We take a deep look at everything that we know so far

Ah, yes. It’s time once again for our favorite ridiculously overpowered Earth defenders to show up in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. We’ll get into everything we know so far, plus some new screenshots of the game that were released by Bandai Namco today, October 21, 2019.

I’m pretty sure this was a middle finger…

What is Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot about?

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a third-person action-RPG set on Earth that will let us play through the entire DBZ saga You’ll be able to walk, fly, run, and fight all around West City and surrounding areas as you relive all of the epic DBZ moments. There will be a plethora of fights and story arcs to play through, as well as fun sidequests, like eating, fishing and driving. Basically, you’ll get to relive all of the aspects of the series, not just the fighting portions.

Story Arcs

Gohan—getting that Saiyan exercise.

From all of our intensive web sleuthing, we’ve determined that you’ll be playing through the entire Dragon Ball Z saga. This will include such notable events like the Freiza, Cell, Androids, and Majin Buu sagas. There are a ton of sidequests to explore plus planned DLC expansions via an optional Season Pass. We’ll post more exact info about the DLC once we have it, but according to the official Bandai Namco site, you’ll get:

“Two episodes with brand new stories and a +1 Cooking Item, that will give you Ki Attack and HP Bonus. The DLC will also have a new story arc…“

It seems like we’re going to get a ton of content in the base game, plus we’ll be able to further expand that with the Season Pass.

Gameplay

Complete quests to unlock special dialogue sequences.

The fight sequences in DBZ: Kakarot look incredibly fun and action-packed. Everything I’ve seen points to a deep but easy to use combat system. Also, and I’m not exactly sure, but the game looks to running on an adapted version of the same Xenoverse game engine. Targetting enemies will work similarly, so those familiar with the Xenoverse games should feel right at home.

There are also several RPG mechanics to be explored, the lastest revealed being a Community Board and Training Grounds. According to Bandai Namco EU:

Community Board

When completing quests for certain characters, or passing distinct points in the storyline, you will earn Soul Emblems (each representing a character from the Dragon Ball universe)

After assigning these Soul Emblems on your Community Board – you’ll be able to activate them in combination with each other, to earn special bonuses and power-ups

Combining different characters with each other also unlocks exclusive dialogue between those characters

Training Grounds

Training Grounds are found across different areas and enable you to fight against Z Warriors or enemies you’ve fought in the past – or against yourself

By clearing the training you will learn new Super Attacks, or power up existing Super Attacks (such as turning your regular Kamehameha into Super Kamehameha)

Screenshots

The following screenshots were originally released at Bandai Namco EU on October 21, 2019.

Trailer (Tokyo Game Show)

Official trailer from Tokyo Game Show 2019 courtesy of Bandai Namco

Release date

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will release on January 17, 2020, on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.

The Collector’s Edition of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot includes an exclusive diorama figure of Goki and Gohan.

There are several different versions of the game being released, but only one I’m really excited about.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Standard Edition

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Deluxe Edition

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Ultimate Edition

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Collector's Edition

They’ll all include the base game, and if you preorder any of these, you’ll get some pretty sweet bonuses, too.

Pre-order Bonuses

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot pre-order bonuses include early access to Bonyu’s training.

“A Competitive Party with Friends” sub-quest

Early access to Bonyu’s training—FYI, Bonyu is a new character designed by Akira Toriyama

+1 cooking item that gives you bonuses to melee attack and HP

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase items through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to support the site!