With the arrival of the Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 1, some of the game's flaws have been made glaringly clear. The biggest offender is the game's level cap, which although it wasn't much of a problem before, poses some real threat to the enjoyability of future DLC. Looking back on this, it seems that a lot of interesting choices were made in regard to the game's leveling system and level cap which could have been done better, but hindsight is 20/20, and CyberConnect2 needs to look to the future of its game in order to fix it for upcoming DLC packs.
For the uninitiated, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot features a level cap of 250, a rather odd choice and a number which is much higher than anything necessary to beat even the secret boss in the game. This level only becomes relevant with the arrival of the DLC, as the ultimate challenge therein is a level 250 Beerus boss battle. That said, the level cap was not raised by this first DLC and there is no other content that the player will need to be level 250 for, so it still puts the game in a strange position moving forward, especially given that at least two more DLCs are incoming soon.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Why Level 250?
The first question fans should ask themselves is why level 250 was chosen as a level cap in the first place. The number itself has no significance to the Dragon Ball universe, and seems to have been chosen somewhat arbitrarily. Most games opt to set level caps at more recognizable numbers like 20, 30, or 100, while more ambitiously scaling games may go as high as 1000. Other games, typically JRPGs, call back to old technical limitations, having the max level be 99, 999, or 9999 in extreme cases.
Instead of any of these, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot opts to start off with a maximum level of 250. The only reasonable explanation for this before the DLC was that perhaps the level cap would raise with each DLC until hitting level 1000, but for that to be relevant Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 would have to provide the player with challenges all the way up to that point. The first DLC not raising the level cap has revealed that this won't be the case, although there are many hoping that a level cap raise will come soon, so long as it is accompanied by more challenges and end game material.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 1 Level Cap
What perhaps might have worked better is if the maximum level the player could reach in the base game was capped off at level 100. This is well over the final boss of the story mode, Kid Buu's, level, which is set at 75, and still provides some overhead for endgame content. Mira, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's secret boss, at level 100 would have provided even more of a challenge without allowing fans to go over his head and reach level 250 before even fighting him, while the boosted villainous enemies that spawn after his defeat could have been saved for later.
If this were the case, DLC 1 could have upped the level cap to 250, providing a new goal for players to reach as opposed to offering new ways to reach what many already had. Setting Beerus at level 250 made sense, as it stops the player from overleveling and making the fight trivial, but the same precautions weren't taken for the base game it seems. Hopefully the developers learn from their mistakes and up the level cap for the next DLC, as if they don't, there isn't much room for players or the game to grow anymore.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 2 Level Cap
DLC 2 is going to be another boss battle episode just like DLC 1, and this has led many to believe that the new boss will be Golden Frieza. Fans will likely resume their training with Whis in order to unlock the Super Saiyan Blue form and then take on Frieza at maximum level. That said, if the level cap doesn't raise and Frieza is just another level 250 boss like Beerus, then Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot may be in hot water. There's a couple reasons for this and more than a couple ways that the problem could be circumvented entirely.
If Golden Frieza is another level 250 boss, then fans could expect DLC 2 to have even less content than DLC 1, as there will be no need to grind experience to hit the level cap given that fans already did that. Unlocking Super Saiyan Blue will likely be just one new Limit Break training, and then a fight with Frieza that fans are already ready for. In order to make the DLC enjoyable and give the game some semblance of longevity, a level cap increase is necessary and should be accompanied with more end game content.
The Problem With Raising DBZ: Kakarot's Level Cap
All of that said, there are some problems that are related to raising the level cap even further. For one, any base game content that wasn't already obsolete by level 250 definitely will be if the level cap is raised, but perhaps more importantly is how the Beerus boss fight will be handled. He will need to offer a new challenge at whatever the new level cap is or players will overpower the God of Destruction easily, which wouldn't fit well with the lore.
It's worth noting that Ken Xyro, a credible Dragon Ball reporter, has stated that the purpose of the Beerus boss fight DLC was to get the player to level 250 and unlock Super Saiyan God, two things which will be necessary for those wanting to succeed at the second boss battle DLC. It's unclear whether this means that level 250 will be required or if players will need to be at that point in order to effectively train up to the new level cap, however. Unfortunately, there is no word on when the second DLC will be coming out or whether or not the level cap will be raised.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
