Release date: 2021
Version played: PlayStation 4 in 2021
A self-contained story set in an alternate past to the main game, Trunks, The Warrior of Hope is the third downloadable contact pack for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, loosely based on The History of Trunks movie, and the early portions of the Future Trunks Saga of Dragon Ball Super. Following Goku’s death to an unknown heart virus, players play as Trunks and an adult version of Gohan as they prepare to fight, attempt to avoid, and finally do battle with the dangerous android threat. I have reviewed the two previous DLC packs here and here.
+ the DLC being a self contained story means you can’t rely on an overpowered Trunks from the main campaign, which makes the Androids a real threat. The fights between (everybody’s favourite) Future Gohan and the Androids in particular are intense and emotional, and feature a unique twist on the ‘must-lose’ battle that really serves to highlights an idea I had in my review of the original game
+ across the overworld of West City/Gingertown, alarm drones can be found which will draw the androids to you. It’s an interesting gimmick, and I’m glad something finally used the first person perspective for something more than just the mineral collection. It’s a shame they are so easy to complete or avoid, and the rewards are so meaningless
+ as noted, this pack is more than just a retelling of The History of Trunks and gives a bit more detail into what Trunks mentions in his appearance in Dragon Ball Super. The new side stories are as funny as they are short
+ where the game opts for fully cutscenes, not just the slideshow format I found so unappealing post-Namek in the main game, it’s gorgeous. I can’t imagine it would be cheap or easy to accomplish, but a longform retelling of the Dragon Ball Z story in that form would be something I’d welcome
– two story chapters (which is approximately a dozen story fights, maybe) and a small handful of side quests, which are essentially fetch quests with a copy-paste battle in the middle is just not good enough for a season pass DLC. I personally regret getting the special edition of this game, as they have offered no worthwhile new areas to explore, characters to play as or interesting features, aside from the Horde battles of the second pack (which don’t make a reappearance at all in this offering)
> one side mission just buries the hell out of Yamcha, who doesn’t even appear in the DLC. Poor Yamcha.
Should you play this game: I liked this more than the previous two DLC packs, but even the three of them together would barely qualify for being worthy of a season pass. I stress my thoughts from every review of this game so far that I don’t see why every enemy character could not be playable in ‘training’ modes. I love Dragon Ball Z, and I enjoyed Kakarot overall, but all of these DLCs have been a swing and a miss.
MoshFish Reviews 