Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s version 1.04 update brings some much needed quality of life changes and bug fixes, but many fans were surprised to discover that the time machine was not included in this patch. Developers promised players that the next patch would include more ways to use the time machine that Bulma built, including the ability to return to previous sections of the story and complete timed sub-stories. Players could theoreticallyuse the time machine to play Vegito againor replay portions of the story that they enjoy, but unfortunately, it does not seem that they will have that option just yet as of this most recent patch.
For those unaware, after beating the main story ofDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Bulma builds a time machine like the one Future Trunks used in order to allow him to visit the main cast in their timeline. Currently, this is mostly a gimmick to allow Future Trunks to be playable during the post game content, but its features should expand soon.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotjust updated to version 1.04, and many fans expected to see these new features added on to Bulma’s time machine, but instead only received bug fixes and quality of life changes.
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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Version 1.04 Patch
Many of these quality of life changes and bug fixes were direly needed, so this is not to say that fans are disappointed with what they’ve received, rather that they are disappointed with what they didn’t receive. One of the most exciting changes was the improvement of load times.Dragon Ball Z: Kakarothad somewhat abnormally long load times, especially for a game in which gathering dragon balls or doing certain sub-stories is entirely about switching back and forth between areas on the world map. The reduced load times are definitely noticeable, and a drastic and welcome fix to one ofDragon Ball Z: Kakarot’sbiggest problems.
Beyond that, many of the progress-halting bugs were addressed as well. Certain players were experiencing issues in which characters would not appear, making some main and sub stories impossible to complete. Usually, this was the result of the character being present on the field as avillainous enemyor awkwardness with specific save and load times. Thankfully, though, this has been addressed. There was also a minor change for Xbox One players, making it so the game does not skip the intro cinematic and go straight to the title screen.
While these changes are nice, there are surprisingly a lot of otherbugs still to be found inDragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Many players hoping to reach the maximum level of 250 have discovered that the special training with Bonyu is the best way to do so, but have experienced numerous crashes, fatal errors, and glitches while grinding. One such glitch causes the character to float higher into the air after each battle, eventually rocketing them out of bounds, while others simply cause the game to shut down, voiding any progress made since the last auto save. Hopefully these glitches and more will be fixed soon.
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Where is the time machine?
While these changes are certainly welcome, it can’t be avoided that most fans are disappointed about the exclusion of the time machine in this most recent update. When Bandai Namco announced that a free update would include new sub-stories and add features to the time machine, many assumed that this would happen in the next update. However, given that the time machine is completely absent from version 1.04, that is obviously not the case. For the time being, the time machine will offer nothing but the ability toplay Future Trunks again.
Once these features are included, players will have the opportunity to venture back to previous sections of the story, allowing them to do many things. The ability to access certain time locked sub-stories and perhaps play as certain characters again would certainly be a welcome addition to the game. One of the main complaints has been that there’snot much to do after beatingDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, not providing too much longevity or replayability. The time machine could fix a lot of these problems, and could be an avenue into other stories as well.
There has been much speculation about whether or notDragon Ball Z: Kakarotwill venture into the territory of otherDragon Ballstories, such asDragon Ball Zmovies,Dragon Ball Super,orDragon Ball: GT. AlthoughDragon Ball Superseems like the most likely candidate, introducing the time machine could actually provide a method of exploring the story of non-canonDragon Ballstories. There have already been rumors and leaks detailing the possibility of aBroly inDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and the inclusion of certain characters opens up the possibility for other things.
ParticularlyDragon Ball Z: Kakarot’s secret boss, Mira, really points towards the possibility of includingDragon Ball: GTcontent. InDragon Ball Xenoverse2,Mira fuses with one of Toki-Toki’s eggs and gains a form which highly resembles Super Saiyan 4. It is revealed later when this egg hatches that the entireDragon Ball: GTtimeline lived inside of it. After defeating Mira inDragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Towa says that they will go to a different timeline to gather more energy, so it would be interesting if new original content in line with this was introduced.
The changes brought forth in this update are hopefully the first of many additions and fixes toDragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Even in its present state, most fans praise the game for being an incredible experience full of nostalgia, new information, and enjoyable gameplay, and it stands to reason that it can only get better as patches roll out and more and more features are added. Although players did not get the time machine this time, this update was somewhat of a surprise, and certainly doesn’t void thetime machine announcement. For now, players will simply have to wait.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarotis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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