'Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2' release date, gameplay: Players can join Frieza's army; battle systems tweaked

In the upcoming "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2," the sequel to the popular fighting role-playing video game "Dragon Ball Xenoverse," players will be able to join Frieza's army and attempt to become the Cosmic Emperor.

According to Siliconera, the latest issue of Jump magazine revealed some details about the main story and some of the characters that players will encounter during their journey. It was also indicated that the changes in history that occur in "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2" will be bigger than those in the first installment.

In the magazine, Bandai Namco shared the setting for the upcoming video game, letting fans know that the "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2" story will pick up two years after the Demigra incident that occurred in the first "Xenoverse" game. Following the incident, the Time Patrol was able to expand their organization. In "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2," Old Kai and the Supreme Kai of Time will be part of the now expanded Time Patrol.

In the upcoming sequel, as in the first game, the protagonist will face different missions to prevent changes in history. However, in "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2," characters can go back in time and infiltrate.

This feature was teased during last month's E3 2016, where several screenshots of a character infiltrating a Frieza spaceship were revealed. The latest issue of Jump confirmed this, indicating that players' characters can join Frieza's army and try to become the Cosmic Emperor.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Siliconera, "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2" producer Masayuki Hirano spoke about the new features being added to the fighting system in the sequel.

According to Hirano, the "Dragon Ball Xenoverse" team has been using fan feedback to address the difficulty of doing combos in the game. To fix the issue, they have adjusted the player versus player systems such that enemies can't easily dodge attacks by performing a quick teleportation.

"There is a new system called the Stamina Break where you can take the opponent's stamina," Hirano explained. "If you're doing a combo, they won't be able to avoid your attack that easily. With this new system, there is more depth to the battle system."

The "Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2" boss also revealed that another new feature, Burst Dash, will allow players to pursue or evade and attack enemies automatically.

"Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2" will be out later this year on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.