Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Game - Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a single player action role playing video game. The game is based on the internationally popular Japanese manga series Dragon Ball, both written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was developed by CyberConnect2 and produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released on January 16, 2020, in Japan for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was later released worldwide on January 17, 2020, also on Microsoft Windows.
Story and Gameplay
The game is based on the ‘Dragon Ball Z’ manga and anime and retells four arcs including; Saiyan Arc, Frieza Arc, Cell and Android Arc and Majin Buu Arc. It covers Chapters 75 to 516 in the manga of the Dragon Ball Z anime.
Saiyan Arc
5 years after the fight with Piccolo at the World Martial Arts Tournament, Son Goku and his wife Chi-Chi have been living happily with their son Son Gohan. However, one day a mysterious man from space arrives on Earth and claims to be Goku's older brother. His name is Raditz and is a member of the almost extinct Saiyan race. Raditz takes Gohan as a hostage and Goku must team up with his old arch nemesis Piccolo to get Gohan back. Goku and Piccolo manages to get Gohan back, however, Goku dies along with Raditz. Upon learning of Raditz's death, two more Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa, head to Earth. Goku on the other hand, heard about the two Saiyans heading towards Earth and started training under King Kai. Vegeta and Nappa arrive on Earth earlier than predicted and Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Gohan and Krillin must fight them until Goku is revived by Shenron. Goku arrives at the battle, however, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha had been killed. Goku manages to defeat the two Saiyans but lets Vegeta get away.
Frieza Arc
Following the battle with the Saiyans, Gohan, Krillin and Bulma head to Namek Planet in order to revive their fallen comrades with the Namekian Dragon Balls. Heavily injured Goku had to completely heal his injuries first before heading to Namek Planet. The Earth’s Dragon Balls had been destroyed because Piccolo was defeated. However, they are not the only ones looking for the Dragon Balls at Namek Planet, as the most powerful villain, Frieza, is also searching for it. Goku and his friends must fight Frieza and his forces in order to collect the Dragon Balls to revive their friends.
Cell and Android Arc
Following the battle with Frieza, peace has finally returned to Earth. However, Frieza was not in fact defeated and arrived on Earth with his dad to seek revenge. Earth was about to be destroyed until a young boy arrived in front of Frieza and his dad. The young boy defeats the father and son by turning into a Super Saiyan. He explains to Goku that he came from the future and is Trunks, the son of Bulma and Vegeta. He warns Goku about the Androids that would destroy the Earth in 3 years time. Goku and his friends train and prepare for the attack of the Androids. 3 years past and the Androids attack Earth. Meanwhile, a mysterious creature also arrives on Earth from the future. The creature is called Cell and his aim was to absorb the Androids in order to transform into his final form. Goku and his friends must train and get stronger to defeat Cell who is in his final form.
Majin Buu Arc
7 years have passed since the battle with Cell. Gohan is 16 years old and attends school in town where he gets forced to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament by his friend, Videl. Goku also joins the tournament by returning to Earth for a day. However, during this tournament, a dark mage called Badibi plans to release Majin Buu in hopes of conquering the Universe. Goku and his friends must find a way to stop Buu.
Playable Characters
As the story progresses, the playable character changes. Throughout the campaign, the player gets to play as 5 characters in order to complete the story. There also are a number of support characters that can be added to the party to help the player. The playable characters are;
- Son Goku
- Vegeta
- Piccolo
- Son Gohan
- Future Trunks
And the support characters are; - Son Goten
- Trunks (child)
- Android 18
- Krillin
- Yamcha
- Tien
- Chiaotzu
Product Information
- Developer: CyberConnect2
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Engine: Unreal Engine 4
- Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
- Released: Japan - January 16, 2020 (PS4 and XboxOne)
- Worldwide - January 17, 2020 (PS4, XboxOne and PC)
- Genre(s): Action Role-playing
- Modes: Single player
Reception
The game received favourable reviews from the critics. It was regarded highly for its combat and story presentation. Metacritic, a well known website that aggregates reviews, scored the game for each platform. The scores were fairly high and consistent throughout; 71/100 for PC version, 73/100 for PS4, 84/100 for Xbox1.
Approximately 89,500 copies were sold in Japan within the first week of its release. It was the second best selling game, behind Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The game became the number one on the sales chart in the United Kingdom.