Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's season pass has been a source of confusion for some time, and Bandai Namco has finally cleared some of that confusion with a new trailer. Unfortunately, this new trailer also comes with some bad news, as a major change has been made to the season pass which undermines the content of the DLC. What was once referred to as "2 original story episodes" is now being called "2 boss battle episodes," which to some is a big letdown. In calling these episodes original story episodes at first, fans had hope that Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 would actually produce more original content to go with the game, perhaps featuring Bonyu in the original story episodes.
For those unaware, Bandai Namco just released a new trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's upcoming DLC 1. Most of the trailer was a montage of cool moments throughout the story of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, but it was followed up by a short segment showing Super Saiyan God Goku facing off against Beerus. At the end of the trailer, however, is a new image (pictured above) showing the season pass in more detail than ever before.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - New Trailer
As previously stated, the new trailer is mostly just a montage of moments from the base game which, while cool, doesn't show much new information. There is a scene of Goku powering up to Super Saiyan God and Beerus using his iconic Sphere of Destruction ability, but that's about it. The real important information comes in the form of the second to last image shown in the video, in which the original story episodes are now framed as boss battle episodes. There are a couple reasons why this is a problem.
For starters, original story episodes have a lot more promise than boss battle episodes, but fans likely are still okay with the new boss fight approach. The big problem here is how close to release the change was made. Many players have owned the season pass since the game first released over 2 months ago and were promised 2 original story episodes and for this to change so close to release and in such a sneaky way is somewhat alarming. It is likely that Bandai Namco made this change in response to the misconceptions that fans were drafting up based on their initial wording, but that doesn't make it any better.
DBZ: Kakarot Trailer Reveals More Info on Season Pass
There is some good news to go along with all of this, however. If the trailer did one thing right, it cleared up a lot of confusion about the mysterious season pass. Up until now, it was unclear whether the Whis and Beerus training missions would be part of the same episode or if they'd be two separate episodes, and even the status of the new story arc was in question, as it could have simply been that the two episodes comprise the story arc.
Now, it is confirmed that fans can expect two more DLCs beyond the one introducing Beerus, Whis, and Super Saiyan God, one of which will be yet another boss fight episode while the other is a new story arc. What these are is obviously unknown as of yet, but there are a few possibilities. Most likely, the second boss fight episode will see Goku and Vegeta training in DLC 2 to unlock the coveted Super Saiyan Blue form, followed by the arrival of Golden Frieza in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. This means that DLC 2 will look a lot like DLC 1, starting with training with Whis and following up with a boss fight against Beerus or Frieza.
The new story arc could really be anything at this point. It is possible that Resurrection F will appear as the new story arc rather than as the next boss battle episode. Alternatively, the new story arc could follow up with a Universe 6 DLC for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, but that seems unlikely. Finally, another possibility would be the introduction of Broly to Kakarot, since there are already some hidden files of Broly's dialogue in the game and the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie sees Vegeta and Goku not going beyond Super Saiyan Blue.
Bandai Namco Changes DBZ: Kakarot Season Pass
Still, despite all of that fun speculation, the fact remains that Bandai Namco made these changes far too close to the actual release of the first DLC. What's more, this trailer still didn't give a solid release date to fans, leaving it at Spring 2020 as it has been for quite some time. All of this combined makes for a pretty disappointing experience.
Although it is understandable that the change had to be made due to decisions Bandai Namco made early on in marketing, it would have been better for the company to come out publicly and admit to those mistakes rather than trying to sneak in a change. Also, it is high time that it gives an actual release date for this DLC, given that Spring 2020 is already in full swing, and predicting Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's release date has been difficult so far.
Ultimately, given CyberConnect2's track record with the base game of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, it is highly likely that all three DLCs will be enjoyable for fans, and that the DBZ: Kakarot's season pass is worth the money, but nothing can be certain until more information becomes available. There are still many facets of DLC 1 that are unclear, such as how early Super Saiyan God can be unlocked and how it will interact with the time machine, all of which need answering. Thankfully, there isn't much Spring left in 2020, so the DLC should be here sooner rather than later.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.