#.:momo plays dbz kakarot:.

[risingsouls]

[Alright! I finished the Bardock DLC and I’ll put in some final thoughts--]

[I liked it a whole lot. They did a really good job with it in both staying true to the OG TV special while adding a few tidbits here and there like an ACTUAL final fight with Frieza that was REALLY cool with the BIG attacks and throwing in the visions here and there in the middle of the fight. They stayed true to Bardock, his team, and the overall themes of his story. At least originally before Super has come in and...well, you know what they’ve done.

While I wasn’t like super surprised to not see Gine, I was a little, considering they didn’t shy away from shoehorning in ideas and retcons introduced in Super/post DBZ into the main game on several occasions. It would have been kind of nice to see her, replace the final side mission with Melone with her or something, but of course not. They probably would have made it stupid anyway, considering out dirty they do their female characters constantly, so maybe it’s for the best. I am also very glad they didn’t bring in the Beerus bs or allude to him at all. Fucking HATE that narrative from Super as you all know.

Definitely got me all up in my feels (which was expected especially since Aunt Flo is visiting) so they did pretty good with that. AND ALSO. Technically, I’m NOT done. You get to play as Baby Geets! :D Which I will do tomorrow and will likely talk about then.

But yeah. The main story of this DLC was really neato and enjoyable. A few hiccups because why wouldn’t there be (looking at that bs with Fasha, esp), but overall? Fun stuff and decently challenging. Ish.]

[gerudospiriit]

[risingsouls]

[Finished the Planet Kanassa missions and oof. I got some mad feels and thoughts.]

[First I’ll go with just overall general thoughts. I really enjoyed it and liked the gameplay. They basically added mob fights to the game, which makes sense, so it keeps it from getting too repetitive. It looked gorgeous as the rest of the game has and I’m having fun overall with the DLC. The characters are fun and it’s neat to see their dynamics and how that’s maintained here and whatnot and just goooood shiiiit.

Now for some more specific feels. First, a small one. As far as this game goes and what I remember of the main story, they honestly somehow managed to make Bardock more brutal and callous than Vegeta. Like damn some of the shit he says is just cruel and had me muttering “fucking christ, bardock” more than a few times. And it’s like...you know he IS that way, and that’s how the special portrayed him, but I guess with the combination of seeing more of it through the gameplay and being bombarded more often these days with Super’s “softer” rendition of Bardock, it was insane. And maybe that’s also because we don’t get to see or play as Vegeta in this game in a situation like purging a planet for Freezie pop, but damn. They really are doing it wrong with Vegeta when Bardock makes him look almost saintly. In this game at least.

The other thing that I think might have been the best(?) part of this particular part of the DLC and its execution is just...that sinking gut feeling you have the entire time that comes with being in control of the ones slaughtering innocent people for an empire’s greed. Or maybe that’s just me because I RP a ton of characters tied to the Cold Empire. Either way, watching and listening to Bardock, Tora, Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh discuss and interact with the Kanassans was like...poignant and almost hard to stomach. Juxtaposed with the characters’ excitement and enjoyment of it all it’s like this weird combination of wanting to share in the emotions of the character you’re controlling but 😬😬 on a base level you just can’t. Not completely, because you know YOU’RE the bad guy here. So yeah. I think they did an excellent job not only juxtaposing the Kanassans’ reactions to the Saiyans’ excitement, but also in getting it all to elicit that big oof feeling from the player, too.

Last small thing, more related to my bs than anything: Nabs was absolutely having a bad time watching that because it brought back all her trauma from being on the force. Even Bardock flinched a few times and that’s HIM. I’ve also been re-reading my fic so I’m in the early part and that’s full of Nabooru’s existential moral crises and then we get this SO. :’3]

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[BABY BOI BABY. This scene was weird but...BABY.

Also Bardock, he absolutely is a spoiled brat and idk why they're trying to portray him as not that and like...less haughty than he was? More Vegeta watering down i guess.]

[risingsouls]

[I’m so fucking happy to see the team interact. I love seeing more of their dynamic and it makes me so happy. 😭😭]

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[Now I for real finished off the Bardock DLC and here are my few thoughts:]

[I guess I’m not SUPER surprised, but it was very short and basically just a replay of the scenes we get in the TV special. You fight some Saibamen, then Cui--who apparently started his beef with Vegeta when he was a kid lmao--and then go to the planet to purge before getting the news of Planet Vegeta’s destruction. They didn’t add any fun little extra side quests or dialogue really which sucks because ugh. This would have been a perfect opportunity to show what Vegeta’s life was like before the Frieza Force and whatnot but no. We can’t have nice things.

While I was a little afraid of the making baby Geets soft and watering him down, they did not do that and I was glad to see him be the absolute gremlin he should be. He was bossy, bratty, sassy, and callous af and I was about it. He was also fun to fight with.

But overall it was a fun if not too short little extension of a good DLC. Baby Geets is so smol and it’s adorable to watch him do his thing. And we also got some Nappa content which is always a plus.]

[risingsouls]

[GOD. Tora. You poor man having to put up with these guys. Fasha and Bardock are always challenging each other and he’s just like “SIGH we’re a TEAM guys!”

I love it. :’3 Bardock and Fasha being hyper competitive with each other is so great.]

[risingsouls]

[My Cramps from Hell and current big :D about the Bardock DLC pushed my mind to a few small 😒🙄 moment I had with it so far (which isn't far in and is absolutely my Feminist Rage coming out BUT). Spoilers ahead.

I was pretty disappointed that Fasha's side quest revolved around a romantic subplot. With the other members of the team, they fought with you for whatever reason, but for hers, it was Bardock confronting a guy that was simping over Fasha and fighting him to help him get stronger so he could talk to her. Then she of course has the whole inner monlogue about how sweet it was that he was willing to get his ass beat for her and that she might be interested now and blah blah blah. But she didn't fight and it just irks me because of course the women have to be part of some romantic bs and it's just so lame that, even with a SAIYAN woman, we're going to keep her within the box they're "comfortable" with putting them in. Plus like sorry but Fasha would absolutely deal with that kind of shit on her own ok. She don't need Bardock lmao.

I would have been more intrigued if the forced their dumb romance bs on ducking Shugesh or Borgos. 🤣🤣🤣 Instead, they got the SAIYANS ONLY CARE ABOUT FOOOOOOOD trope. Which is big yawn but not quite as egregious as how they did Fasha dirty.

Also. I say again. Bardock and Tora have that big Achilles and Patrclus energy and I will never change my mind.]

[risingsouls]

[This one under the cut because it’s more spoiler-y--]

[So there’s a side mission in this where it seems like Frieza or the force in general have been monitoring the Saiyans for a while, Bardock in particular apparently. I like that, because it gives some confirmation/makes better sense of why Frieza knew about Bardock and the Saiyans getting stronger in general (and maybe a few other things like King Vegeta and his plans at his attempted coup? That probs won’t come up here, but food for thought on how much Frieza knew). Bardock also becomes suspicious of the Frieza Force and whatnot, giving reason for him to suspect he’s up to something. Which is nice because it’s more organic than the psychic powers (which I’m guessing might still be coming but).

Or this was all just orchestrated by the Ginyu Force to try and get a new member because of the follow up missions, meaning the first part of that theory might be moot but EH.]

[risingsouls]

[I don’t know why everyone was so shocked Bardock didn’t want to go see Kakarot. Like I’m glad they kept Bardock IC and had him be like “nah i got a fun fight to get to, bai” but idk. Seemed weird that the rest of his team and the doctors were all shocked he didn’t care to go. I know there’s the scene in the special where Fasha asks him about it and is like “wow you forgot already damn” so idk maybe I’m being too analytical and critical xD

Also, again. Tora is the real leader of this team. He’s calling the shots and telling everyone to not get in trouble/hurt/out of control/etc. Bardock is just the face. 🤣🤣]

[risingsouls]

[I forgot how absolutely OP Big Bang Attack is. I love it.]

[risingsouls]

[Gohan: I feel like I’m losing energy!

Piccolo: Don’t whine about being hungry!

Vegeta: I need to get something to eat...

Piccolo: Don’t you need to eat, Vegeta?

When your green dad is nicer to the evil saiyan than he is to you :’3]

[risingsouls]

[ vegeta just broke the fourth wall. i was driving with gohan with him as passenger and he was like, "Just because this is a game doesn't mean you can slack off!"

I can’t :’D]