Dragon Ball Z Kakarot was released quite a while ago now and has just been given a PS5 re-release. The PS5 version of the game has both a performance mode and a quality mode with the latter prioritising visuals over a smoother framerate.
For those unfamiliar with Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, the game follows the Dragon Ball Z story almost down to a T. Even some of the minute intricate details of key battles are here and it is simply put, a fan’s dream comes true. Almost the entirety of the anime most of us 90s kids grew up with has been faithfully recreated and you get to play through it all in jaw-dropping detail.
Players will take on the role of Son Goku and adventure through the Dragon Ball Z world doing quests. These can be quests for side characters out in the relatively open world or they can be quests that progress the story further. The game strikes a balance between open-world exploring and battles but unfortunately, there are some caveats to it.
Gameplay in Dragon Ball Z Kakarot consists of pulling off some button-bashing melee combos in battles. Interspersed with this, you’ll have to make use of some more technical super attacks such as the Kamehameha and Meteor Smash. Of course, being a Dragon Ball Z game, players will have access to a lot of iconic characters each with their own playstyles and super attacks. Piccolo has his Special Beam Cannon and Gohan has his Masenko etc. All of these have been recreated in such great visual detail, it’s jaw-dropping to see.
Fighting battles in Dragon Ball Z Kakarot can be quite a tough affair with boss enemies being quite challenging. These battles play out like they would have in the actual anime itself with iconic moments taking place during the battles. For example, in the battle against Vegeta, he will use his Galick Gun against you and you’ll have to fight it off using your Kamehameha as Goku.
Players will have access to a community board where they can place soul emblems that impart special attribute bonuses to their characters. Using this board is essential to gaining the upper hand in battles since the stat bonuses really do make quite a big difference to your fighting abilities. Chances are you will be defeated quite a lot in Dragon Ball Z Kakarot and you’ll either have to grind out some experience points or get better at the game. Dodging, blocking and countering are key to victory.
The story of Dragon Ball Z Kakarot follows the story of the anime almost down to every last detail with some exceptions. There are a few moments that have been watered down or cut to give you an almost “Best of” experience and that’s not entirely a bad thing. The original Dragon Ball Z anime itself carried on for quite a long time and had a lot of filler content that would drag battles out. The game has none of this and feels like an excellent way to enjoy the story. Action-packed battles abound and even during the downtime doing side quests, there are plenty of enemies out in the open world that will keep you busy with battles.
Graphically Dragon Ball Z Kakarot looks absolutely fantastic during battles. The open world itself is quite detailed but there are some areas where it lacks polish and looks a bit dated. This is usually the case when you’re on the ground and up close and personal with rocks, trees and other objects. Thankfully since most of your time will be spent in battles, this isn’t exactly a big problem and one that can be overlooked. On PlayStation 5, the game runs flawlessly with no noticeable frame rate drops even during the intense battles filled with flashy effects. Quality mode is definitely the way to go if you want to soak up all the visual splendour on offer here. If framerate and smoother gameplay are more your thing though, you should select performance mode since this gives you 60 FPS in battles and it’s quite a step up over the previous generation version of the game. Everything feels so smooth and it’s great!
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot on PlayStation 5 is therefore a great choice if you haven’t already played the game. If this is the first time you’re diving into the game on console, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a tonne of content to get through here. Even more so if you buy the season pass which includes more story content which can take you to over 60 hours of gameplay quite easily. Oh and there’s even the bonus card battling game which is quite an enjoyable time sink if you decide to dedicate yourself to playing it.
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot also features all the iconic voice actors that fans are accustomed to and they’ve done a great job here in both English and Japanese. The sound effects and the soundtrack is also on point too. Kudos to Bandai Namco and Cyber Connect 2 for doing an excellent job on this game!
Overall Dragon Ball Z Kakarot comes highly recommended by us on PlayStation 5. The game runs fantastically well and looks amazing throughout. This is the definitive Dragon Ball Z Kakarot experience. It’s Dragon Ball Z Kakarot in Super-Saiyan mode and if you’re looking for a single-player action-adventure game with extremely flashy brawling as its core focus, this game will definitely appeal to you.
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