl, and Trunks (Sword). Including all of the characters revealed through previous trailers and announcement, this brings the game’s roster count up to 42 playable characters, including variants.

For the sake of context, the version of Gohan revealed through the magazine is Future Gohan from the Dragon Ball Z movie The History of Trunks. This version of Gohan had to endure quite a bit of hardship as they world got essentially taken over and humanity got massacred by Android 17 and Android 18.

A trailer released for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero last month showcased other characters, including Nappa, Jeice, Super Saiyan Broly, and Super Saiyan Kale. These characters join iconic Dragon Ball characters like Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Perfect Cell, and Tien, among many others.

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is slated for release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

NEW SPARKING ZERO CHARACTERS! Beerus, Whis, Gohan, Videl, Future Gohan, and Trunks (Sword) pic.twitter.com/nq0u2ns8un

— SLO (@SLOplays) April 16, 2024

The DLC will revolve around Fu, who is seemingly experimenting with super villain energy. The DLC, titled Future Saga, doesn’t yet have a release date. It will be released in four parts over time, with the trailer teasing Chapter 1.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is currently available on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. A current-gen version for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is slated for release on May 24. Those who already own the previous-generation version of the game can get the new versions for free through PlayStation Free Upgrades and Xbox Smart Delivery.

Since its original release back in 2016, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has proven to be quite successful for publisher Bandai Namco and developer Dimps. Back in May 2023, the publisher revealed that the game had sold over 10 million copies.

Transferring save data from the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on to the equivalent current-gen console will be a more involved process, however, and detailed instructions will be revealed later.

While Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is making its way on to more platforms after having been out since back in 2016, Bandai Namco is keeping releases based on the Dragon Ball franchise strong. The publisher is currently working with Spike Chunsoft on the spiritual successor to the Dragon Ball Tenkaichi Budokai series of games, dubbed Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero.

Dragon Ball FighterZ also recently got a new leash on life with its recent release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, as well as addition of rollback netcode to the fighting game. Both Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 have been incredibly successful, with Bandai Namco having revealed last year that the two titles had sold over 10 million copies each.

DRAGON BALL Xenoverse 2 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S releases May 24, 2024!

PS5 and Xbox Series X|S owners can upgrade/use Smart Delivery and transfer saved data from PS4 and Xbox One! #DBXV2

*Detailed upgrade and save data transfer instructions will be announced at a later date pic.twitter.com/Q6Ble0F7Ow

— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) March 1, 2024

Taking to Twitter, Bandai Namco recently announced that 2016’s Dimps-developed action RPG Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and 2017’s Arc System Works-developed fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ have both now sold over 10 million units each across all platforms. At last count, less than a couple of years ago, both games had sold over eight million units, so both have clearly seen sustained sales over a pretty lengthy period.

Dragon Ball FighterZ will also be adding rollback netcode support in the game’s Steam version later this year.

Dragon Ball FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 are both available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, while the former is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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これまで支えてくださった皆様のおかげで、両タイトルそれぞれ1,000万本を達成！
感謝の気持ちを込めて本日より1,000万本記念キャンペーンを開催！

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— 「ドラゴンボール」家庭用ゲーム公式 (@dbgame_official) May 10, 2023