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It being an open-world/action RPG hybrid, however, Kakarot has quite a lot for players to uncover and explore. Perhaps too much given the game’s length and abundance of rather mediocre side content, but anyone who just wants to kill time in the world of Dragon Ball will likely enjoy finding all the hidden details they missed.
10 Gohan’s Ki Is Larger Than Krillin’s During The Saiyan Arc
It’s no surprise that Gohan is freakishly strong at the start of the Saiyan arc, but Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot actually decides to have some fun with this fact. At any point in the overworld, players can sense for Ki. If targeting an NPC, their Ki will actually show up as an aura while character are sensing.
At Kame House, Gohan and Krillin will both be outside together prior to Raditz’s arrival. If players choose to focus on Ki as Goku, they’ll notice Krillin’s puny Ki aura next to Gohan’s comparatively massive Ki aura. Auras only get bigger from here, making it harder to appreciate the differences, but it’s a neat visual detail at the start of the game.
9 Tao Pai Pai’s Return
Following Tenshinhan defeating Tao Pai Pai in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, the former Crane School assassin and Tsuru-Sen’nin fly off together, vowing to get their revenge. This being Dragon Ball, they never appear again in the manga, let alone are mentioned. In the anime, Tao Pai Pai shows up during some Cell arc filler.
In Kakarot, they’re both just chilling in the overworld and it’s actually possible to bump into them. The earliest point seems to be while training as Gohan during the Saiyan arc. Once Gohan can fly, just explore and look for Tao Pai Pai. It’s not as interesting as his filler episode, but it’s nice he’s here.
8 Trunks’ Comments On The Future
Trunks really only deserves a participation trophy considering how poorly Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot utilizes him in gameplay. After defeating Mecha Frieza in the very first boss fight of the Cell arc, Trunks spends the rest of the saga more or less just flying from point A to point B with nothing substantial for him to do.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t content for Trunks, though. By exploring different cities, Trunks will often muse on his future– how certain cities don’t exist anymore, how ruined it is. It’s quite sad and actually adds a fair bit of insight to a character Kakarot might as well have ignored.
7 The Androids Have No Ki
There aren’t many opportunities to actually scan the Androids for Ki, so take advantage of these moments when you can. Like with Gohan and Krillin at the beginning of the game, there are some neat visual details present for anyone who chooses to Ki scan the Androids. Or to be more specific, a lack thereof of neat visual details.
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Like in the original manga and anime, the Androids do not have Ki whatsoever. Scanning them for Ki results in no aura whatsoever. Interesting, The Legacy of Goku II did something similar on the Game Boy Advance. Players can scan enemies with the Scouter, but the Androids don’t actually register properly.
6 Almost Everything In The Z-Encyclopedia
Tragically, most fans will ignore the Z-Encyclopedia together. It makes sense as not as many gamers actually engage with in-game text as you might assume, but there are consequences to not checking the Z-Encyclopedia: most notably, there are rewards you’ll naturally be unlocking by playing the game which can only be gotten by opening the Z-Encyclopedia.
To say nothing of all the lore the Encyclopedia dishes out. It’s one of the more fun ways of revisiting some Dragon Ball trivia. Of course, it does have its share of inconsistencies and just outright oddities, but it’s a better source than the Wikia if nothing else.
5 The Xenoverse Connection
Dragon Ball is a franchise that’s already introducing itself to new fans– especially now that the series has a prominent modern presence– so it’s important to remember that just because you know something about the series, doesn’t mean everyone else does. Kakarot will be many people’s introduction to Dragon Ball, and they’ll naturally have questions.
Plus, any fan who isn’t too keen on the side content will likely be a bit confused over Towa and Mira’s presence as post-game super bosses. They seem almost random, but they actually tie Kakarot to Xenoverse, suggesting their ability to jump between timelines and influence them negatively has led them to the world of Kakarot.
4 Roshi’s Many Goodies
At the beginning of the game, Roshi will make some offhand comment about a training manual while you’re just desperate to actually fight Raditz. You will forget about this entirely and play through the game, perhaps for dozens of hours, without realizing that Roshi actually rewards the player with a lot of goodies should they revisit him and complete his little challenges.
Roshi’s basically the human equivalent of the Z-Encyclopedia– in the sense that most players won’t engage with them meaningfully enough to recognize there are very tangible benefits here. Kakarot’s an easy game so you don’t need anything Roshi has to give you, but
3 Son Goku’s Sorrow
Dragon Ball has always had trouble adapting Goku “killing” Freeza on Namek. The original anime and all retellings have always depicted Goku as either angry having had to kill Freeza, or simply stern. That makes sense, but it’s not accurate to the manga where Goku, visibly shaking, looks at Freeza’s “remains” in sorrow.
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From the moment he finds out he’s a Saiyan, Goku makes a concerted effort not to personally kill. By the time he’s on Namek, Vegeta killing even disgusts him. He tries hard to assert his Earthling identity in the midst of this personal crisis, but Freeza ultimately forces him to embrace both sides of his identity. It’s not a fate Goku is initially pleased with, something Kakarot captures just right.
2 Father-Son Fishing
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot curiously features a line of dialogue near the start of the Saiyan arc where Goku promises to take Gohan fishing. This is a brand new line for the game itself, but those who aren’t intimately familiar with the series may not have realized that this line exists to tie into an already pre-existing line during the fight with the Saiyans.
Goku promises to take Gohan fishing in the manga, but the inclusion of this conversation at the beginning of Kakarot makes the line a call back, tying the arc by yet another thread. It’s not a particularly major detail, but it’s a cute one that plays on Goku and Gohan’s relationship.
1 Kakarot Has Its Own Canon
Everyone’s going on about how Kakarot is changing the canon and contradicting the canon, but come on… As someone who consumes media, you know better than this: Kakarot has its own canon. It doesn’t have to be said, because it goes without saying. It’s common sense. As an adaption of Dragon Ball Z, Kakarot makes changes to the original story that better suit a video game: creating its own canon in the process.
This isn’t a “hidden detail” in the traditional sense, but it’s a detail that may as well be hidden considering how some fans choose to engage with Dragon Ball. Let go of notions of canon and just take the ride Kakarot is offering.
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