Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotpleased fans in more than one way by providing an impressively accurate retelling of a familar story combined with enjoyable mechanics and being one of thelongestDragon Ball Zgames at around 100 hours of gameplay. On flaw the game has which isn’t too noticeable during a first playthrough, though, is that the difficulty curve of the game seems to be backward. In other words, the game starts off difficult and seems to get easier as the player progresses. There are a number of factors that cause this, but it is an odd trait which runs opposite of what gamers typically expect.
For those unaware,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotonce again brings players back through the story ofDragon Ball Z, but this time with a different approach. Rather than being a traditional fighting game,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotplays more like an RPG, with sidequests, leveling up, and everything that comes with it. Unfortunately, despite showing what it is capable of with a challenging first boss fight against Raditz,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotends up falling short in the difficulty department, eventually leading to “challenging” enemies simply being hit point sponges that take forever to go down.
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Raditz
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotredeems Raditz, one of the franchise’s most underappreciated villains, by making the boss fight against him truly challenging. Many fans found themselves facing their first game over against the Saiyan invader and realizing that this may have been the firstDragon Ball Zgame in which they ever lost to Raditz.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotsets players' expectations for the rest of the game with this uphill battle, but ends up failing to deliver on those expectations not long after.
There are a couple things that contribute to Raditz being such a difficult fight. For starters, players are still learning and getting the hang of the controls at this point. Odds are any who went and replayed the game handled theSuper Saiyan wannabewith much more ease. Additionally, given that the player is still so low level (generally around level four or five at this point), their stats are all low as well. Raditz may only be a few levels higher, but it is more than enough to tip the scales in his favor.
As the player levels up and progresses through the story, they get exponentially more powerful. The boons gained from leveling up, unlocking more powerful super attacks, gaining easier access to permanent stat boosts from full course meals, and of course being able to tap into transformations like the Super Saiyan form all stack up and eventually make the player somewhat overpowered. It is difficult for future enemies likeFrieza, Cell, and Buuto really stand a chance against all of this improvement. These foes may have access to flashier or harder to dodge moves, but beyond that the only real difference is damage and hit points.
And this is where the problem is generated. At some point during a playthrough ofDragon Ball Z: Kakarot,the player will have collected so many healing items that it is almost impossible to lose. Iffacing foes 30 or more levels higher than theDBZ: Kakarotplayer, they could be knocked out before they get a chance to heal, but in any story mission, that will not be the case. This liberal availability of healing items effectively nullifies any difficulty added by increasing enemy damage and results in enemies that aren’t really any threat but take too long to kill.
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Kid Buu
For reasons listed above, thefinal showdown against Kid Buuends up being easy. The characters continue to talk about how overpowering the foe is, yet in actual gameplay, he is somewhat of a pushover. The sequence plays out something like this: Goku and Vegeta get easily beaten in a cutscene, the player curb stomps Kid Buu in combat, Goku and Vegeta make a comment about how Kid Buu is too powerful, Goku and Vegeta get stomped in a cutscene. This cycle breaks immersion to a degree and is exacerbated by the endless supply of Senzu Beans the player likely has if they remembered to stop by Korin’s Tower now and then.
The Solution
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarothas some problems with its endgame battle systemthat can’t be addressed without some major updates, but fans looking for a more compelling story mode experience do have a way to make things better. As is always the case with games that don’t allow the player to adjust the difficulty, adjustments to play style can be made to achieve the same effect. This is a sort of challenge run and should only be done after completing the game normally first.
In order to make the game more difficult and immersive, the player can put these limitations on themselves. First, all random encounters, the training room, and sub-stories should be avoided in an effort to maintain a relatively low level. Second, the player should avoidusing the Community Boardsor meals mechanics as they provide substantial bonuses to stats. Although this won’t come into play too often during main story quests, things will also be more challenging if the player removes any support characters from their party whenever the opportunity arises. The most important thing is that the player never uses any healing items. Other than that, playing normally should provide a quicker and more challenging experience.
Avoid all random encounters, training room missions, and sub-stories
Do not use Community Boards or make meals
Remove all support characters whenever possible
- Use no items in combat.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis beloved by fansfor many reasons, and being too easy is certainly not something that detracts from the game in any major way, as it is still a visual masterpiece and very enjoyable to play. This kind of change is simply for the player who has beaten the game once and wants to continue to experienceDragon Ball Z: Kakarotin a more difficult way. Following these rules will help the difficulty curve feel more natural, and may keep players on the edge of their seats for a little longer.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
