Masayuki Hirano is the producer of all three parts of Dragon Ball Xenoverse. In an interview with MeinMMO, he reveals that classes for the MMO were originally considered, but were discarded for a specific reason.
Who is the interview with? One of the key developers for Dragon Ball Xenoverse is Masayuki Hirano. He has worked on all three parts as a producer. Accordingly, he has extensive know-how about the world of Dragon Ball.
His own life in West City
Jasmin (MeinMMO): I was quite impressed with the large city – West City – in the trailers. It’s a huge upgrade compared to the previous hub. What can players expect there and what activities can they spend their time on?
Masayuki Hirano: Since the game is set in the year 1000, West City serves as the central stage for everything. You will truly feel like you live there and spend your daily life. For example, you have your own room. The character takes on two roles: everyday life during the day and membership in the GS-Squad for the fights. West City functions as a hub. You can play the main story, interact with other characters – both with the city’s residents and with familiar legacy characters who are visiting – and complete various side quests as well as RPG elements.
Jasmin: As an MMO magazine, our focus is, of course, heavily on the interaction between players. What new possibilities are there online to interact with other players? Will there be things like guilds or fixed groups?
Masayuki Hirano: Currently, the GS-Squad is a team of four players that is firmly integrated into the main story. We place great importance on cooperative gameplay and battles for four players. Just like in parts 1 and 2, West City serves as a massive lobby. You have the opportunity to meet other players everywhere, form your own teams, or make friends.
Jasmin: Since the release of Xenoverse 2, some time has passed, and there is now a whole new generation of Dragon Ball and anime fans. How are you balancing the game to make it attractive for both older and completely new players?
Masayuki Hirano: We rely on two things: On the one hand, Toriyama-sensei has created a completely new future world, new settings, and new characters. Since no one has seen this world before, all players – regardless of their generation – start on equal footing and discover everything for the first time.
On the other hand, the series already offers many different gameplay possibilities. You can play the story, go out alone, team up in co-op, or fight against each other. Especially the solo story mode has been significantly expanded so that you can deepen the relationship between your own character and the classic characters. If someone wants, they can also prepare and train alone at their own pace.
The trend towards MMO-lite and the missing classes
Jasmin: In the MMO sector, there is currently a trend towards MMO Lite
, where players’ time is more respected. You might log in for just an hour and not spend the whole day in a single game. How does the game respect players’ time and how do these shorter play sessions work?
Masayuki Hirano: We have not designed quests or missions that must be played over a very long period in one go. The series itself is kept quite straightforward: You can play whenever you want and train when you feel like getting stronger.
Unlike classic MMOs, we also do not have fixed classes or roles (like healers). Since it is a Dragon Ball game, everyone wants to be the strongest, defeat enemies, and be in the spotlight. Without these strict roles, players are not forced to stay online for long just because the team needs that specific class. Of course, players can voluntarily take on a support role and help others, but they are not bound to it. Everyone can play completely at their own pace.
Jasmin: Have you seen concepts in other MMOs that you personally like, but that simply wouldn’t fit in Dragon Ball Xenoverse?
Masayuki Hirano: It would probably be exactly the role distributions I just mentioned. We have indeed thought about it for the series, but ultimately decided against it. I personally enjoy playing MMOs and taking on different roles. But in Dragon Ball, it’s more like: “You are a fighter? I am an even stronger fighter!” It’s much more about outdoing each other. Such an environment simply feels much more like Dragon Ball. Therefore, we decided against strict classes.
Jasmin: One last, somewhat more personal question: For my articles, I often create rankings, like the five strongest women
or the best Saiyans
. What would be your personal top 3 coolest Dragon Ball characters?
Masayuki Hirano:
- Jeeze (from the Ginyu Force): He is very unique, especially regarding his poses. This is not meant to be taken too seriously, but I just find him extremely cool.
- Vegeta: I don’t really need a reason, he’s just cool. My absolute favorite animation in the game is the one where Vegeta takes out Jeeze up close. I had to include that in the game! (laughs)
- Yamchu: He is my absolute favorite character because he is just incredibly cool on a human level.
Jasmin: Thank you very much for your time!
What do you think about classes in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3? Would you be willing to take on the role of a supporting healer, or are you glad that these classic roles don’t exist? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
The characters from Xenoverse 3 are based on the manga and anime of Dragon Ball. There are significant differences, especially in the animes, which is why individual animes were received differently by fans. You can find the MeinMMO ranking of the animes here: All animes from Dragon Ball in the ranking
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