Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot retells the classic story from the Saiyan’s arrival on Earth all the way to the Kid Buu saga. But this isn’t anything new to the fans. There’s no lack of Dragon Ball games in the past decade or so in this format - they aim to relive the story and with some added story elements on top of the original. But is this game any different?
If you're familiar with how CyberConnect2 approached the Naruto Ultimate Ninja franchise, then this will be familiar to you. That approach, in my opinion, isn't bad; implementing it in a Dragon Ball game like this is very much welcome. You get to experience the fights as close as it is in the anime.
Flow of the Game:
Main story - You go through the missions that are marked on the map.
Intermission - This is your free time. Roam the world, do side quests, although you can, at times, do side quests while doing main story missions, and collect the Dragon Balls.
Main Gameplay Mechanics:
It is an action RPG game so you have RPG elements in it - skill sets, skill tree, character level, that kind of thing.
Healing items can be used in the middle of fights (vitadrink potions and senzu bean).
Eating a meal boosts your stats before a fight. Food like fruits, fish and monster meat can be gathered around the map.
There are 2 ways to cook the ingredients you have gathered:
- There are cooks in villages across the map that you can pay to cook your food.
- Go back home to Chi-Chi and have her cook for you for best stats.
Z Orbs are scattered everywhere. Used them to upgrade your Super Attacks and abilities
As you fly around there will be enemies everywhere. If you bump into them, you’ll get into a fight, pretty much like Pokemon. It's a good thing that if you’re 5 levels higher than them, you can just fly boost through them and receive full experience and rewards!
Combat Mechanics:
You’ll have your basic attacks:
Vegeta saving me from an enemy beam
- Circle for melee combos
- Square for Ki-Blast
- D-pad for items
- Triangle to charge your Ki.
Then you have your special attacks via L1. This depends on the skill set you’ve chosen for the character. Each character has 4 available skillsets.
Press R1 for support. There will be times when you'll have 2 characters fighting alongside you and you can use them for support. Their skills also depend on what you set.
During these fights you can encounter some pretty cool stuff:
- Beam fights if you time it right
- Super Finishes if you satisfy the right condition.
In-game Treats:
- There are some easter eggs especially in locations of interest around the world, taking you on a trip down memory lane.
- Relationship chart available in the menu via Z Encyclopedia
Conclusion:
To be honest, you aren't missing much, story-wise. I am still hoping they add the Super storyline in the form of DLC in the future. I definitely enjoyed the experience and the immersion in the game. The very first time Gohan went Super Saiyan 2 on Cell and let out that Father-Son Kamehameha - those moments were gorgeous.
Combat is straightforward when it comes to trash mobs around the world. You can basically spam the circle button. But when it comes to story battles like fighting Frieza, Cell or Buu, it's a whole different story. I remember fighting Raditz and got killed 3 times before I figured out his move pattern but that's part of every action-RPG.
For a Dragon Ball fan, this is definitely a must get. The actual experience this game gives me is way beyond the any of the past Dragon Ball games in the past decade or so. It's probably the best Dragon Ball game out there.
8.5Overall9Gameplay9.5Presentation7Value
Cons:
- Story - nothing really new.
- Loading screen/times - there are parts of the game where you encounter so many loading screens and long load times, although a recent update improved them but not enough to be noticeable.
Pros:
- Immersion - Every cutscene/cinematic in this game is so damn beautiful. The visuals are so good. If they make a movie using the animation in this game, I would dig it.
- Audio - Pick between English and Japanese voice-overs
Combat feels nice - You can’t just mash a button especially on story bosses. You have to plan your attacks and understand the move patterns of the enemies.
There is an upcoming update to allow you to use the Time Machine after you beat the game so that you can go back and do some side quests that you missed. But as I see it, there is another use of that time machine.