Out of all the Dragon Ball Z based games, there are two that remain popular games amongst fans, Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball FighterZ¸ Each game seeks to cater to a different audience and a different type of player resulting in two completely different games that are both great games in their own right.
But as with many popular games, comparisons are made and fans find themselves on either side of the fence. So here are some reasons why Dragon Ball Xenoverse is arguably a better game than Dragon Ball FighterZ, with some reasons for why the other game is better.
10 Not Better: Grinding
Making your character stronger in Xenoverse requires immense amounts of grinding that will have you ripping your hair out in the upper levels. Even players that enjoy a good romp through games like Diablo 3 or Warframe find Xenoverse to have a painful emphasis on grind.
This admittedly got better with Xenoverse 2 but there’s still a lot of emphasis on gaining experience and training your character up to progress through the story. For many players they just want to dive in and fight like they can in FighterZ.
9 Better: RPG Progression
Having just complained about the grind there is something to be said for the RPG nature of Xenoverse that makes it a better game than FighterZ. The entire premise of the Dragon Ball Z storyline was the main characters striving to improve their abilities and combat prowess through perpetual training and imposing challenges on themselves to take on each villain that came their way.
This is exactly what the player does in Xenoverse, the only way they can defeat the big bad villains is to level up and become stronger. FighterZ on the other hand has no progression, you’re as strong in the first fight as you will be in the last which causes it to lack that same sense of growth and accomplishment.
8 Not Better: FighterZ Has A Great Story
Xenoverse has a custom story that make it interesting in it's own right, but there’s no denying that Android 21’s story arc is one of the best original stories to ever appear in a Dragon Ball Z video game.
Sure being a savior of the timelines is a good story, but Android 21’s story is much better and presents a villain that is much more interesting than anything you’ll find in Xenoverse. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Android 21 make other appearances in Dragon Ball Z’s universe going forward.
7 Better: Player Centered Story
Up until this game the vast majority of Dragon Ball Z based games told the same stories over and over again from the perspectives of the character you were playing as. Sure there were some interesting what-if scenarios and fun villain based stories, but you were always playing a character involved in the story.
With Xenoverse you as the player are the focal point of the story. You are the center of the Dragon Ball Z universe, the hero of the story whose job it is to save Goku and the other Z Fighters. It’s a great feeling and one lacking in the other games.
6 Not Better: Combat System
Dragon Ball Xenoverse does have the advantage of being a three dimensional fighting game, but it feels clunky in comparison to FighterZ. By comparison, FighterZ is much more fluid and simplistic which allows players to dive in and start mastering the combat right away.
With Xenoverse it feels like you’re spending as much time mastering the controls and the timing of combos as you are learning the game. Admittedly this can be overcome by getting familiar with the obtuse controls of Xenoverse, but it does feel annoying in the beginning.
5 Better: Custom Character
As mentioned before the story is centered around you, the player. This means you can create your own custom character designed to whatever role you wish to play. Players can choose from multiple species like Nameks, Sayains, or even Majin. They can also tweak their character’s appearance however they wish.
FighterZ on the other hand restricts you to the same characters you’ve been playing since the first Dragon Ball Z games came out. This enables players to create the character they’ve always wanted to be and one that reflects their personality or ideal self.
4 Not Better: Series Characters
Having said that custom characters are definitely a plus for Xenoverse but there is a significant catch. You are restricted to your own customized characters for the entirety of the game. You cannot play as Goku, Piccolo, or any other familiar character from the series in the main story like you can in FighterZ.
Granted you could do your best to recreate Goku using the custom character builder, but it’s always going to be a pale imitation and you’ll know deep down it’s not the real thing. For players wanting to step into their favorite character’s shoes, Xenoverse probably isn’t the game for them.
3 Better: Flying
Flying is integral to the anime in a number of ways; from basic transportation to epic fight scenes in the air. It’s also been something that has been lacking in a number of Dragon Ball Z games, including FighterZ.
In Xenoverse flying is a fun component of the game allowing you to explore the world from the air. It does require a flying license which can be a bit annoying to obtain, but the ability to soar through the air or fly across the arena is a definite perk for Xenoverse and a lacking feature for FigherZ.
2 Not Better: Simplicity
Xenoverse requires the player to obtain various abilities through mentorships, grinding enemies for levels and has a clunky control system that makes it difficult to master. FighterZ has the advantage of being a simple fighting game with simple controls, no leveling, and all the abilities available to the character right at the beginning.
Players can just dive into the game and start fighting, there’s no hours of grind, no questing for powers, just a straight-up fighting game that anyone can pick up and feel like a powerful warrior right away.
1 Better: Loot
Being an RPG Xenoverse has a ton of items for players to fight and quest for that range from one time consumables to clothing sets that grant increased stats. You’re going to be doing a lot of grinding in this game to level up so having a lot of items to track down makes the grind bearable.
In fact some would argue that the loot is one of the best parts of the game. What makes the loot hunting fun is that many of these items are lore based. When a game includes Mr. Popo’s Turban as a wearable item, you know the game has great loot for Dragon Ball Z fans.