The game is set almost entirely within a number of 3D areas, which are mostly modeled after notable locations in the Dragon Ball universe, accessed from the main hub – the Toki-Toki City.

Fighters can traverse the levels free-roaming in large spaces and can fight on ground, in the air and underwater.

Although limited, the players have some freedom to explore the planet Earth as it exists in the Dragon Ball universe along with a handful of other locations, including the aforementioned Toki-Toki City.

[9][10] The online multiplayer is accessed from the Toki-Toki City, which serves as a hub where players can form groups and take on cooperative, time-traveling missions.

With no clues as to when the second change occurred, the Warrior is met with a mysterious individual that offers to take them there, which the Player accepts.

The Supreme Kai of Time gathers the Dragon Balls to summon Goku to assist the Warrior with fighting allies and foes that had fallen under Demigra's control.

As Trunks begins looking for further changes from Demigra's wormholes, he sends the Warrior to the events of Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming.

Broly is defeated by the combined forces of the Warrior, Bardock, and Vegeta, and the wormhole is destroyed by the explosion of Namek.

They are all deposited in a wasteland alongside Baby and Super 17, with Trunks deducing that the wormholes were created for the express purpose of gathering enemies to finally defeat Goku.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is the first game developed by Dimps to feature full 3D battles, similar to Spike's Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast series.

[5] The 2014 V-Jump #7 issue, in which the game was announced, draws attention to a mysterious figure watching the first battle between Goku and Vegeta from the shadows.

[28] GameTrailers gave it a slightly lower score of 6.0, noting the same flaws mentioned by both Famitsu and IGN, such as the "shallow combat" and repetitiveness as well as its potential appeal to mainly the franchise's established fan base rather than general audience while also noting that "those without such a strong attachment to the franchise may not be able to stomach the compromise.

"[27] GameSpot also gave the game a score of 6 out of 10, praising its detailed character customization system and a "new, interesting take on a tired story" while also criticizing its loose controls, repetitiveness and unbalanced gameplay.

The review also specifically noted the lingering online service related technical difficulties and poor performance on certain platforms.

[44][45] On May 17, 2016, Bandai Namco announced a sequel titled Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.