Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will feature the Buu Arc, as revealed by Bandai Namco today, when the company also announced that the game will launch on January 17, 2020 in the Americas. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an extensive action role-playing game set in the Dragon Ball universe, and has been built from the ground up to give players the quintessential Goku - or Kakarot, as he is known by Saiyans - experience.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will explore most of Goku's storied history within the franchise, but will crucially focus on the Dragon Ball Z adventures he had, meaning kid Goku won't feature prominently since he was the protagonist of Dragon Ball. From what fans have seen so far, the game will be comprised of RPG-style questing and traveling with broad, open world maps that allow for side adventures and exploration incentives. Players were originally rumored to only play as Goku, but that's changed - now, it's become known that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot playable characters also include Vegeta, Gohan, and more, on top of brand new characters designed by Akira Toriyama.
What fans didn't know was just how far the game would follow the story of Goku. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot still doesn't have a confirmed end arc, but Bandai Namco revealed in a new trailer that the game will at least extend as far as the legendary Buu Arc that sees Goku tangle with the pink monster. That means players will also be treated to Majin Vegeta making an appearance, a character who, despite only existing for a short period of time, has been a fan favorite all the same. Bandai Namco also announced that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will launch on January 17, 2020 in the Americas, giving it its official English release date.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's Buu Arc is a major inclusion - it's a critical moment in the series and the Buu character is one that many people are fond of as both a side character and villain. It also means that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is going to be pretty long, starting when Raditz lands on Earth and progressing through several other major arcs to get to the Buu saga. It's possible that the game might not include as many side quests as consumers may have previously thought given how much story will be present, but it's also possible it's just a deeper game altogether.
Right now, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot feels poised to make a run at the most comprehensive and exciting Dragon Ball video game of all-time. While many of them have played with RPG elements before, most of them have been primarily centered around fighting - and while Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is certainly looking to craft epic battles, it's also leaning heavily into the story. That could make Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot an all-time great, much like the character it's centered around, and Americas-based gamers need only wait until the new year to find out if that's true.
Source: Bandai Namco/YouTube