There’s been lots of buzz about the latest Dragon Ball Z game, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Most of it, good. But the question of everyone’s mind is whether the game will actually be good or is this just more fan hype? Are the fans just easy to please? By a rough count, Kakarot will be the 22nd Dragon Ball Z game released since 2002’s Dragon Ball Z: Budokai. And there are even more games going all the way back to 1986 (whew!).
So what makes this one any special. If CyberConnect2, Kakarot‘s developers, want to impress more gamers beyond the anime’s superfans, they’re going to have to pull out all the stops. Thankfully, we have good reason to believe they will. The anime’s newest game is promised to go in a completely different direction from its recent predecessors.
Kakarot‘s reveal trailer starts with a quote from Akira Toriyama, the author of the anime and manga, which says, “This game brings the DRAGON BALL universe to life, and I’m sure fans will truly be able to take a deep dive into the world.” While this comes as high-praise for the game, it’s not unexpected that Toriyama would praise his own game (or at least one that takes place in the universe he created).
But Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot‘s buzz stems from entirely different reasons than Toriyama’s praise: Kakarot breaks the mold of the earlier fighting games from the series.
It is a full-fledged role-playing game with leveling, an open-world environment, sidequests, and equipment. Of course, there’s no lack of fighting game elements, either. This is Dragon Ball Z we’re talking about, so superfans will feel right at home too.
Players will have the ability to explore this world moment-to-moment, and CyberConnect2, the developers behind the successful fighting games for the Naruto anime, have shown they know how to port an anime like no one else can. Expect lots of spectacle, cinematic sequences, and seamless game graphics that will make Kakarot, the game, resemble Kakarot, the playable anime. And this won’t be a mere repeat of the same stories from previous games, CyberConnect2 has promised that there will be both non-canonical story elements and unrevealed backstories that did not make it into the manga or the anime.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot does not yet have an official release date, but the game is expected to come out in 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Keep an eye out for what will surely be a fun romp with some familiar characters and stories.
