"Sparking! ZERO" Official Announcement & Pre-Release Discussion Thread

[Cold Skin]

^ That gives a bit of hope. If they're going to fulfill some dreams with the biggest roster of DB characters ever (other than with card games), they might as well create the biggest roster of stages ever, and creating variations could be an easy way to increase the count AND help the story being faithful (for example Trunks VS Cell and Goku VS Golden Freeza happen under a grey, clouded sky) AND give more "toys" to the fans to please them.

[Jord]

General Rildo could actually be a unique character, using his metal/planet based powers. I like his design as well. Does anyone know if he was ever in game before? I feel like he's one of the more interesting GT "bosses".

[Cold Skin]

^ He's most notably in the card-based games, like Dragon Ball Heroes, Dragon Ball Legends and Dokkan Battle.

[Rinsankajugin]

New V-Jump scans based on the Rivals theme. Nothing too new aside from screenshots, but the bottom of the Vegeta page does state that the next reveals will be themed around "Power vs Speed." That probably means we might get another trailer between now and next V-Jump.

[Cold Skin]

If the next announcement for characters that are yet to be revealed is indeed "Power VS Speed"... then, that will depend on what they call "speed", if they take it at face value or if it's basically "those who use other things that sheer power".
If that's another way of saying "those who are very powerful versus those who count more on agility and speed of reaction", then there can be many candidates, even Krilin could have counted in it with the way he managed to dodge Nappa for example, which was a case of "Power VS Speed".

If that's actual speed in that very specific sense, then we can think of Butta from the Ginyu commando and Dispo from the Pride Troopers, but I don't know who else would be really categorized as having specifically "speed" as the major advantage they count on, with it being explicitely shown/mentioned in the story.

[Gt91]

Maybe it refers to the speed of action of the characters? For example, giants are definitely slower than a ss4 gogeta, but on the other hand they do more damage.
Maybe they will focus on these details, perhaps showing buffed Trunks.

[Lukmendes]

Fights I can think of that had a character with focus on speed:

Krillin/Gohan vs Dodoria, with Dodoria being the slow one
Burter in general tries this but he only fought Goku, who's faster than him
Trunks vs Cell, with Cell using speed, and Cell even at the time said Trunks is stronger than him
Goku vs Cell and Gohan vs Cell also had moments where Cell's speed was the emphasis, and Gohan had a moment where his speed was the focus after he got SS2, but I doubt that counts
Omega vs SS4 Gogeta
Hit vs Dyspo, and Gohan/Freeza vs Dyspo

[Hellspawn28]

I wonder if Majin Vegeta vs. Super Saiyan 3 Goku in the trailer could be a what if moment in the story mode?

[Jord]

Pet peeve but I hate how Vegeta has his scouter on the fight against Goku in video games. He already destroyed it by then!

[Lukmendes]

I wonder if Majin Vegeta vs. Super Saiyan 3 Goku in the trailer could be a what if moment in the story mode?

I doubt that, the trailer is just about showing off Goku vs Vegeta's transformations, and to the point we get other fights that never happened, like Goku and Vegeta fighting as super saiyans in Namek. SS3 Goku vs Majin Vegeta is just a way to show off both transformations so they don't fight against a previous form.

[Hellspawn28]

I would like to see another story mode similar to B1 because it would be pretty awesome with today's visuals.

[Noah]

A long time ago, a fan had a project imagining concepts that could be introduced in a possible Raging Blast 3 game. Unfortunately, what we got later was Ultimate Tenkaichi, which, despite having nice destructive visuals, wasn't a really good game at all.

Well, back to the subject this project leaded to this video animation, where we could some good concepts like:

- One Goku character with several outfits as options
- Option to select which techniques/special attacks could be used in battle (something like Budokai 3 capsules)

I think these two could be very useful to avoid multiple characters and I really hope that could be a thing in Sparking Zero.

[MCDaveG]

I have no expectations anymore. I just hope that the game will be solid from start unlike XV2 and fun and that if more DLCS will come, they will blend in naturally, unlike XV2 again and Kakarot being upgraded outside of the main content.

From what I saw, the game is not on par with FighterZ visually, for obvious reasons, but it looks pretty good so far in trailers.
I was bit afraid about that, as the roster is supposed to be big and the modular approach of XV series set up some limitations together with the game being basically PS3/4 gen and going for so long plus the roster itself being basically preset CACs, so that makes me hyped actually.

Another thing I am hoping for is the OG soundtracks taken from the show like with previous Sparking titles, that were unfortunately stripped of it for western releases and I really really hope, that it won't be the same BGM pack with few tracks that got released for XV, Kakarot and FighterZ the same, having to buy it for handful of dollars and in two packs for each game.

Looking forward. The biggest issue for me is the gameplay. If they nailed it, then there is half of the success for me.
I did enjoy how Sparking and Raging Blast games played actually. It was simple, but working on input and AI was decent, which is something that turned me down hard on XV games, XV2 in particular, where it got broken with bad AI and DLC characters, when the roster was balanced for story purposes but not for versus gameplay at all and some of the convoluted combos didn't connected well, had completely broken input times and multiplayer was mostly about the right set of custom attacks that gave you advantage.

Hence Sparking! Zero is my hope for after work evening fun with putting my fav characters in versus against each other and having mindless fun with it. With flashy and cool looking attacks taken from the show

Another thing I am super curious for is the attention to detail, fan service and how will the promo and DLCs look like and connect into Dragon Ball Daima for example or some cross promotions with Legends and other games.

[Nickolaidas]

A long time ago, a fan had a project imagining concepts that could be introduced in a possible Raging Blast 3 game. Unfortunately, what we got later was Ultimate Tenkaichi, which, despite having nice destructive visuals, wasn't a really good game at all.

Well, back to the subject this project leaded to this video animation, where we could some good concepts like:

- One Goku character with several outfits as options
- Option to select which techniques/special attacks could be used in battle (something like Budokai 3 capsules)

I think these two could be very useful to avoid multiple characters and I really hope that could be a thing in Sparking Zero.

While I do believe transformations will be inserted on the same character slot, iterations of the character will still (probably) be separate slots. OG Goku will be his own slot (perhaps with Oozaru thrown for good measure), 23rd Budokai Goku will be his own thing, Z Goku will have Base, SSJ, SSJ2, SSJ3 in the same slot, and if they go with Super being its own thing, I expect a DB Super Goku to be Base, SSJ, SSJ2, SSJ3, SSG, Blue, Omen, Ultra. Throw in GT Goku into the mix and you end up with so many Gokus that they could fill the character roster of a PS1 era game.

And if this is the way they'll go, I won't lie. I won't like it. We're gonna have 30 different Gokus and that feels so unnecessary.

Still, better to have five Goku slots with 6 sub-slots each, than 30 Goku slots period.

[Mr Baggins]

From what I saw, the game is not on par with FighterZ visually, for obvious reasons, but it looks pretty good so far in trailers.

What obvious reasons? I think it looks way better than FighterZ's aesthetic, which is just a bit too reminiscent of modern Yamamuro designs from the anime – stiff, overly angular characters with squished faces and tiny head syndrome. Kinda uninspired, if you ask me.

To my eye, the artstyle from this game is a lot rounder with more Shintani-like features. Colors pop more, too.

[Anime Kitten]

The more I think about it, the more I struggle to understand why having multiple slots on the roster for one character is inherently a bad thing...

They've always been used in Tenkaichi games to not only represent different stages in characters' lives, but also to add some variety to movesets (as much as Tenkaichi allows, anyways) - which I think contributes a lot to the games' aim to feel as close to playing the show as possible.
One specific example of something I've always liked about, in particular, BT3's Early/Mid/End variations is Piccolo: his Early variant gives him more rounded eyes reminiscent of the series' art style at that point, and he even has Makankosappo as his Ultimate Blast, which I think is a cool contrast to it being just a Blast 2/regular super attack on his End variant (and in surrounding titles like BT2 and the Raging Blast games). And it's for this reason that I'm not thrilled about the Japanese website only listing "Piccolo" with no modifiers...

On that note, this is probably super specific to me, but... as much as I like RB's moveset customization, I love going down a list and recreating the actual fights from the series in versus mode, so having these even marginally different combo strings and the movesets tailored to specific parts of the story is greatly appreciated!

Also, I know the idea comes up sometimes that these variations are "wasting" slots that could go to other characters, but I at least can't imagine the dev team going, "if we just had two more slots, we could include General Rilld, but we can't have more than 164 so Mid Goku it is!"
That said, is there something I'm overlooking here? Am I just weird for liking to see parentheses next to character names?

[IntangibleFancy]

From what I saw, the game is not on par with FighterZ visually, for obvious reasons, but it looks pretty good so far in trailers.

What obvious reasons? I think it looks way better than FighterZ's aesthetic, which is just a bit too reminiscent of modern Yamamuro designs from the anime – stiff, overly angular characters with squished faces and tiny head syndrome. Kinda uninspired, if you ask me.

To my eye, the artstyle from this game is a lot rounder with more Shintani-like features. Colors pop more, too.

Eh, I think it works with DBS characters well, but it looks a bit off-place with Z. Like Goku when he Kaioken'd in the first part of the trailer looked really skinny, and again when he went Super Saiyan. If I'm not mistaken, they're just making one singular Goku instead of making new models or adding different features, which I get, he doesn't really change compared to Vegeta.

Not sure if this is a design choice or something like that, but I think the noses are way too wide. It looks good in certain angles, but throws off the whole face in others. Like when Goku did that kamehameha in the first trailer - it was just as good as it would look in FighterZ, but it doesn't look very good in this image.

Spoiler:

Vegeta has the same problem too, but it's not as noticeable. I did notice that the developers have been working on both of them, there are some differences compared to the game awards trailer, but it also looks like there's still a lot of work to be done (Vegeta needs some outline work), so I hope they find a workaround. I can't wait to see what they look like fully finished.

[Rinsankajugin]

Hmm, if I remember correctly, we have 11 Gokus on the roster at the moment (Early, Mid, Late, Super, and their transformations). I'm of the mindset that OG will get decent representation in the game, so Kid Goku and his Oozaru form should be in. I'm split when it comes to GT representation due to the recent interview, but I'm pretty sure at least GT Goku and his forms will make it in. Since DBS Future Trunks is already confirmed, Goku Black and Rose are pretty much a lock. I know 'insiders' said Daima Goku was going to be in, but depending on when this game releases, I have a gut feeling he could be Day 1 DLC or something of the sort. If Xeno Goku were to somehow make it in, he'd for sure be DLC material. So putting that all together, here's a list of all the confirmed AND potential Gokus on the Sparking Zero roster:

Base Game

• Kid Goku (Base, Oozaru)
• Early Goku
• Mid Goku (Base, Super Saiyan)
• Late Goku (Base, SS, SS2, SS3)
• Super Goku (Base, SS, SSG, SSB, Omen, UI)
• Goku Black (Base, SSR)
• GT Goku (Base, SS, SS3, SS4)

DLC

• Daima Goku
• Xeno Goku (Base, SS, SS3, SS4, SFPS4LB)

An estimate of 21 in the base roster, 27 with potential DLC.

[Bardock God of Time]

My hope for the DLC is they bring back the cut BT3 characters and stages.

The more I see roster predictions, the more I think we'll only see Kid Goku and King Piccolo in the roster.

There'll probably be an OG Dragon Ball DLC expansion with the OG Dragon Ball Story and a bunch of characters from BT3 but also with a few new ones like Kid Krillin.

I feel like the DLC needs to focus on the cut content first before adding characters like Android 21.

At least they'd have movesets from BT3 for reference for the characters who didn't make it in.

Another Dragon Ball character I think could make it in is Arale, just because she was in this DBS Filler Episode. She could have a new Ultimate where she splits the earth in two.

[Rinsankajugin]

My hope for the DLC is they bring back the cut BT3 characters and stages.

The more I see roster predictions, the more I think we'll only see Kid Goku and King Piccolo in the roster.

There'll probably be an OG Dragon Ball DLC expansion with the OG Dragon Ball Story and a bunch of characters from BT3 but also with a few new ones like Kid Krillin.

I feel like the DLC needs to focus on the cut content first before adding characters like Android 21.

At least they'd have movesets from BT3 for reference for the characters who didn't make it in.

Another Dragon Ball character I think could make it in is Arale, just because she was in this DBS Filler Episode. She could have a new Ultimate where she splits the earth in two.

I know it's not a confirmation, but if the Sonny Strait instagram post from a while back was referring to Sparking Zero (the one where he said he voiced 3 prominent characters), then that definitely refers to Krillin (already confirmed), Bardock (pretty much a lock), and most likely General Blue. If Blue is supposedly in this game, then there's a decent chance OG might have a good amount of reps. Probably not as much as BT3, but enough to tell the story in a decent manner.

That could probably also be more of a reason for Arale and the Penguin Village stage to return too, which means we could have her story fights from both OG and Super!