Recently, Game Rant had the opportunity to interview RedabCho, the Creative Director, Lead Game Designer, and Producer of Dragon Ball Demon Breaker. During the interview, RedabCho shared valuable insight about how the game is coming along, some interesting features he and his team are going to add, and more, but he also took some time to talk about Goku and Vegeta's role in the game. As most fans of Dragon Ball are no doubt aware, these two pureblooded Saiyans typically hog the spotlight in the anime, manga, and even video games, but that isn't the case in RedabCho's take on the franchise.
For those that don't know, Dragon Ball Demon Breaker is a fan made-project (that is not for profit, takes no donations, and has no ties to the official franchise or its owners). In his own words, RedabCho describes it as "the very first Devil May Cry inspired Dragon Ball fan project," going on to say that the goal of Dragon Ball Demon Breaker is to open the doors and allow Dragon Ball games to flood into more genres. Although this is a hack-and-slash type of game, RedabCho believes that Dragon Ball games could work in a variety of thus far unexplored genres.
In Dragon Ball Demon Breaker, Future Trunks is the only playable character, but Goku and Vegeta appear as assists that are capable of supporting him as he battles hordes from the Demon Realm. Notably, this version of Trunks is akin to Xeno Trunks, the one that appears in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse games and Super Dragon Ball Heroes, meaning he is able to access the Super Saiyan God form and wield the powerful Key Sword. Goku and Vegeta are similar to their Xeno version as well, but with one major difference.
When it came to designing Dragon Ball Demon Breaker, I wanted to go for a route where Goku and Vegeta are depending on Trunks because Trunks is the only person out of them all who uses Super Saiyan God. A lot of people automatically assume that these iterations of Goku and Vegeta are the same iterations of the Xeno timeline. They are the Xeno Goku and Vegeta, but this is our own take on them. They can only go Super Saiyan, they can't go beyond Super Saiyan. But Trunks can go beyond Super Saiyan, and when they see that, Trunks is pretty much the guy that touches them by the chest and pushes them away like 'I got this.'
In this alternate reality, Goku and Vegeta were never able to unlock a form beyond Super Saiyan. That means no Super Saiyan 2, 3, or 4, and certainly no Super Saiyan God or beyond. Because of this, Trunks is really at the forefront, and when he activates his Super Saiyan God powers, Goku and Vegeta have to take a step back or risk getting in his way. This role reversal may seem odd at first, but it does well to allow other characters like Future Trunks to shine.
Dragon Ball Demon Breaker's story mode was recently put on hold, so players probably won't be able to see much interaction between these characters outside of combat. Even so, it should be interesting to see the two thrust into a supporting role since they've dominated as the leads for most of the franchise's history. This dynamic is displayed best in the way that transformations work in Demon Breaker. When Trunks is in base form, Goku and Vegeta's assist attacks will also be performed in base form, but if Trunks powers up to Super Saiyan, they power up to match him. In the case of Super Saiyan God, Goku and Vegeta just step back and watch Trunks work while he's in this form.
Dragon Ball Demon Breaker is in development now and scheduled to release in Summer of 2021.