DragonBall Z: Kakarot

There’s something to be said about taking things back to basics. For nearly the last decade, there hasn’t been a game in the DragonBall franchise that has tackled the beloved story in the way DragonBall Z: Kakarot has. Yes, we got to see some of the stories and characters through a new lens in the Xenoverse series, and we got some stellar fighting mechanics with DragonBall: FighterZ. But with the so-so reception to the DragonBall: Super anime (let’s be real, some of the Super lore is awesome, while others not), it’s awesome to see a game go back to the story that made me fall in love with the franchise. 

Story

Kakarot follows the tried and true story of Goku through the original four sagas in DBZ, with some special “Intermission” sections between sagas that help flesh out the story. Even though there have been countless DragonBall games throughout the years, Kakarot sets itself apart by being the closest retelling of the classic story in video game form. There are so many minute details from the original anime and manga, that I caught myself several times exclaiming, “I can’t believe I forgot that happens!”  

Some things never change.

That’s not to say that Kakarot doesn’t make some interesting changes* to the canon and lore of the series. For example, in an intermission section between the Saiyan saga and the Freiza saga, Gohan is tasked with finding Launch; an original DragonBall character who’s story was never really explained in DragonBall Z. Some of the lore changes aren’t so obvious though, as players will need to look into the “Z Encyclopedia” to find some curious canon changes. I’m looking at you Piccolo, and your supposed “moon-destroying power”. 

While DragonBall fans have certainly seen this story a million times over by this point, it’s nice to get back to the classics after several entries in the last decade have seemingly been distanced from the story that so many have fallen in love with.

Gameplay

Okay, this is the real meat and potatoes. And I mean that quite literally. “Good” DragonBall games (at least in this reviewers opinion) all come down to the gameplay. With every DragonBall game, I always ask myself three questions. Do you feel powerful playing as Goku (or any other character)? Do you feel that guttural urge to scream “KAMEHAMEHA!” at your TV in an epic moment that can only be captured in DBZ? Do you want to be enraptured in the world of DragonBall and never come back?

In the case of Kakarot, the answers are: yes, HELL yes, and kinda. 

Kakarot’s progression is very well-paced so that while you are playing as arguably the most powerful Saiyan of all time (not counting Broly) you never feel overpowered in parts of the story where it wouldn’t make sense. For example, Goku’s fight with Frieza feels as epic and challenging as you would imagine it would be, which makes turning Super Saiyan for the first time that much more thrilling. While you can certainly grind out orbs and experience to level up your character, I never felt as though I was breezing through fights or getting my ass handed to me. 

That being said, Kakarot’s progression loses me once we start switching to other characters. The game features more gameplay time playing as other characters than the game’s namesake, which is understandable to a certain extent. Throughout the story of DBZ, Goku is either dead, dead, or fighting the villain in the last few moments. It’s kind of difficult to flesh out a game when the main character isn’t usually all that involved in the story. That’s not to say playing as other characters aren’t fun! I think playing as Gohan as he grows as a formidable fighter is fantastic. I just would have liked to have seen more time spent with Goku, especially since the whole game is named after him. 

Everyone in DBZ LOVES food.

Remember that whole “meat and potatoes” thing? I wasn’t kidding. In a system pulled straight out of

Monster Hunter, a major gameplay mechanic in Kakarot is searching out various foods to create meals out of to boost your stats for a limited amount of time. From killing dinosaurs for dino-meat to flying into trees to harvest apples, Kakarot leans into a defining character trait of Goku and his friends: their absolute love with food. It’s great to see a Monster Hunter meal system implemented in a game where it fits so well within the story.

But what about the open world? It’s pretty okay. While it certainly made DragonBall noises at me and looked the part, I couldn’t help but feel that the open world felt a little empty. Other than a few random enemy encounters and villainous enemies (stronger enemies that reward better things), there wasn’t much else to do in the open world. Yes, you could just hunt some dinosaurs or deer for ingredients to make more food, and there were some side missions here and there, but the open-world feels widely underused. I think some mini-games or a World Tournament feature really would have lifted the game to another level. I also wish the open-world controls could be remapped, as the flying controls are a little wonky. R1 is up, R2 is down, but the X button (on PS4) is an instant drop down to the ground. I can’t tell you how many times I was flying along, accidentally tapped X, and just started plummeting. It was more annoying than anything, but it was certainly serviceable. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be DragonBall Z without some epic fights! Combat mechanics in DragonBall games are all over the place. Whether you’re looking for a straight-up fighting game like FighterZ or more RPG mechanics like Xenoverse, DragonBall has you covered. But what about Kakarot? I love the combat in Kakarot. While it can be button-mashy at times, it felt easy to pick up from day 1 and makes you feel powerful. Super attacks are mapped smartly to the L1 button, with quick selection options mapped to the face buttons. It feels super satisfying to chain together some teleportation moves, into a flurry of body blows, and followed up with a massive Ki-Blast. In short: it feels like DragonBall. 

Another major feature I love is transformations. It feels like it’s been a while since players have been able to transform at-will in a DragonBall game, as most recent entries have forced players to pick their transformation from the start. But being able to start a fight as regular ol’ Goku, and then flip into Super Saiyan when the fight gets going at will is so satisfying. 

Visuals

As mentioned before, Kakarot’s attention to detail in recreating all of the moments from the DBZ anime and manga is amazing. So many scenes have been painstakingly recreated; it made me want to start up the anime again just to compare the two. The cell-shaded look to the game adds an extra depth to epic battles, even if some of the cutscenes in between are a little awkward to look at. 

I’m not sure if it’s the best looking DragonBall game, as I still believe DragonBall: FighterZ holds that crown. But with a game of this size, it’s certainly impressive.

*The famous “It’s over 9000!” scene is nowhere to be found in the game. What a shame.