It is useless to go around it: there are series that in Italy transmit sensations that never fade, to the point of becoming a constant in our country. The biggest ever is probably DRAGON BALL, the famous manga / anime series born from that adorable madman of Akira Toriyama. Since his timid arrival on the now defunct Junior TV / JTV and with the manga published by Star Comics in the nineties, the story of the sympathetic Son Goku and his many friends and enemies in search of the magical sects Dragon Balls has accompanied us almost daily for decades, allowing us to enjoy every single, different series of the epic centered on the most famous Saiyan grown on Earth in the world, from the hilarious beginnings with Goku as a child, to the controversial GT, up to the most recent Super.
On one thing we can only agree unanimously: among all the series dedicated to DRAGON BALL, there is no doubt that the most universally loved is there Z, where the light-hearted adventure gives way to increasingly spectacular fights and transformations, with some of the most iconic characters and enemies of the entire manga / anime universe, which I think everyone knows by now. And to testify to this factor there are many, but many, but many video games taken from DRAGON BALL Z, starting from the 90s on 16-bit consoles up to the present day. The most popular genre for this iconic battle shonen it is probably the fighting game, a genre more than suitable for a series that makes fierce fights its strong point. I have to mention the popularity of games like the Budokai Tenkaichi or even that most recent masterpiece of graphics and gameplay DRAGON BALL FighterZ?
- Title: DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT + A NEW POWER AWAKENS SET
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Version reviewed: Nintendo Switch (EU)
- Type: Action RPG
- Players: 1
- Software house: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
- Developer: CyberConnect2
- Tongue: Italian (texts), English or Japanese (voices)
- Exit date: September 24, 2021
- Availability: retail, digital delivery
- DLC: the Story of Trunks available for purchase separately
- Note: includes the A New Power Awakens expansion, containing some characters and scenarios from Dragon Ball Super
We reviewed DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT + A NEW POWER AWAKENS SET with a Nintendo Switch code provided to us free of charge by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment.
In the midst of this sea of fighting games, however, there are also games of another genre, which are turn-based role-playing games such as Attack of the Saiyan or action games with varied scenarios and missions such as the excellent duology of DRAGON BALL XenoVerse. And the last and most particular of these non-fighting games is surely DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT, semi-open world action RPG that allows you to experience the events from the dawn of DBZ as well as to freely explore the large areas that we have had the opportunity to see throughout the series. Arrived in the West in January 2020 on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam, this intriguing title has received very good reviews overall. At first it was thought that a title of this magnitude was impossible to port up Nintendo Switch, a thought that was totally sidelined when the version for the Nintendo hybrid console was announced, arriving here in our shores on September 24, 2021 and promising players the possibility of being able to bring the magical and dynamic world of Dragon Ball always with you to explore it everywhere.
Bursting through the clouds, fighting on the ground
Since the game has already been treated fairly thoroughly in the review of the original version, I won’t go into too much detail on gameplay and graphics. Suffice it to say that KAKAROT is a semi-open world thanks to which we will be able to freely explore the massive areas in which the world map is divided. Here we will be able to do many things, such as collect colored spheres with which to enhance our skills in the training points, defeat the enemies that will periodically chase us, destroy the towers belonging to the fearsome Red Ribbon, dig up minerals, collect grass and fruit, go hunting for wild animals (such as wolves, deer and giant dinosaurs) and then cook their meat in tasty dishes, or even stop by the waters and catch some nice big fish. And then of course there are the secondary missions, mostly given by the NPCs you will encounter along the way, usually old familiar faces from the series, as well as of course the missions for the main plot. One of the nicest things about the title are probably the constant nods and references to Dragon Ball original in the form of collectible memories and characters with whom you will have the opportunity to interact.
A word about the battle system: it is very similar to what has already been seen in the excellent ones XenoVerse: we will be able to fly freely around the area, physically hit the enemy, target him with energy attacks or use our ki to unleash the deadly techniques characteristic of the character we are using at that moment, or use our charge to empower ourselves, changing diametrically the effect of our attacks (allowing us, for example, the classic blow that throws against a pile of mountains, breaking through them). To give us yet another enhancement we will also be able to count on support characters that we can call to our aid during the clashes, usually marginal characters who in the plot of the manga found themselves doing little or nothing in battle (if not being beaten!).
Furthermore, each character known to us in the series will provide us with an emblem, which we can go and place in certain community, outlined by specific skills and bonuses for both battles and non-battles, and which combined in certain ways can give pretty good boosts to stats and probabilities, such as having longer boosts on food eaten or more likely to find rare foods and minerals by exploring various areas.
“Don’t underestimate him just because he looks weak …”
Let’s now come to the focal point of this review: like DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT on Nintendo Switch? Is it a good port? The answer is “yes”, with a “but”. Even on the laptop, the game runs on Fairly stable 30 FPS, leaving out some small frame rate drops during certain cutscenes and, above all, during the fishing minigame, but which in any case do not in any way affect the playability during exploration and combat. This, however, comes at the expense of a graphic downgrade of the environments, which appear much more bare and less detailed than the other versions. Furthermore, like many other ports and games on the Switch, when played on a laptop on a standard and / or Lite, a almost total lack of any anti-aliasing, which makes the characters jagged by taking away the detail from them. Fortunately, this feature does not affect the clashes in the least, since the game takes care to put the background elements in the background to give more graphic space to the fighters and their spectacular energy moves and allowing a very fluid framerate.
Relive the story of Goku in DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT. Beyond epic battles, experience life in the world DRAGON BALL Z while you fight, fish, eat and train with Goku. Explore new areas and adventures as you progress through the story and forge powerful bonds with other heroes from the universe of DRAGON BALL Z. Learn the story of DBZ from epic events to light-hearted side quests, including never-before-seen story moments that answer some burning questions about Dragon Ball lore for the first time. Play through iconic battles on a scale unlike any other. Fight in vast battlefields with destructible environments and experience epic boss battles that will test the limits of your fighting skills. Increase your power level and face the challenge.
Buy DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT + A NEW POWER AWAKENS SET for Nintendo Switch following this link at the special price of € 59.15. Release scheduled for September 24, 2021. Support Akiba Gamers by purchasing the game on Amazon through this box!
As for the other consoles, the texts on the screen have all been translated into Italian, with the choice of dubbing between English and Japanese. A pity, however, that the fluctuating translation of the other versions has remained intact, with visible grammatical and non-grammatical errors that go out of tune with the otherwise good quality of the narrative, which follows the plot of the manga quite faithfully although it takes some little liberties here and there. The soundtrack was talked about in the previous review, and we can only repeat the emotion that playing a game on DRAGON BALL and hear in the ears some themes that have made this prolific series iconic, first of all the now well-known theme song Cha-La Head Cha-La, which appears both in the “opening” of the game and in other orchestrated versions as would happen in the anime, or the now familiar battle themes during certain events.
Who do we recommend DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT for Nintendo Switch?
Obviously to longtime fans of the manga’s Akira Toriyama, especially if they do not have another console or a computer powerful enough to play with, or perhaps those who simply want a version of a nice full-bodied game in one of their favorite universes to always carry with them, at the expense of slightly inferior. Then to the fans of XenoVerse who would like a real game where they can roam the world of DRAGON BALL and canonically follow the events. Not to mention that a title so frenetic but full of plot and exploration could make the happiness of those who would like a game on this manga that is not yet another fighting game, while the fans of the latter may perhaps be disappointed.
- It allows you to always carry the DBZ universe with you
- Top notch music and dubbing
- Fast-paced, easy-to-understand gameplay
- Lots of extras and side missions
- Graphically inferior to the other versions
- The Italian translation still has several flaws
- Some annoying frame rate drops
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT + A NEW POWER AWAKENS SET
A great anime to play wherever you want, when you want
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT for Nintendo Switch it may be graphically inferior to the other versions, but the graphic downgrade is still a small price to pay to be able to count on portability, which on a huge title like this makes a sea of difference (believe me, I played hours and hours just to finish the Saiyan story arc, there were so many things to do!). However, it remains the best game released on this manga / anime in recent years along with the spectacular FighterZ, and you will find yourself dedicating hours and hours to it without even realizing it, eager to always go back to it to explore, fight, hunt and so on. If you are a fan of DRAGON BALL, then it is always and in any case one of those titles that you absolutely cannot miss. The only reason you might have to not play it is not to like the genre or simply to have full pockets of this series after watching it for years and years; at that point I really don’t know what to tell you, because the game is certainly not bad!
#DRAGON #BALL #KAKAROT #Nintendo #Switch #Review