Adrenaline-fueled

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
Sony PlayStation 4/Personal Computer via Stream

DRAGON BALL has a rich, colorful history. From its humble beginnings as a fun, over-the-top anime series created by manga artist Akira Toriyama in 1984, it has evolved into a giant franchise pervading just about every book and cranny of popular culture. And even casual observers know and understand why: Its deceptively simple story of perseverance, heroism, and strength entertains and resonates among a loyal base of followers with otherwise-disparate tastes. It’s filled to the brim with good-natured humor and fun, with epic tales about godly powers and all-too-human frailties. Notwithstanding the countless competition, it has remained a favorite of both the young and young once, and with reason.

The timeless virtue is what Dragon Ball’s latest contribution to its vast videogame library realizes and brings to a brand-new audience. Developed for the personal computer and Sony PlayStation 4 by experienced developer CyberConnect2, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an open-world role playing game cum brawler that seeks to translate the best parts of its source material. Providing bite-sized pieces digestible even to gamers with little to no knowledge of the intellectual property, it retells key parts of the manga’s main story arcs. And, in so doing, it succeeds in presenting an exciting, adrenaline-fueled experience. It’s more than just a tribute to its roots; even as it unabashedly pays homage to its source material, it takes more than enough liberties to keep longtime followers engaged.

In Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, gamers are thrust into the very heart of the Dragon Ball narrative. They get to play out the most important storybeats of the manga and anime; in the process, they’re treated to a 50-hour jaunt that, pun aside, pulls no punches. Fighting is its bread and butter; lightning-fast kicks, knuckle sandwiches, ki strikes, and energy balls line encounters, with characters sparring and exchanging blows in the sky, on the ground, across environments encompassing the franchise’s stories past. Really, there’s something for everyone to take in, and, unlike other titles with similarly established canon and media, it doesn’t blitz through tales or, conversely, spoonfeed all the details.

Instead, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot introduces plot elements and characters naturally and in keeping with the spirit of its lineage. Even for habitues who know series minutiae by heart, it comes off as surprisingly fresh. And it’s comfortable in its own skin: It isn’t afraid to cut out parts of the main story arcs that it feels aren’t necessary to its purpose, but makes sure that it nails its presentation in any case. In this regard, it’s certainly helped in no small measure by spot-on and extremely responsive fighting mechanics that underscore the efforts of CyberConnect2, hitherto noted for its work on the .hack and Naruto IPs.

Indeed, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot draws from its manga and anime inspirations in conveying the trademark frantic energy that envelops its battles; it manages to translate with utter faithfulness all the signature touches of its source material, bells and whistles intact. Very anime-esque cut-ins and callouts are triggered after special moves, with its distinctive personality — and flair — highlighted by the way characters react to, and communicate with (okay, shout at), one another. Better still, these fights are all translated in a manner that feels so natural, no small feat given its sheer scale.

Those from the outside looking in may find all the fighting, in the air and on the surface, bordering on the ridiculous. Characters are able to fly at super speed, display super strength, and use super powers — and in over-the-top fashion to boot. Those steeped in the lore, however, will find the presentation faithful to the series. More importantly, gamers won’t have any problems with control and execution; whether on the personal computer or on the PlayStation 4 Pro, feedback is swift and free of lags, and the action presented on screen sans any frame drops. And thanks to an intuitive interface that belies the depth of its gameplay, it manages to blend all its elements together. While making use of an uncomplicated combat system, it nonetheless offers a heady and healthy mix of offense and defense via well-crafted melee and ranged options.

Admittedly, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is far from perfect. Given how much depth there is in terms of look, feel, and flow of the story and the fighting mechanics, the open-world RPG elements feel vastly underutilized. At times, these wind up lacking any impact at all, as if simply tacked on to prolong the gameplay and artificially add value to the title. Granted, the optional exploration segments do offer variety by way of side quests and character exposition. Still, they come off as being rather redundant and unrewarding in light of the game’s linear narrative.

On the whole, though, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot exceeds expectations as a brilliant entry to the franchise. Make no mistake; it’s not without its quirks. For what it offers, however, it’s well worth the time and money of gamers faces with countless alternatives.

THE GOOD:

• Properly conveys the series’ over-the-top energy and frantic combat

• Tight fighting mechanics combined with responsive controls

THE BAD:

• RPG/open-world segments feel tacked on

• Sidequests come off as unrewarding

• Character progression far from seamless

RATING: 8.5/10

POSTSCRIPT: Special Reserve Games has pledged to go the extra mile by shipping orders “in a special box to protect our other special box.” The latter is, of course, the Reserve collector’s packaging, styled after those of Nintendo games of yore. The shipper’s box is made of corrugated cardboard with Sarge, SRG’s mascot, gracing the top and on the inside, but with nine “woofs” also spelled out. For Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smith, the design choices reflect the company’s commitment to keep serving customers. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be in this type of position, where we’re delivering high-quality products to great fans, and we get to have fun doing it.”

Meanwhile, Arc of Alchemist is out on digital platforms for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Eight add-ons providing characters with costumes, weapons, and weapon skins are currently being offered for free on the PlayStation Network and Nintendo eShop. On mobile, Disgaea 1 Complete makes its debut. The port includes new features, among them an Auto-Battle mode for normal stages and the Item World, Battle Speed Boost options, and access to the Cheat Shop, where customizations on such elements as character buffs and enemy strength are possible. NIS America has enabled cloud support for both iOS and Android versions, allowing for seamless gameplay across the two operating systems.

THE LAST WORD: Idea Factory International will be at PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts later this month. Apart from scheduling meetings with the gaming media to expound on its 2020 release lineup, it’s slated to showcase the highly anticipated three-dimensional shooter Azur Lane: Crosswave on the PS4 at the gaming culture festival.