After Bandai Namco Entertainment confirmed thatDragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s third DLC would be its last, players weren’t expecting to hear anyexciting news about it at E3. This expectation was shattered in the best way, however, as players were instead treated to the reveal of a Switch port for the game. Ever since it first released back in January of 2020, fans have been pining for a Switch port so they can take the nostalgic story ofKakaroton the go with them, but until now nothing came of it. While the prospect of a Switch port is certainly exciting, there are some potential problems that might arise alongside it.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotinitially only released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, leaving Switch players out completely. Early on, questions about a potential Switch port were met with nothing but denial, as Bandai Namco made it clear that it had no plans for such a thing. The E3 reveal came as something of a surprise, although it was recently leaked thatDragon Ball Z: Kakarotmight be coming to Switch. As the initial excitement of the reveal fades away, fans are starting to realize that the Switch may have a bit of trouble withDragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
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Can the Switch Handle Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot?
The big question on everyone’s mind at this point is whether or not the Switch can handleDragon Ball Z: Kakarot. In its simplest form, the game isn’t too intensive, but there are some situations that can arise within the game that could end up being real problems. To be more specific, Goku’s Ultimate Spirit Bomb, one of his most powerful attacks, has beenknown to cause massive framerate dropsand sometimes even crashes on the PS4 and Xbox One versions. These consoles are objectively more powerful than the Switch, so it begs the question of how well Nintendo’s portable console can deal with this.
Aside fromspamming Ultimate Spirit Bombsand Super Big Bang Attacks, it’s also worth looking at the Horde Battles that were introduced in DLC 2. This game mode sees the player facing of against literal hordes of enemies all at once. Although there aren’t usually more than ten on the screen at once, it still makes a lot of work for the console as players mow through hundreds of enemies in a short period of time. In the case of the Ultimate Spirit Bomb, players can always opt to use less flashy moves, but there are certain rewards locked behind these Horde Battles.
Why Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is Perfect for Switch
On the other hand,Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotseems like it was made for the Switch. Its stylistic graphics aren’t as intensive as some of the hyper realistic games that the Switch tends to struggle with, and the gameplay tends to be simple enough. Since most fans are already familiar with the story, it lends itself well to the pick up and put down style of the Switch.
The aforementioned concerns about whether or not the Switch can runDragon Ball Z: Kakarotcould also easily be countered with a look at theSwitch version ofDragon Ball Xenoverse 2. That game runs well on the Switch, and it’s fairly common for there to be more going on there than inKakarot. Until reviews for the Switch version start to release, there’s no way to tell for certain, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis a wonderful retelling of theDragon Ball Zstory, and it would be a shame if this retelling were interrupted by laggy gameplay or anything of the sort.
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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Switch - A New Power Awakens
One attractive feature ofDragon Ball Z: Kakaroton the Nintendo Switch is that it comes with both of the “A New Power Awakens” DLC packs. Fans on PC, PS4, and Xbox One waited almost a full a year for this content, but Switch players will get to experience them immediately. While this seems like a good thing on the surface, these twoDLC packs have the potential to negatively impact a new player’s experience withKakarot. This is all due to one peculiar feature of these pseudo-SuperDLC stories.
Despite taking place after the end of the Buu saga in the official continuity, players are able to access these two DLC packs as soon as they start up the game. All they need to do is beat the image battle with Piccolo at the very beginning and then they canditch picking apples with little Gohan to go train on Beerus' planet. Not only does this break the immersion of the story, but it also breaks the balance of the game. Players could easily reach level 300 in this manner before even fighting Raditz, at which point the Super Saiyan God and Blue transformations won’t even be needed to crush him.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - New Switch Content
With every potential downside, there’s also a little ray of hope.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotplayers on Switch will be able to play as Gotenks and Vegitooutside of the time machine, a feature that other console players have been desperate to see for a while. Bandai Namco also said that the difficulty of the Switch version can be adjusted. It’s not entirely clear what this means, but it could refer to a fix of the lack of level scaling in the game. If this were the case, then getting to level 300 early wouldn’t impact the balance of the game too terribly.
Once again, players won’t be able to know exactly what to expect until more information comes to light. Whether that info comes through Bandai Namco or from reviewers once the Switch version goes out for review, players will want to be in the know about it. This Switch port has the potential to fix a lot ofproblems that have been plaguingDragon Ball Z: Kakarotsince day one, but there are just as many potential pitfalls that CyberConnect2 and Bandai Namco Entertainment will need to avoid.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and releases on September 22nd for Switch.
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