Posted in: Bandai Namco, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, E3, Games, Video Games | Tagged: Bandai Namco, CyberConnect2, dragon ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z Kakarot

Leveling Up My Kamehameha: We Tried "Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot" at E3

We tried out a couple of games at the Bandai Namco booth at E3 2019, and the first one we immediately dived into was Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Developed by CyberConnect2, this is a straight-up RPG adventure game set up in the DBZ universe. The game is basically set in an open world where you can fly around on Nimbus as Goku seeking out things to do in the world. A bit of the game reminded me of Superman 64 for a minute, because there are points where you'll see different colored Dragon Balls floating in the air that gives you powerups and abilities. But flying into them and controlling Nimbus are funky as hell and you're lucky if you can pick up one. Of course, this is a demo, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that this mechanic needs some work. But as far as grazing over the Earth, Nimbus works out well.

I decided to float toward a beam of light that rose from the ground, looking a little like markers you might find in Breath of The Wild and checked out what was going on. Immediately I was thrown into a cutscene as I ran into Raditz! Pretty convenient, demo, since Raditz was looking for Kakarot, aka Goku. You are taken through the story as it plays out during the encounter between him with Piccolo at your side. You're then thrown into a 3D battle where you have a few different button combos for special moves, as well as good 'ol button mashing to get in those fast flurry punches that can barely be seen by the naked eye. You have full mobility to fly around wherever you need to, but so does he, and he is relentless. This reminded me a lot of Dragon Ball Zenoverse, but more complex and less cartoonish. There's definitely a different vibe going on here, but it's kind of hard to pin down in just a 30-minute demo. I need to see more of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot before I can really judge if it's good or not, but so far, I like what I see.

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