Fan reaction to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot was a mixed bag at best. Some were really impressed with CyberConnect2's ability to make the Beerus boss fight more compelling and challenging than nearly any other in the game, while others felt that the Raditz boss fight was harder than Beerus. One thing that most agree on, however, is that the DLC was criminally short, especially for those players that already reached max level before it released. At that point, the only thing to do was unlock Super Saiyan God and fight Beerus, but the lackluster rewards for taking down the God of Destruction provided almost no incentive to do it.
Now Golden Frieza is confirmed as the antagonist for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2's boss battle episode, and fans want things to change. If the exact same formula is used, players will likely find themselves even more disappointed with the DLC strategy of this game, and that's not even taking into consideration whether or not the Golden Frieza fight will be as fun and difficult as the Beerus boss fight. There are a few changes that Kakarot will need to make if it wants this to feel any different from the first DLC.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Level 250 Beerus Rewards
The biggest issue with the Beerus boss fight was its lack of worthwhile rewards. Players that actually managed to defeat Beerus, a boss fight that developers attempted ten times and only won once, are given Ultimate Sacred Waters that give the user a massive chunk of experience. That's all fine and dandy, but players stand almost no chance of beating him without first reaching max level, making this reward practically useless. The only way this would be helpful is to level up other characters, but the fight is difficult enough for some that this wouldn't be a reliable method of farming.
Even if Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2 raises the level cap, Golden Frieza will most likely require players to be at whatever the new cap is in order to defeat. If this boss battle has the same rewards as Beerus, simply more ways to level up characters even faster, it will run into the same catch 22 problem as before. In order to get around this, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot needs to diversify its rewards and progression systems, particularly while paying close attention to the future of the game.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Reward System and Character Progression
This really comes down to a fundamental flaw in the longevity of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, as the game simply wasn't made with much room to grow. Players can unlock new transformations that multiply their stats and get new techniques all they want, but it won't truly feel like growth. Aside from experience, there aren't many options in terms of rewards for beating Golden Frieza. The boss could potentially reward players with gift items for leveling up Kakarot's community boards, but many already have maxed those out as well. Likewise, it could give players extra food items, but there would be no point given that the player already conquered the game's toughest challenge.
What Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot needs is some true RPG endgame mechanics, something to give players a goal to strive for and a way to progress. What exactly this would look like is anyone's guess, but the developers would need to make that decision based on the plans for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 3 and with the knowledge of whether or not there will be further DLC after that. It's possible, even likely, that Bandai Namco will simply continue down the same path as DLC 1, but if Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is going to grow into more than what it already is, something will need to change.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.