TheDragon Ballfranchise lends itself more naturally to video game adaptation than most others. Unfortunately, since theDragon Ballfranchise is so action-packed, it’s often pigeonholed into the fighting game genre. Additionally, since the release ofDragon Ball Zcoincided with the advent of modern gaming consoles, the franchise’s progenitor has been largely overlooked despite its indisputable video game potential.
Despite the massive success of recentDragon Ball Z-related fighting games, the franchise is still at risk of oversaturating the market with the same product year after year. In order to break up the monotony, future developers could look to the franchise’s roots andthe early adventures of Gokuas a source of inspiration.
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Young Goku Is Weak Enough To Work In An Open-World Title
It’s hard to imagine the later seasons ofDragon Ball ZandDragon Ball Superas a believable open-world action-adventure. By the end of the Frieza Saga, Goku has the ability to instantaneously teleport across extreme distances—a power that quickly becomes ubiquitous for nearly all characters in the series. By the Cell Saga, there are probably a handful of characters that would have little trouble destroying the entire planet. It’s difficult to imagine as a typical open-world adventure game. By contrast, Goku’s relatively humble abilities in the early episodes ofDragon Ballare a perfect fit for aBreath of the Wild-esque title.
Long beforeSuper Saiyan 4, God, Blue, Ultra Instinct, and the seemingly endless string of Saiyan power-ups, Goku was fairly weak. Yes, he could still take out gigantic dinosaurs with a single smack of his staff, but he couldn’t fly—without the aid of the Flying Nimbus—and his patented Kamehameha could barely dent a car much less destroy a planet. This version of Goku would be ideal for an open-world title.
Stripped of the most powerful abilities inDragon Ball, Gokuis still powerful enough to be exciting, but weak enough to fit within the confines of an open-world title. He’d come equipped with a wicked double jump, enough speed and power for exciting encounters, and a built-in vehicle in the Flying Nimbus to cut down on pesky travel times. An open-worldDragon Balltitle might lack the flare of its successors, but its humble nature opens the door for a much more grounded adventure.
An Open-World Dragon Ball Game Writes Itself
The plot of such aDragon Ballopen-world game is fairly straightforward. The early seasons are when manyDragon Ballcharacters started their iconic story arcs, and a potential game could center itself there. The main focus would have to be Goku, but it would be intriguing to see overlooked characters like Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, and the like get their due.
Intriguingly,Dragon Ballperfectly follows an open-world action-adventure formula. Goku learns more techniques as his opponents get increasingly difficult. It’s even difficult to describe Goku’s earliest adventures as anything other than classic side quests. He roams from place to place battling low-tier enemies, retrieving objects, and exploring the area. Plus, the overarching objective goes without saying: collect all the eponymous Dragon Balls.
The incidental details are all pre-written as well. ADragon Ballgame has a built-in quest and trading hub in Kame House. It also has a slew of quest-giving NPCs like Bulma, Master Roshi, Krillin, and the like. It could even easily populate the open world with roaming mobs fromthe Red Ribbon armyor dinosaurs. Since the show already closely mirrors a typical video game progression, there’s very little work to be done in terms of adaptation, making it an ideal candidate for developers.
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