Not too long ago, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot released a new trailer focused on the Fusion Saga that highlighted Goku and Piccolo teaching the young Goten and Trunks how to fuse and the resulting fusion, Gotenks, achieving the Super Saiyan 3 form. It then went on to showcase some of Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks' gameplay, including his special Super Ghost Kamikaze attack, but may have left many wondering: How much can be played as Gotenks?
After all, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is supposed to be about the titular Saiyan better known as Goku, but his story is tied to the fate of the Earth for better or worse. That means it's not something that can be simply seen through one set of eyes, and so for some extent during the game, gamers will take on the role of Gotenks (perhaps even before achieving Super Saiyan 3) who first appears during the Majin Buu Saga.
After a few attempts at mastering the fusion dance, Goten and Trunks finally achieved their fused form: Gotenks. His base form first was not strong enough to defeat Majin Buu, so they later tried it against as Super Saiyans. In this form, Gotenks took off flying around the Earth to showcase his new powers, with Super Buu emerging at this time. Super Saiyan Gotenks still wasn't strong enough to defeat Super Buu, with the latter eventually turning everyone on The Lookout into candy.
After this, Gotenks powered up to Super Saiyan 3, completely bypassing the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. A massive fight would follow, but eventually, Gotenks would be absorbed by Super Buu, marking the end of his canonical combat appearances in Dragon Ball Z. As a result, assuming that Gotenks is playable before achieving Super Saiyan 3, Gotenks vs. Majin Buu, Super Saiyan Gotenks vs. Super Buu, and Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks vs. Super Buu all seem like plausible fights for the character. Of course, if Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is the only playable form of the character, then he won't appear for long, perhaps as long as Super Vegito.
What will be interesting is how sidequests are handled in this state, and more so how this state is actually handled in the game. In the canon, this fusion has an hour time limit, meaning Goten and Trunks couldn't maintain this form for too long at any single instance. The game may take a lighthearted approach to this limit, allowing players to complete Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's sidequests as Gotenks.
As aforementioned, one of the first things Super Saiyan Gotenks does is start flying off around the Earth, which Piccolo uses to gauge the newfound power of his transformation. A race-style sidequest based on this event would likely be fun, and it would be hilarious to ride around on Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's robots as Gotenks.
Unlike Majin Vegeta, who will seemingly lose access to some sidequests for being evil, there's little reason outside the time limit for Gotenks to not be able to check out some of the original and filler content sidequests. Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, but Gotenk's incredibly cocky and hilarious antics will likely add some comic relief to an otherwise dire saga in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is set to release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on January 17, 2020.