While the concept of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an exciting one, the game itself is dragged down by seemingly endless fetch quests and repetitive combat. There’s still some Dragon Ball goodness for fans to enjoy, from the impressively deep fanservice to the impeccably recreated cutscenes– it’s just buried under fairly dull and buggy gameplay.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $60
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, and PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review.
I’ve reviewed a lot of Dragon Ball games here at MonsterVine, because Dragon Ball is one of my favorite things in the world. That being the case, it makes sense that I would be excited at the prospect of an open-world action-RPG based in the world of Dragon Ball. While the concept still excites me, and Kakarot scratches that itch on occasion, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed at how rough the finished game is.
The story of Kakarot will be very familiar to anyone who has played a Dragon Ball Z game. The game covers Everything from the Saiyan Saga to the Buu Saga, with bits of filler in between. If you’ve read, watched, or played through this story before, you’ll know exactly what to expect. There are some surprising minor additions to the plot, like an early appearance of Android 21 from Dragon Ball FighterZ, but most of the story plays out the way it always has. Since this is supposed to be an RPG about Son Goku, I don’t mind going through these events again in a different format. I only wish there were some more additions like the aforementioned Android 21 appearance.
The gameplay of Kakarot is a cross between the open and flashy combat of the Xenoverse and Budokai Tenkaichi series with some light RPG elements. Though you can change each playable character’s movesets and level them up through combat, there isn’t much depth to the “RPG” side of Kakarot. Your health and overall damage go up over time, and you can get minor advantages and disadvantages through the unique Community system, but Kakarot really feels like an action/fighting game with RPG elements rather than a full-on action-RPG.
“Visiting Korin, going to Nam’s Village, or flying to Kami’s Lookout on a whim are all the sort of things I’d want to do in an open-world Dragon Ball game, so I’m glad Kakarot gives me that experience.“
Battles are fast and fun at first but quickly become rather repetitive as the game goes on. Use melee attacks against an enemy, jump back/dodge, use super attacks, and repeat until you win. You can never get too deep into a combo because of a particularly bothersome mechanic that makes enemies seemingly invincible as they charge up a counterattack. This frequently disrupts the flow of combat, and it would have been preferable if enemies dodged or blocked instead.
One of the highlights in Kakarot is the variety of fanservice that comes from the various side-quests, despite many of them being boring fetch-quests. Characters from the far-too-overlooked original Dragon Ball series, like Android 8 and Taopaipai, make appearances and continue their story arcs from the original series. These quests often encourage exploration, which is one of the most fun parts of Kakarot. Visiting Korin, going to Nam’s Village, or flying to Kami’s Lookout on a whim are all the sort of things I’d want to do in an open-world Dragon Ball game, so I’m glad Kakarot gives me that experience.
There’s a disappointing lack of variety with the common enemies in Kakarot, with each of the four sagas supplying one or two similar new enemy types. You’ll largely be fighting Pirate Robots, Saibamen, Freeza Soldiers, and Red Ribbon Robots throughout the story, with a few palette swaps thrown in. These enemies are littered throughout every map and can spot you at seemingly random distances, making avoiding them more of a pain then it should be.
Kakarot mostly excels in the visuals department, perfectly recreating iconic Dragon Ball scenes and panels in a vivid and colorful manner. The particle effects on the many energy-based super attacks look fantastic, as does the battle damage that each area takes throughout a battle. The music is fantastic as well, taking from the original anime’s iconic soundtrack.
The Final Word
There’s plenty of potential in the idea behind Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, so it’s a shame that the game itself is so bogged down in fetch quests and a repetitive combat system. The fanservice and presentation in Kakarot will make any Dragon Ball fan excited, but the gameplay is a bit too dull to recommend.
MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average
