Fans of theDragon Ballfranchise are hyped for Bandai Namco’s upcoming action adventure RPG gameDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and for good reason. Bandai Namco has promised to deliver the most faithful retelling of the story ofDragon Ball Zto date, and from what has been shown in trailers and screenshots, it seems to be keeping this promise.
This game differs from previousDragon Ballgames in many ways, but one major difference has struck many fans as odd: the game will not feature a multiplayer mode of any kind, instead focusing entirely on the single player campaign. While this may upset some, it will actually do wonders forDragon Ball Z: Kakarotand enable the developers to fully deliver on their promise.
For those unaware, almost everyDragon Ball Zgame in recent memory has been keyed as a fighting game of some sort, whether that is the two dimensional fighting game style seen in theBudokaiseries or the more recentDragon Ball FighterZ, or more free-flowing three dimensional styles like theDragon Ball Xenoverseseries. The common denominator in all of these games is the emphasis on replayability as aDragon Ball Zfighting game.
While most of these games had story modes which retold the story, they played out as a series of text boxes or cutscenes broken up by fights between two well-balanced characters.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotaims to change this motif by removing the multiplayer aspect altogether and more accurately representing the battles Goku and his friends face.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with fighting games, and there are many extremely successful and incredibly entertainingDragon Ballfighting games in particular, they do have one trait which makes them unsuited to faithfully retellDragon Ball Z’s epic story of constantly growing stronger and shattering limits. Fighting games, by definition, require a level of balance between characters to make the game both fun and fair. If one character is clearly better in some way than another, then it would make no sense for that character to be played or even be included in the game. This resulted in fights in previousDragon Ballgames, like thefight between Goku and Vegeta, being mostly equal.
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This obviously is not faithful to the source material, asVegeta is stronger than Gokuduring the Saiyan Saga. It was an uphill battle which fighting games simply cannot simulate. Yes, Goku did come out on top eventually, but it was certainly a trial that forced him to push past his limits and nearly destroy his body in the process. Fighting games tend to emulate this simply by giving the enemy more bars of hit points or arbitrarily allowing them to do more damage, but even that doesn’t quite capture the feeling of facing a foe who outclasses the player. The CPU controlled Vegeta is still shackled by the same rules as the player because he can be played in multiplayer outside of the story mode.
By contrast,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarothas the freedom to make certain boss enemies feel like bosses. Rather than being restricted to making Vegeta feel and fight exactly like Goku, developers can giveVegeta techniques inDragon Ball Z: Kakarotwhich are completely overpowering, test players skills by making his mobility leagues above that of the players, and ultimately represent his superiority as a fighter so that the player and Goku both must give everything they have in order to overcome the challenge.
While Vegeta does become a playable character later, he retains that level of power. This doesn’t pose a problem because other characters also get stronger, and (as is always the case withDragon Ball Zvillains) the next foe is always stronger. When the player faces Frieza, he will undoubtedly be far stronger than Goku and the others, and the same can be said forCell and Majin Buu. These kinds of uphill battles are necessary to accurately represent the story ofDragon Ball Z, as the theme of growing stronger to overcome challenges permeates the entire show.
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Aside from that, developers will have more time and resources to devote to making the story as inclusive and smooth as possible. It has already been confirmed that the game will feature numerous side quests, some of which are only available to certain characters, certain filler scenes fromDragon Ball Z,original characters like Bonyu, former member of the Ginyu Force, and even rarely recreated moments like Raditz’s encounter with the farmer with a shotgun. None of these sorts of things appear in the story modes of other games because too much time and energy is spent on balancing all characters and providing enough replayability value through the fighting system.
And it is probable thatDragon Ball Z: Kakarotwill not suffer from a lack of replayability. Even disregarding all of the numerous sidequests, potential for grinding levels a, and the like,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotwill likely be replayable on different difficulty levels and may even feature a new game plus system. There is also the potential of DLC which could add stories based off of movies,Dragon Ball: GT, or perhaps more likely, aDLC forDragon Ball Super.Either way, fans will likely get a lot out of this game, and it should provide players with the chance to relive the story they love without having to go back and watch every episode again.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s decision to do away with a multiplayer mode is a bold move indeed, and naturally there will always be some who decry it for this, but the benefits that come along with it are undeniable. Players will see these benefits firsthand as the awesomestory ofDragon Ball Zunfolds in front of them with stunning accuracy and engaging gameplay. Though it is unfortunate that this game can’t be enjoyed with friends in the traditional way, the single player games industry has been somewhat lacking as of late with heavier focus on competitive multiplayer experiences, andDragon Ball Z: Kakarotis sure to fill that gap nicely.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis set to release on July 11, 2025, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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