Akira Toriyama’s legendary Dragon Ball franchise is no stranger to licensed video games, which have been produced since the days of leg warmers and video rental stores. They’ve encompassed several genres, including overhead action, RPG, fighting and even shoot ’em up. Interestingly enough, SEGA almost had its own exclusive Dragon Ball title for its ill-fated Sega Master System console. Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, which launches next Friday for PS4/Xbox One/PC, is set to check yet another gameplay style off the list- open-world action RPG.
Taking notes from the wild success of open-world game design in recent years, Kakarot lets players experience the Dragon Ball universe outside the usual confinement of a battle arena and features a smattering of RPG elements. They’ll be leveling Goku up through flying, training, fighting and, yes, even fishing. (No open-world epic would be complete without it!)
For seasoned fans, Bandai Namco has promised: “never before seen story moments that answer some burning questions of DRAGON BALL lore for the first time”. Also, a brand new character designed by Toriyama himself will be making her debut appearance in this title.
Par for the course, there will be a standard edition of the game retailing for $60 as well as a collector’s edition featuring a steel cover, diorama figure and hardcover artbook for $200. Pre-order incentives include early access to Bonyu’s training, a new sub-quest and a cooking item for in-game stat boosts. You can pre-order Dragon Ball Z Kakarot for your platform of choice directly from Bandai Namco here