Cognition Dissemination: Some Ideas for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s Side Quests

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be as pretty as other CyberConnect2-developed games thanks to its beautiful cel-shaded visuals, but that’s not enough to hide how it’s conceptually not as interesting as it could be. Too many games have retold the stories from the early Dragon Ball Z sagas across multiple genres in the last couple of decades, and there was no need for yet another one in a more pristine form. A more interesting concept would have involved having an original story that featured at least one new character, similar to Dragon Ball FighterZ or Dragon Ball Xenoverse games, regardless of its potential canonicity. This could have also qualified as taking an idea from the Dragon Ball Z films — the good ones, I mean.

The name is also uninspiring. Kakarot? Eeeeeehhhhhh.

The story won’t be an entirely lost cause. Publisher Bandai Namco confirmed through the official hub page that the game will include side quests involving “never-before-seen story moments that answer some burning questions of Dragon Ball lore for the first time.” An image posted on their Twitter account elaborated on how these will be backstories that weren’t included in the manga. They’ve yet to say what any of these will be, but I have some ideas about stories they could tackle.

1. Anything Involving Launch:

Launch (or Lunch, if you prefer) was an important character in the original Dragon Ball, but was undeservedly written out by author and artist Akira Toriyama in the DBZ section of the manga. She was relegated to short filler appearances during the Saiyan Saga of the original (non-Kai) DBZ anime, particularly one where she was drowning in her sorrows and acknowledging how the world’s going to hell — extremely relatable stuff. Launch was a fun character, and this would be a great opportunity to feature more of her.

Chance of this happening: Lower than I’d like to admit, but maybe we’ll at least see her. It would be more than can be said for the manga or any other DBZ game.

2. Interactions Between Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta:

Raditz went to Earth ahead of fellow Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta to look for his brother Goku — known as “Kakarot” under his Saiyan name, hence this game’s name. They acknowledge each other, namely through Raditz warning Goku and Piccolo about how strong they are, and Nappa and Vegeta noting how weak Raditz was, but we never get to see them directly interact. It might be tough to see their interactions through a side quest, but the Tweet identifies these as “backstories,” which this would qualify as.

Chance of this happening: Fairly good. Fans always love hearing more about the Saiyans and their history, so it would be a missed opportunity of they don’t include something like this.

3. Gohan’s Mystical Adventure:

The filler episodes for DBZ featured several escapades involving Gohan when Goku was travelling down Snake Way after being killed, as part of his training with Piccolo for the battle against Nappa and Vegeta. These segments could work incredibly well in game form, even if they only accounted for a small part of it.

Chance of this happening: Low. Alas, the game is called Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. At the very least, it could feature adventures involving Goku and a very young Gohan interacting with each other before Raditz arrives, and training segments with Piccolo. I will settle for these if the parts are worthwhile.

(It would be even better if they made a Dragon Ball game with this art style. Alas, we live in a Bad Timeline where the original series is woefully underappreciated in too many territories worldwide.)

4. This:

Chance of this happening: Almost nonexistent, but they damn well should be higher.

5. Goku and Piccolo Learn to Drive:

Rumors shortly before the full reveal of this game suggested it would go all the way to the Cell Saga’s conclusion, contrary to what current promotional videos suggest. If that’s the case, this will be a prime opportunity for CC2 to adapt one of the best and most hilarious (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) filler episodes into game form.

Chance of this happening: It depends on how far this game actually goes. If it ends at the Frieza Saga, as current media implies, there won’t be room to include it here. In that case, they should throw it in a sequel if it sells well.

There’s a good chance that none of the ideas I pitched in this post will make it in, which is tragic. But I’m still hoping DBZ: Kakarot will have its fair share of interesting side quests that I can’t think of at the moment. Note that by “interesting,” I mean quests that don’t entail “Get these ingredients for Chi-Chi” or “Get this equipment for Bulma’s new invention,” ideas that make my eyes glaze over just thinking about them. I expect those to be exactly the kinds of quests they’re talking about, along with extra interactions between Goku and both characters — perhaps involving them reminiscing about their Dragon Ball days. I’m willing to be proven wrong, however. The game will release in early 2020, but they should elaborate on what kinds of side quests they’ll insert well before then.