Lord Beerus wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2020 10:16 pm
After nearly 19 hours and little to no sleep, I finished the game and... I don't think it worth the time invested into it. Like... at all.
Retelling the story from Raditz to Boo has done to death, and the cut-scenes don't do the story justice, because they're aesthetically unappealing. Besides, if I wanted to see Toiryama's original story being brought to life through motion picture, I'd just watch the anime. And least with the anime, they adapted to story completely. Where the fuck the Oob? And why was eveything about EOZ ignored? It's absolute bullshit that the conclusion of the main fucking story is skipped. Why would they do this? The main narrative, which is one the games main selling points, is incomplete because of this asinine decision.
And yes, I still DEEPLY resent the fact that the game doesn't bother telling the story of Dragon Ball prior to Raditz's arrival, despite the fact there so much good story material that would work perfectly for an Action RPG setting that's being not considered. Could you imagine a young Goku travelling the world and challenging all kinds of fighters and learning different forms of martial arts from them? How fucking awesome would that be? It would give you more of a reason to travel the world, as well as provide different avenues of combat to make the grind feel like less of a grind.
There are a fuck load of side missions, but they honestly feel like more of a distraction than something that feels essential to the gameplay. There are some side missions that involve you gaining ingredients to make dishes which boost your stats permanently, but I was able to finish the game without needing them for any of the fights, so missions like that are just really there to pad out the play-through time. And while some of side missions may appeal to the nostalgia of Dragon Ball fans, (I won't lie, I got a major kick out of the driving mission) I don't buy games for the shallow side content. I buy games for the main content. And the main content, as I mentioned before, is a ANOTHER retelling of Raditz to Boo. But what different about it this time? Well, you can can level up your character, play as different members of the cast and travel around the world to find extra content. Haven't we done this before? Oh yeah, we did... in Budokai 3... over 15 years ago. And the RPG elements in that game were far less complicated, the exploration was much more streamlined and the combat was far more stimulating, diverse and fun.
What KILLS the game for me though is the combat. Plainly put... it's terrible. It feels like a freakish love child of the fighting mechanics in Xenoverse 2 and Battle Of Z. And considering this is an action RPG, where you need to grind to finish the story with getting ass-fucked by higher lever opponents, the regressed, dull and repetitive fighting system is such a deal-breaker for me. The reason I stress on this is because what makes a grind worthwhile in any action RPG is knowing there are multiple ways to approach combat and knowing you have the freedom to mix up your fighting style to your fancy, and by this process, make the grind far less tedious and more of a breeze. No Dragon Ball should have core fighting mechanics this bad. It just makes the game more boring than it needs to be.
Also, what the fuck was up with secret boss fight with Mira and Towa? Why were resource spent on such a superfluous bonus battle? Couldn't CC2 have used that time and effort to maybe, I dunno, ADD THE MISSING STORY CONTENT FROM AFTER THE MAJIN BOO ARC?!?!
I'm going to be brutally honest... I regret forking out £60 for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. The game just feels like a giant chore with nostalgia sprinkled in everywhere to mask the fact it has nothing special to offer.
If you're looking for a good animated retelling of Toriyama's story, watch the TV anime(s).
If you're looking for an in-depth and varied fighting system in a Dragon Ball game, play FighterZ or Super Dragon Ball Z.
If you're looking for an extensive, yet well paced and directed Dragon Ball RPG game, play Legacy of Goku 2, Attack of the Saiyans or Fusions.
If you're interested in mostly meaningless side missions that appeal to your nostalgia, play Infinite World.
I can't in good conscious recommend Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, at least at full price, unless you're a HUGE Dragon Ball fan with disposable income. I was already hesitant to the idea of playing from Raditz to Boo again. But after Xenoverse 1 and 2 was able the spice up the formula of how the original narrative played out, and being a suck for action RPGs, I decided to take a gamble on this. And it turned out to be a waste of time and money. Congratulations Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, you've officially killed my interested in ever playing a Dragon Ball game that advertises itself on the premise of playing the original story from Raditz to Majin Boo.
I'd suggest picking up this game up when it goes a sale. Or better yet. just wait for more content in FighterZ.