Dragon ball, with Goku by flag, he has the enormous privilege and pride of having been the franchise that has managed to make the whole world know the phenomenon of manganime. Akira Toriyama's work has been with us for more than 3 decades. More than thirty years of incombustible history, with a catalog of video games behind it that could take away the hiccups to anyone.
Games that have always looked at the most direct action, the combinations of blows and the bars of life that had to be emptied as soon as possible based on combos and explosions of ki. Titles that had their climax in fidelity with Dragon Ball FighterZ, and now have their climax in immersion with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
A Semi-open world RPG signed by two veterans: CyberConnect 2 and Bandai Namco. A huge game by extension, by possibilities and by love to the saga on which it turns. A game that has made us fly higher than ever and feel, for the first time, as if we were really the protagonists of the stories that Goku brought us for so long to the small screen.
Become the Legendary Saiyan
DBZ: Kakarot is a title that covers each and every one of the main arcs of Dragon Ball Z. The game starts with the arrival of Raditz on Earth and ends with the destruction of the dangerous Majin Buu with that Genki Lady who made us all raise our arms in front of the TV. During all these events, our role is to manage the main character of each moment.
No, don't think that you are always Goku, because you could take a huge click. Throughout the adventure you drive the good guy from Kakarot, of course, but you also have the opportunity to be Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta and many others. The distribution is distributed, worth the redundancy, so that you can live the most interesting points of view in each important event of the saga.
Something that, at times, manages to make Gohan the true protagonist of everything (something that is not far from the idea that was in mind when the Cell arc was originally raised), but that also leaves real jewels in detail. Because, yes, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a role, leads to exploration and has many battles; but it is also full of small details, although we will leave that for last.
Fight and explore the Dragon World like never before
The idea of explore the Dragon World in the skin of Goku or any of the protagonists of DBZ is something for which we have been pinched for many years, and DBZ: Kakarot has finally made it disloyal. Reason to rejoice, of course, but also to start taking out the complaint book.
Why? To start, we must clarify that the open world of this game is not as such. It is divided into different open areas that, yes, are large, but are not interconnected with each other natur ally. At the same time, it must be said that all these areas have much to offer in terms of exploration and details.
But they also have certain problems. Leaving aside a general finish that does not end up being up to par, and that its world is built to fit well with what is expected of the Dragon Ball universe, it is missing that they are offered really interesting activities for the player
Of course, we have many fun sea minigames, and many characters (some completely forgotten by the fandom) that appear to ask for orders and perform all kinds of missions. Before preparing to split Vegeta's face, you may have been buying and collecting ingredients for Chichi to cook something for you, or helping Baba against enemies to read you the future.
Options offers to rage, but the problem of these lies in the moment in which the hours of play are prolonged. And, although it offers many alternative tasks, they all end up coming back quite tedious and insulous. They are not able to attract the player beyond the fact of being able to talk with many of the characters in the huge Dragon Ball universe.
A simple and direct combat, but that sins flat
To talk about a Dragon Ball game, or simply Goku, is to talk about fight. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot cannot tiptoe through this aspect, and he knows it. That's why CyberConnect 2 has brought out some of its resources seen in the Ultimate Ninja Storm saga to dress the fighting of this game, although leaving the variety along the way.
Physical attacks with a button and a palette of special attacks configurable to have quick access to the strongest attacks, an elusive, a protection and the possibility of supporting you in your companions or in objects to have more advantage. That is the fan that DBZ: Kakarot offers the player to fight, also adding the possibility of toggle the transformations With certain characters.
Something that seems quite varied, but that weighs the same as the secondary, the passage of time. The lack of depth In this system, although you have to be strategic if you do not want to be an easy prey for the enemy, you do not have many resources to play with and develop the combat to suit you. And yes, there are skills to improve with the Z Orbs that you pick up around the world while you explore, even passive ones that are enhanced through the communities you build on the menu with the characters you help and know. But no, it takes much more to offer a really fun match to the player.
Freckle of simple and flat, and we can get to understand it since we are facing an action RPG and not facing a fighting game. But we can't get rid of the idea that this is Dragon Ball, and the fight is what moves it. Being able to make more varied combos or even link special attacks quickly between normal attacks would have been perfect. And don't get us wrong, the formula it has is good and effective, but we feel short for what it could have been.
A challenge that loses ki
All this leads us to address another point that has caught our attention as our game progressed. At first we were able to run into complicated combats, but the difficulty lay in our lack of familiarity with combat mechanics. Once assimilated, the difficulty falls considerably.
And this would not be a problem if it were not because breaks the feeling of having to progress and improve as a warrior and player to overcome the most difficult moments in history. Don't think that DBZ: Kakarot is going to throw you in front of a boss who takes you 5 levels and forces you to train on your own, because it won't be like that. In fact, don't even think that you need to collect Orbs Z to improve your skills and special attacks.
Overcoming a bow or beating a boss gives you a huge amount of orbs, which allows you to improve your character easily. Something to which we must add the ease of acquiring tons of experience points with the important combats, or the fact of having some Dragon Balls that can make it even easier if you locate it. The sense of progression, the need to devote time to improve your character and make your skill tree evolve as a result, is completely broken. The fantasy of power is what sets the pace, and in it there is no place to stop to train.
Immersion and love for the fan, their keys
What can not be denied in any way to the proposal of Cyber-Connect 2 is that keep a great love for the world that reflects and all its sagas. Therefore, it is allowed to offer vehicles taken directly from the Toriyama imaginary, that we have minigames taken from the episodes of the anime stuffing and, above all, that we have up to a collectible based on rescuing fragments of the first Dragon Ball.
It is impossible not to look with good eyes this facet of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, since it is just the one that takes the fan from the collar of the shirt and gives him a nostalgia punch in the whole stomach. Every stage, every town or location you visit, every character you talk to. Everything is taken from the original work, and what not, allows expand the lore a little more and finish building a world that we never get to see properly on paper or on television.
That is one of the great benefits of this game, and it gives the Dragon Ball fan the opportunity to explore every corner of a world that until now he could only imagine. It does, in addition, with a really satisfactory mobility, since you can run, fly, jump and even destroy parts of the scenery if you wish. And always, in addition, with some kind of reward for what you do. Always making every trip not in vain.
The last point we are going to discuss about the love of the original work will be precisely the key moments of the story. This is where really superb animations shine. High points that are the total antithesis to the most normal sequences and with rough animations. It is noted that this is where CC2 has brought out everything that made Kishimoto prefer his games to the anime of his work. They are spectacular.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is the best Goku RPG
In spite of everything, the reality is just as we just snapped it. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is the best Goku RPG, and is not the first that has entered this genre. It offers the largest world, allows you to relive all Dragon Ball Z from different points of view and is full of winks and reasons why any fan would explore it to the last span.
But sin of staying too fair about mechanics and when it comes to complying with the bases of the genre to which it belongs. It is not an RPG that surprises with its mechanics, nor is it one that gives you reasons to stay in it if you are not a fan of Goku and his. But who are we going to fool, who hasn't ever fantasized about getting into Goku's skin in such a game? We, of course, have done it many times.
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