Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Reviews
But whether you’ve grown up with Goku and friends, or you’re a first timer who’s never fancied sitting through 300 episodes without getting to play a part in the action, this is still a great way to experience the classic story.
Dragon Ball Z: Karakot distills 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z down into a 40-hour action-RPG experience. While the pacing is a bit off, seeing the story of Goku and friends told in wide swaths mostly works. The combat also manages to capture the feel of the series in certain boss fights. Unfortunately, the RPG side of things is lacking, with muddy progression, systems that feel useless, and random enemy encounters that can grow tedious. It's a good start, but more training is needed to reach its final form.
While I've never been much of a Dragon Ball Z fan, I had some interest in this title after playing the excellent fighting game that graced the Switch a while ago...
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a solid game for anyone looking for some nostalgia thanks to a great retelling of the anime's story. The game gets repetitive though and relies too much on forced RPG-elements that don't add that much to the overall experience.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
As it could be, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a unique product and exclusively tailored for its fans, and an interesting approach for those who want to know the series, avoiding episodes of incessant screams and exchanges of glances, after all the episode here only ends when we wish.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Kakarot is ultimately a game of two halves. On the one hand, this is the quintessential way to experience the entire Dragon Ball Z story beyond watching the anime, with some gorgeous aesthetics, faithful boss fights and some really iconic moments along the way. Unfortunately this is let down by a disappointing and barren open-world structure with little incentive to explore, especially give the long loading times and miniscule experience gains. It’s a game that could have been great, with all the ingredients to produce a spectacular RPG effort but unfortunately fails to hit Super Saiyan status.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot isn't a bad game as much as it's a boring one. Turning the series into an open-world RPG seemed like an interesting challenge, but the game goes about that challenge in the dullest way possible. Putting effort into the series' highlights and dismissively padding out everything in between.
Dragonball Z: Kakarot isn't a bad game, it's just an average one.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot delivers a well-crafted, satisfying action/RPG, provided you’re already invested in the DBZ mythos — and ready to hear the same old story over again. The open-world elements aren’t as well-developed as they could have been, but the combat and gameplay variety help carry the game through some rough patches.
Full of reference material, any long-running fan of Dragon Ball will marvel at the game world, soundtrack, and voice work. This is also a top-notch conversion work, with the Nintendo Switch handling this gem with impressive skill. Those less keen on Dragon Ball will be less impressed and are most likely to spot the game's flaws, namely how its world is smaller than those of other JRPG games, and the excessive repetition of the same dialogue lines. As it is, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is mostly aimed at fans.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot is an excellent addition to Akira Toriyama's infamous Dragon Ball franchise, While the game retells the classic story that we all know and love, I do wish we got to see some more original things in there. The game captures the feel of Dragon Ball so well that I can highly recommend it to someone who has never seen or read DBZ.
This game is weird to me. It’s very long, and has a lot of boring activities/fluff that makes it annoying to play sometimes. But in all honesty, the game is just too charming to put down. Its style, score, and even length are all so deliciously Dragon Ball that it puts a smile on my face. I’ve put more than 50 hours into this game, and just keep coming back. This feels more like a love letter to Dragon Ball than a game, and honestly I’m okay with that. There’s nothing technically wrong with it, other than some minor frame drops, and it even has a Compendium of information and collectibles from across the Dragon Ball world, including some of the old card game from the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game. Every last detail, even the title cards with narration, just makes me feel like I’m a kid again watching my favorite Saturday morning show. I can’t really recommend this game unless you’re both a die hard Dragon Ball and RPG fan, and also feel like spending $59.99 on a story you’ve probably seen thousands of times. But if you are like me, I think you’ll find a lot to enjoy about this game, despite all of its flaws. From the second that “Cha-La Head-Cha-La” starts blaring, to the image of Goku staring out over the wilderness, I guarantee it’ll spark joy inside you. It truly is the best example of a Dragon Ball Z video game.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a delight to fans of the series. If you are looking for a story and a fan of the anime, this is the game for you! Whether you're an old fan of the series or a new fan, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will have something for you. However, other people should be more careful about the game experience. Unfortunately, the roleplaying elements used in the game are weak and the gameplay is too simple and repeats itself after a while. In the end, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a love letter from the creators of this wonderful anime.
Review in Persian | Read full review
KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAA! This game is the most faithful retelling of the anime and a blast to play, but it isn’t without its faults.
Saying that a game based on the franchise feels fresh might sound like a hard sell, but that's what Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot manages to achieve.
Is it perfect? No. But Dragon Ball Z has always been a franchise that has thrived despite its shortcomings. And perhaps it is in that way that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot most perfectly captures its source material.
As an open world action RPG, Kakarot doesn't have much to offer compared to the heavyweights of the genre, but it wouldn't matter to the fans of Dragon Ball Z as the game is extremely loyal to Dragon Ball roots.
Review in Persian | Read full review
That's really what this whole thing comes down to in the end: for people that are already big fans of Dragon Ball Z, as a whole, Kakarot has some value as a walk down memory lane and a way to re-experience the show in an entirely different manner. However, if you're not already a big fan of Goku and Co's adventures, Kakarot sadly has absolutely nothing for you. Without the nostalgia factor this game ends up being a slow slog of samey gameplay that likely won't keep your attention for very long.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has its obvious flaws, however, I feel it's a welcome addition in the Dragon Ball games portfolio due to the fact that Bandai Namco is finally willing to take drastic risks with the franchise.