Xenoverse 3's Awakening nerf has fans furious

Bandai Namco just dropped the first gameplay footage for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, and the reveal comes with a sting: the beloved Awakening mode, a cornerstone of the series' combat system, is getting a hard time limit.

The new mechanics look promising. Soul Assists and Soul Switch appear designed to add strategic depth, letting players chain abilities and swap between fighters mid-battle in ways the previous games didn't quite allow. For a franchise that's built its fighting game identity on flashy transformations and team synergy, these additions could genuinely reshape how matches play out.

But that Awakening change? That's the problem. For years, Xenoverse players have relied on Awakening modes—those screen-filling power-ups tied to iconic transformations like Super Saiyan forms—as both a tactical tool and a moment of spectacle. Limiting their duration fundamentally changes the risk-reward calculus of the entire game. Fans aren't thrilled about it.

The game itself is set during Age 1000, an unexplored era in the Dragon Ball timeline, which at least suggests Bandai Namco is thinking beyond just remixing familiar faces. Whether that creative choice extends to justifying why Awakening needed to be nerfed remains to be seen.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is scheduled for 2027 across PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. That's a ways off, which means there's time for developer feedback to sink in—or for the community to organize and make their displeasure known. Given how vocal the Xenoverse fanbase can be, don't be surprised if this becomes a pressure point before launch.

Source: Polygon