Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS5)

It can reach Super Saiyan levels of enjoyment, just not in the open worlds.

A big colorful world that is fun to fly around and explore, charming side stories and character interactions, beautiful in-engine cutscenes showcase some of the Dragon Ball z story's most memorable moments, major fights are epic and engaging. But combat can feel simplistic at times, side quest goals are pretty standard, interruptions occur when trying to explore.

Simple but fun combat, robust RPG elemts that allows a lot of customization and gorgeous presentation. But the world feels empty, exploration only serves for collecting items, music and voice lines feel repetitive for 40 hours of gameplay und a surprising lack of Goku in the game.

Poor RPG mechanics aside, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a great way to relive the DBZ's story, flaws and all.

From the title onwards Kakarot has absolutely no interest in explaining itself to potential new fans, and anyone not already familiar will find the game's myriad frustrations impossible to overcome.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is not the anime game to end all anime games. It's not going to convert any non-believers or onboard them into this decades-old classic universe. Even as someone who still re-watches DBZ, it can be grating at times - but the juice is mostly worth the squeeze.

Unfortunately, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot doesn't push the envelope enough to warrant sitting through the Cell Saga for the umpteenth time and seeing Frieza get obliterated yet again. If you've played a Dragon Ball Z game before, you've basically played this one.