[TGS 2019] DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot Officially Releases January 17, 2020! + Quick Impressions!

8:00 PM September 11, 2019

Gaming

Gaming News [Category]
Action Game, RPG [Genres]
PlayStation Game, Steam Game, Xbox Game [Gaming Elements]

Dragon-Ball-Kakkarot-Chiaotzu_Telekenesis_1563816275-560x315 [TGS 2019] DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot Officially Releases January 17, 2020! + Quick Impressions!

What You Need to Know:

Yesterday, the Honey's Anime team had the opportunity to take part in the Pre-TGS 2019 showcase at the Bandai Namco HQ in Tokyo. We were given an exclusive presentation on the upcoming action RPG title, DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot, from producer Ryosuke Hara. As many of you know, DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot was announced back in January of this year, and will feature various sagas that took place throughout the Z era (Frieza, Cell, etc). It was officially announced that the Buu Saga will now be a part of that epic saga and so players can look forward to it! It has been confirmed that the main story will likely introduce new and original parts but will create an exciting experience for everyone.
For the time being the confirmed playable characters will be: Piccolo, Vegeta, Goku, Gohan, and Trunks. Support characters will be: Tien, Chiaotsu, Yamcha, and Krillin. Each of these support characters will bring their own unique characteristics into battle, so make sure to take advantage of them when the time comes!
In the new TGS footage that was unveiled to us, it is confirmed that the Great Saiyaman will be a part of the story. Whether or not he will be playable later on has not been confirmed. Of course, the big news is that a release date was revealed and DRAGON BALL Kakarot will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam January 17, 2020!
There will be three editions to choose from: Deluxe Edition, Ultimate Edition, and the Collector's Edition. Details about each edition can be found below. Those who pre-order the game can receive the Bonyu training right away, but those who buy regularly will unlock it after beating the Cell Arc. A new sub-quest has also been added and pre-order members will receive a special in-game item that buffs your attack power and HP.
It was also revealed that on September 21st, Shounen Jump will provide more information surrounding DRAGON BALL Z Kakrot, so be on the lookout!

Source: Official Press Release

Edition Packages

Deluxe Edition Includes:

Base game
Season pass (More details pertaining to the season pass will be revealed at a later date)
Deluxe cooking item

Ultimate Edition Includes:

Base game
Season pass
Ultimate cooking item
Music compilation pack - 11 additional songs
Tao pai pai pillar - A technique that can be used as air transportation

Collectors Edition Includes:

Full game
Exclusive Diorama figure
Hardcover game art book
Collectible steel box

Quick Impressions

During our tenure at the Pre-TGS 2019 Bandai Namco event we had the chance to sit down and play an extended demo of DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot, which featured a boss battle with Raditz. When we say extended, this is a continued version from E3 2019, but the demo only gave us a 20 minute playthrough of the battle. So straight off the bat we could see that in terms of fluidity and motion, DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot is wonderful. It felt like playing a more polished version of Xenoverse with added controls for more versatility and combo options, with the added support system giving you more to fool around with. The UI was simplified which helped to place more emphasis on the gameplay and the overall control scheme was quite easy to pick up and jump right in. The boss battle with Raditz definitely gave off a very Xenoverse vibe but also a classic Budoukai sensation as well, which to us felt great. It means that the team acknowledged the fans and their opinions regarding the battle system, ensuring that the mechanics felt robust and gave players enough freedom to deal massive damage in a creative fashion.

Every aspect of the early saga was preserved splendidly as we see Goku, Piccolo, young Gohan, and Raditz face off. Visually the game looked stunning and was leaps and bounds better than any other DRAGON BALL iteration to date. That's saying a lot but it's very clear that the team went out of their way to ensure that fans will be more than pleased with the package they receive. Every iconic seiyuu reprised their unique role in the game which of course helped to maintain authenticity and helped to really bring the game to life even more. The support system was an interesting mechanic to toy around with since it came in handy in many situations, especially when you found yourself in a sticky spot during a battle. Whenever you're on the offensive and dealing damage with Goku, calling in your support is very simple and in this case, Piccolo comes out and shoots a beam toward the enemy. The support selection screen allows you to choose what attack you want to use so once again, it allows players to come up with creative ways to deal damage. On the defense it works the same way since you can call out your support to help deal with incoming attacks, or to interrupt the enemy to allow you to perform quick follow ups. Overall, the battle was swift but we hope to spend more time with the game at a later date. For now all we can say is that DRAGON BALL Z Kakarot is shaping up to be the biggest DRAGON BALL action-RPG title yet, and we're stoked to know more in the coming months.