trailer gave as a short glimpse of
Gohan seven years after defeating
Cell during his stint as the superhero
known as The Great Saiyaman.
Curve ball
Another exciting revelation is who we’ll
get to play as. Given the breadth of
what will be covered in each of those
Sagas, and despite the game having
‘Kakarot’ (the birth name of Goku) in
its title, it’s a relief to know that you’ll
be able to play as a variety of different
characters throughout the Dragon
Ball universe. We’ve currently seen
both Goku and Gohan, but it’s been
confirmed that Vegeta, Trunks and
Piccolo will also be playable.
Understandably, you’ll be locked into
playing as specific characters during
pivotal story moments – like the
Raditz and Cell showdowns where you
play as Goku and Gohan respectively
- but at other times you’ll be able to
select the character that you wish to
play as.
Outside of the story, there’s a
variety of side-missions and activities
to sink your teeth into. As well as
helping other characters, you can
kill time by gathering up an array of
collectible items throughout the world.
You’ll also be able to hunt deer and
take down dinosaurs, go fishing and
cook, the food from which will give
you stat boosts. One mission that has
fans excited is one in which Goku and
Piccolo learn how to drive a car, which
has been taken straight from one
of the ‘filler’ episodes of the anime.
If you pass the test, you’ll be able
to drive vehicles around the world.
We’ll probably stick to flying, thanks.
There will be lots of other activities
and missions just like this that will
reference many of your favourite
moments from the manga and anime.
From everything we’ve seen and
played so far, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot^
looks like it’s shaping up to be the
most faithful and compelling retelling
of the Dragon Ball Z story ever. The
action sequences are slick and look
like they’ve been ripped straight from
the anime, and they come complete
with all that emotion and melodrama
the series is known for. Thanks to
CyberConnect2’s spectacular attention
to detail, we think fans will be more
than happy when they get to play the
game early next year. Q
Ever since Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
was first announced, we’ve been
wondering exactly how much of Goku’s
story we’ll be able to experience in
this full-blown action RPG. When the
initial trailer focused on the arrival of
belligerent Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa
on Earth, and finished off with the
epic clash between our lovable hero
and interstellar warlord Frieza, we
were left only to speculate. But when
we asked Bandai Namco’s producer
Ryosuke Hara just how far the story
would go, he simply told us that he
believes fans will not be disappointed
with the amount of content that
CyberConnect2 is going to deliver.
Thankfully, it looks like he was right.
With the little information we had,
we previously thought the game
would only go up to the end of the
Frieza Saga, with further storylines
added post-launch as DLC or even as
separate sequels. Shame on us and
our scepticism, however, because
it was subsequently confirmed that
the story will go all the way up to the
Buu Saga, with every pivotal moment
shown in between. The Gamescom
trailer treated us to a powered-up
Gohan – Goku’s son – face off against
the evil Cell, with the showdown
finishing with Gohan performing the
famous Father-Son Kamehameha
attack, while the Tokyo Game Show
Dragon Ball Z:
Kakarot
Goku and friends power up to
save the universe in the
biggest Dragon Ball game yet
Adam Bryant
PUBLISHER BANDAI NAMCO DEVELOPER CYBERCONNECT2
ETA 17 JANUARY 2020
QUICK ON
THE DRAW
It’s already been
stated that Dragon
Ball creator Akira
Toriyama will have
some form of
involvement with the
game, and now it
looks like we know in
what capacity.
Toriyama is creating
new original
characters for the
game. The first to be
announced was
Bonyu, a former sixth
member of the Ginyu
Force who you’ll meet
during one of the
side-missions.
“It’s been confirmed
Vegeta, Trunks and Piccolo
will also be playable”
The Dragon Balls themselves were created by an alien race known as the Namekians
More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 029
PREVIEW