Many fans are diving into Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot to relive the nostalgia of the Z story, even if it is for the umpteenth time. This time around, though, the story has some added context, new and returning characters, and inclusions of DBZ characters from other mediums like Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball FighterZ. After all of this, many have likely beaten it now and are looking forward to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's DLC content.
As it stands, there's not much known about what the Season Pass will exactly entail. Datamines point to a possible inclusion of the original DBZ Broly movies, but whether or not that manifests remains to be seen. Then, of course, there are those that look to other iterations of the franchise like Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT, which seem too large to be DLC and would likely benefit instead from being designed as sequels to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot Structure
As it stands, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot benefits from a simple structure: each saga is followed by an intermission where players can complete DBZ: Kakarot substories and other tasks before moving onto the next Saga. This works relatively well for a Dragon Ball GT iteration of the game. It could begin with a simple set-up for the first saga, the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, and allow players to go through a tutorial of sorts before setting out to track them down.
While the planet-faring may initially seem like a bit much, it could easily be boiled down to a secondary Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot-like World Map that simplifies each planet into a few areas. There's a good chance that the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga is cut short as well, as it's the least popular saga of the show, but it would be a good way to segue to the Baby Saga if they weren't treated as one Saga in the game.
Since the majority of the Baby Saga takes place on Earth and Planet Plant, it's layout would easily be somewhat similar to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. And while the Baby Saga is more action oriented than the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, developer CyberConnect2 has shown that it can effectively manage high action and exploration. A segue between the two arcs would also be interesting, as players would likely know that a lot of people are currently under control by the Tuffle Parasite, with Baby likely serving as the first big boss fight of the game.
The next saga, Super 17, is the shortest of the Dragon Ball GT sagas, but its very premise could easily be explored further in a video game. Most of the big enemies of the Z saga are freed, meaning there's a ton of potential fights that could be explored such as Goku vs. Cell and Frieza, but there's so many enemies that it would make for unique substories to hunt them down and fight the less narrative-driven ones. Then, the natural story of Goku vs. Android 17 could unfold in a manner naturally similar to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
The Shadow Dragon Saga brings GT to an end and would be an intense series of fights not unlike how the Buu Saga was presented in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. Players could go up against each Shenron in an escalating battle that eventually brings the franchise to an end. With the various dragons, it could make for some easily intense combat.
Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot Playable Characters
Like DBZ: Kakarot, Dragon Ball GT would likely allow for various playable and support characters. Each clearly depends on the arc, but here seems to be the likeliest, or at least, plausible playable and support characters for a Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot. It would also standard to reason that a majority of the playable characters could also serve as support characters, while there are some support characters completely relegated to that role.
Black Star Dragon Ball Saga - Goku, Pan, Trunks, Giru (Support only - not likely combat-oriented)
Baby Saga - Goku*, Pan, Trunks, Gohan, Goten, Uub
Android 17 Saga - Goku, Pan, Trunks, Gohan, Goten, Uub, Android 18 (Support only)
Shadow Dragon Saga - Goku, Pan, Trunks, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Uub, Vegeta, Gogeta**
* It would be interesting to see if Super Saiyan 4 Goku was treated as a normal transformation, but given its requirements, it would likely be locked to key roles, leaving players the simple Saiyan transformations for other battles.
**Gogeta also seems likely to be a playable character to some degree, but chances are, his role would be locked to key events a la Gotenks and Vegito in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot Substories and Content
One thing Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot did was add explanations to certain events, whether it was the retcon of Piccolo blowing up the moon or the explanation of where Launch disappeared to, so a Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot could do the same. These substories could cover why Vegeta's hair changed (which isn't typical for Saiyans), why the villains don't die and disappear completely a la official DBZ's official lore for a second death, the random appearance/existence of the Black Star Dragon Balls, and more, while also adding in just fun quests for players to further explore the world with.
Furthermore, while Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has interesting implications for canon, at least canon when it comes to video games, Dragon Ball GT: Kakarot presumably wouldn't. It's never really considered official canon, even though certain aspects like Gogeta were canonized, but it could be reworked and explained as an alternate timeline. The secret boss fight in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot seemingly does this, so it would be interesting if someone from Super appeared as a secret boss in order to accomplish effectively the same task.
Either way, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot brought serious innovation into the way a DBZ game is approached, and while GT is a hotly debated topic, seeing it rectified and treated in a similar manner would likely be a continuation of that innovation, however small it may seem. At the very least, fans of GT would be satisfied and perhaps naysayers could be soothed over if such a game ever came to fruition.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.