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

[Jord]

Really cool trailer. Got super excited when "Saikyou no Fusion" started playing. But then it said "This background music is not included in the game."

Well, FighterZ did include anime music but those were short versions that looped with noticeable breaks between each loop.

[Cold Skin]

In fact, it'd be really freakin' cool if one of the next big character showcases was all three versions of Kid Goku — DB, GT, and Daima — being revealed together.

A triple Kid Goku reveal would actually be a really good idea. Both thematically and as a way to symbolize all three shows for the revelation of their inclusion. I actually want all three of them, they all have a specific charisma! (granted, we haven't seen much of Daima Goku yet, but I trust he'll be good!)

[Bardock God of Time]

In fact, it'd be really freakin' cool if one of the next big character showcases was all three versions of Kid Goku — DB, GT, and Daima — being revealed together.

A triple Kid Goku reveal would actually be a really good idea. Both thematically and as a way to symbolize all three shows for the revelation of their inclusion. I actually want all three of them, they all have a specific charisma! (granted, we haven't seen much of Daima Goku yet, but I trust he'll be good!)

A massive Goku & Goku look-a-like trailer?

Bardock, Bardock SSJ, Kid Goku, Great Ape Kid Goku, Daima Goku, GT Goku, GT Goku SSJ, GT Goku SSJ3, Golden Great Ape?, GT Goku SSJ4, Goku Black, Goku Black Rose

I wonder if we'd get Teen Goku from the Piccolo Jr arc...

I think they'd save UI Omen and UI Goku for a Tournament of Power trailer

[DarkPrince_92]

A massive Goku & Goku look-a-like trailer?

Bardock, Bardock SSJ, Kid Goku, Great Ape Kid Goku, Daima Goku, GT Goku, GT Goku SSJ, GT Goku SSJ3, Golden Great Ape?, GT Goku SSJ4, Goku Black, Goku Black Rose

I wonder if we'd get Teen Goku from the Piccolo Jr arc...

I think they'd save UI Omen and UI Goku for a Tournament of Power trailer

Don't forget Turles and Great Ape Turles! The OG Goku Black.

Speaking of Piccolo Jr, would love to see King Piccolo or the Piccolo from the 23rd Budokai.

Also, I noticed Gogeta is Gogeta from Super Broly, obviously. But then we see Vegito in base using his moves from Z, then we see Vegito Blue. Not sure if what that means for a Z Gogeta. I have questions!

Lastly, animation nitpick. I don't like how the auras float in the background, it never really looks like its shrouding the character. And the hair movement is more floaty than flowy. Looks crazy sometimes. BUT, the other effects and impact frames look really good.


Side note: I feel like a kid again the way I'm ready for the game

[Cold Skin]

And don't forget Goku Junior!
Be careful what you wish for, too many Goku look-alikes revealed at the same time can lead to a fatal happiness overdose or a lethal baddassery overdose!

[The S]

Speaking of Piccolo Jr, would love to see King Piccolo or the Piccolo from the 23rd Budokai.

The fact that we had "Piccolo (Early)" and "Piccolo (End)" in BT3 but the one on the site is listed as just "Piccolo" is weird. Having a DB Majunior would be a good compromise, but I can't help but feel like he'd still fight differently than even early DBZ Piccolo (no MSP in DB, no giant form in Z)

[Makaioshin]

Glad to see Zamasu uses with his Lightning of Absolution bird as an attack. It is a very grand technique that I wasn't sure would be included. I hope the Infinite form appears somehow even as just a separate stage. Games have been eager on including that recently so maybe...

The characters in general continue to look off which is disappointing but expected at this point. I hope the models are touched up more in the final version.

[omegalucas]

I am confortable with the current Z and Super-centered roster considering the DLC treatment Bandai Namco has been giving the Dragon Ball games these last few years. This being freaking Tenkaichi I'm sure they'll milk it (in a good way) as much as they have milked 2016's Xenoverse 2. We'll definitely get movie, GT and Daima themed DLC later on. Especially for a series that loves to brag about the amount of characters covered.

[Cold Skin]

^ Yeah, I think you're exactly right, that's how I expect things to be too!

[Thanos]

And the hair movement is more floaty than flowy. Looks crazy sometimes.

This annoys me way more than it should. A character barely moves their head but their hair looks like they're on a roller coaster. It's SO distracting; especially when usually Super Saiyan hair is more stiff and less prone to movement. It's really distracting in this game how it looks wobbly and all over the place.

[ThunderPX]

Really cool trailer. Got super excited when "Saikyou no Fusion" started playing. But then it said "This background music is not included in the game."

Same! I can't remember the last time I got so hyped and then immediately disappointed. ^.^;

I hope there's a cool DLC pack with vocal tracks from the show. Or heck, even a custom soundtrack function like Super Robot Wars games have these days.

[Zephyr]

Frankly, the Z and Super focus shouldn't really be surprising to anyone, or even come across as egregious given what the Sparking series is.

Yeah, it's a shame that pre-Raditz material continues to not get as much play. In a perfect world, any game would give original manga stuff priority over supplementary stuff. But also, like, pre-Raditz characters didn't engage in combat the way Z, GT, and Super characters do, for the most part. And that's the sort of combat the Sparking games especially are mechanically built around. They've added some pre-Raditz characters, yeah, but most of those end up being mechanical outliers, being unable to fly.

I would much prefer a "Sparking-styled game that gave us Pilaf to Boo" see some more substantial tweaks to better represent the earlier portions' combat and not just "what if Kid Goku was just a really nerfed DBZ character". Work forwards, rather than backwards, if that makes sense. (Maybe Kakarot's 23rd TB DLC did this; I haven't played the game)

And while I love to see a big multi-continuity mashup in these games, I think the core continuity is the obvious main priority in terms of representation before adding stuff from the periphery. GT ain't it, Super is, sorry, the war is over. And Super has supplied at least seven stories to pull from over the past ten years. Sparking's "core continuity" representation effectively has to have this reboot now. I would say "wait for the rest of this new trilogy" to see it go really ham again, but obviously we'll just get DLC for the next 10 years instead.

Regardless, the quality of the stories themselves shouldn't even be a factor in the conversation, else we'd see many of the most vocal haters complaining that the Cell and Boo arcs get so much representation. It would also make the simultaneous pining for GT content deliciously ironic, given its dearth of fucking problems.

[Noah]

You know, the second lamest thing about this recent trailer is "This background music is not included in the game", I mean not even the Ultimate Blast rendition?

The first one is no STORY MODE trailer yet. Which sucks, I want know if they are really going all through Raditz to Jiren (or Broly).

[Kaboom]

Super can't even decide on a so-called "core continuity" for itself, much less sensibly serve as one for the entire franchise.

[Grimlock]

Super can't even decide on a so-called "core continuity" for itself, much less sensibly serve as one for the entire franchise.

Enough of your "hatredness" towards Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball Super is very clear in its continuity and is perfectly aligned with what was established by Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. So watch this game depict Bulma's party at her home and on her ship simultaneously, because that's what happened in the series. Watch Gotenks use both Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 3 (Super Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan 3) to fight Beerus, because those two forms were used in the series. Watch this game depict Freeza killing that dual-eyed scouter grunt only for him to reemerge so that Gotenks also hits him in the crotch, because that's what happened in the series. Watch this game mention Tarble while at the same time they don't mention him at all, because that's what happened in the series.

Dragon Ball Super is the one true continuity, in fact... And you heard from me first, for the first time ever... Dragon Ball Super is the sole canon of this franchise. Nothing else matters as long as we have Dragon Ball Super.

Your nonsense aside, I'm pretty sad that this awesome fusion trailer didn't include them. I hope I get to play as them.

[Noah]

Super can't even decide on a so-called "core continuity" for itself, much less sensibly serve as one for the entire franchise.

lol mate, I know you're not a big fan of DBS like me, but what has made you feel this aversion towards the series?

Anyway, it's obvious that they will consider Super (anime) since the only thing we had related to the manga in a core game was the Boo arc in Future Trunks' timeline, and that only happened because the anime was lazy in creating something more elaborate.

[Makaioshin]

<Kibitoshin>

Kibitoshin was included in the past but with so many new characters (and older popular characters relegated to DLC) I wonder if he will actually appear. Maybe with Shin's upcoming role in Daima he will get a boost.

As for which Super continuity is decided, just look at Corrupted Zamasu's wonderful face and all will be clear. For this is justice...

[Kaboom]

lol mate, I know you're not a big fan of DBS like me, but what has made you feel this aversion towards the series?

A straight decade of Super and its mediocrity being impossible to simply ignore because a certain vocal segment of the fanbase (not naming names, and like I said it's not very prevalent here) is fond of telling other fans "that older part of the franchise you love is meaningless and retroactively always was because both narratively distinct and incompatible versions of Super are somehow the '^O N ^E T^R U ^E C ^A N ^O N' at the same time and together they serve as the exclusive decider(s) of what is or isn't 'real' Dragon Ball anymore."

(Not Grimlock, I'm pretty sure he's just being facetious and playing along.)

So watch this game depict Bulma's party at her home and on her ship simultaneously, because that's what happened in the series. Watch Gotenks use both Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 3 (Super Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan 3) to fight Beerus, because those two forms were used in the series. Watch this game depict Freeza killing that dual-eyed scouter grunt only for him to reemerge so that Gotenks also hits him in the crotch, because that's what happened in the series. Watch this game mention Tarble while at the same time they don't mention him at all, because that's what happened in the series.

Let's not forget the Blue Kaio-Ken, which I'm certain the game will have Goku use both up to a 10-fold against Hit and then just a basic 2-fold against Geran three arcs later, while treating the latter as if it's the first time he's ever attempted the technique! "ONE TRUE CANON," BABY, YEAH!

[Thanos]

While I don't dislike Super as much as others seem to, it does kind of suck to see everything else take a backseat to it as an afterthought in some ways. The way GT used to be regarded versus Z now seems to be how everything is treated versus Super. I guess from a business standpoint it makes sense since it was responsible for breathing new life into Dragon Ball in the 2010's, but somehow it doesn't translate to particularly compelling video game content. I would still like to see a focus on Dragon Ball and Z with some Super and a bit of GT. Having obscure Super characters just doesn't feel the same as obscure DB/Z/GT characters.

[Kaboom]

Hold up, this is promising.

The version of Gogeta shown in the trailer is subsequently labeled in the character list on the official site as "Gogeta (Super)." And of course the most obvious reason that would need to be the case is to distinguish him from "Gogeta (Z)" and/or "Gogeta (GT)" additions.

...And just like that we have my first glimmer of hope for this game's roster. Now all I need is for them to show classic Bardock instead of his softened-and-sanitized imitation from Minus/Super, and that glimmer might be upgraded to a thin ray.