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

[Bardock God of Time]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tq44hKBQik

lmao Bandai uploaded the Super & Movies trailer from months ago

[miguelnuva1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tq44hKBQik

lmao Bandai uploaded the Super & Movies trailer from months ago

Looks like it's promoting a discount.

[WittyUsername]

One thing’s for sure; there’s no way this game will have the longevity that XV2 has had. The whole appeal of this game in the first place was the fact that it was the long fabled continuation of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, and that novelty has officially worn out.

[miguelnuva1]

One thing’s for sure; there’s no way this game will have the longevity that XV2 has had. The whole appeal of this game in the first place was the fact that it was the long fabled continuation of the Budokai Tenkaichi series, and that novelty has officially worn out.

Xenoverse 2 has a character creator. Of they added character creator into sparking zero tomorrow at the level of Xenoverse 2 player count would go way up.

Xenoverse let's you find as your character. That with custom battle alone would add years to this game.

[Scsigs]

I think the long gaps between DLC is not good for the game. Not to mention, we don't get much new content besides characters and bonus battles. Where's some new story DLC? Like, seriously.

The last DLC was just characters and !exclusive! costume, that is just a set of one ultimate move for Goku Mini and his SSJ form...
No bonus missions, nothing. And we basically got just 4 new characters... Vegeta Mini, Glorio, Pansy and Kuu.
Even tho I enjoy the characters, I was more happy with Super Hero DLC and even that felt lackluster a bit.

I won't be surprised, if the support for the game ends with DLC3 and they will announce another game for this year, not related to SZ and come up with sequel in the meantime, that will have all those extra characters that were "missing" and more content and updates with 60+ dollar price tag ))))
Instead of improvement and support like the other games get. I have no idea, what is going on behind the scenes, but it is undeniable, that SZ is not receiving as much care, ongoing development and support from Spike Chunsoft as it could and probably should have.

This is a thing I hate about this era in gaming. Games that barely do the bare minimum & don't feel like complete packages before the DLCs come out. I don't know if it's because of the timetables these games are made in, but too many games are like this today & I hate it.

Story DLC gives more people more reason to return to the game after they stopped playing

Nah, disagree. That's diminishing returns at best.

Some people might play the story DLC once for a few hours (if that) and then never touch it again. The totality of the base game's story is already pretty lengthy and did its replayability no favors. Kakarot is much better suited to this kind of thing than SZ.

For any fighting game, including arena fighters, the side modes are going to be the bread and butter of its single player replayability for the vast majority of its audience. I've gotten way more mileage out of custom battle alone than anything in the story mode.

The first DLC was $18 for some reason even though it didn't have more content than DLC 2 did, which is $10. For $18, which is generally MORE than any single piece of DLC Xenoverse 2 has had, you'd expect more to it than just characters. It's not out of the ordinary for people to have expected something more substantial for either the update the game got for the first DLC, or the DLC itself. I didn't give Kingdom Hearts 3's Re:Mind DLC too much shit for being $30, $40 if you want the concert video with it (though I think it's a bit much for a DLC expansion) since it had story DLC & a whole host of super bosses, plus the update for the game with it added some nice quality of life updates. It at least felt like you were getting your money's worth. These don't.

It's only diminishing returns if it's not what people are clamoring for, or if the base game didn't already do a good job with the story stuff the devs put into it. Some of the story modes feel too short & some also could've used a few more substantive what-ifs, which would be perfect for DLCs. Many people would've checked back into the game if these were included in the DLCs.
Kakarot's main draw is to play through the story of Z & the DLCs for that game reflect that as well. This game also included a story mode that experimented with the formula & included a whole batch of new what-ifs. I think it's not out of the realm of possibility for them to put more in as DLCs. I mean, hell, Xenoverse 2 is a case study in how to give your playerbase content for years, make it appealing, & make money from it. This game could have something similar.

I mean, sure. And there aren't a ton of modes in the game that will keep most people coming back to the game. Once you're done with the story modes, there are tournaments & VS modes against the AI or other people if you have anyone to play local co-op with. If you don't there's the custom battles, but that's only if you wanna spend the time actually making what-if stories with no voice acting & bare cutscenes. Not to mention the grammar errors that can come from it given the ones made by the devs. If you're not into those, there's the online modes, which are horribly balanced & full of people who either use cheap strats, or are too skilled & use powerful characters. It's really no surprise from the Steam charts alone that a lot of the players stopped playing the game a bit after it came out because of these things. A lesson for the devs to learn from.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

This is a thing I hate about this era in gaming. Games that barely do the bare minimum & don't feel like complete packages before the DLCs come out. I don't know if it's because of the timetables these games are made in, but too many games are like this today & I hate it.

I completely agree. I would have rather seen them release an HD version of Tenkaichi 3 with new characters, story scenarios, stages, etc... (basically what Team BT4 does) rather than the game we got to be honest. Sparking Zero took between 4-5 years to develop, but I honestly can't see where all that time went. This is an issue I have with the gaming industry as a whole, where developers spend between half and a full decade in development with very little to show for it. Rocksteady's Suicide Squad game that came out last year was in some form or another of development for NINE years... Sparking Zero is a visually stunning game to look at, but besides looks, what does it do that Tenkaichi 3 and its various mods don't do much better ?

[Jord]

FighterZ didn't just get fighters. It got a new stage (Galactic Arena) and new modus such as the training section with the ToP game mode in it. It also got an update enabling handicap matches. (Although it isn't very well balanced)

[mecha3000]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3886XXieoaY

bro when even ps2 games arebetter withthe extremely outdated technology you know they fucked up jesus christ

Tenkaichi 3 was soooooo ahead of its time. If you want to play a proper sequel to it, I highly recommend Team BT4's Tenkaichi 4 mod. That mod is handled with such professionalism that wouldn't be blamed for mistaking it for an official game.

I REALLY agree with you about the Team BT4 mod. I actually recommended it on a separate thread a few years ago before Zero was announced, but it got little traction. That game actually feels and plays like Tenkaichi 4 as if it came out in '08 if Super was a thing back then. Makes sense being an improved Tenkaichi 3 mod and all. And honestly Zero feels more like a reboot than a true sequel. With the BT4 mod, there's multiple game modes, an actual story mode for Super, and the best music from all the classic PS2/PS3 games from Budokai to Ultimate Tenkaichi, which was my favorite run of games from my childhood and adolescence.

As for the recent Zero DLC, playing as Mini Goku and Mini Vegeta made me realize something. The Super characters are kind of like the new "Z" characters and the Daima characters are the new "GT" characters (separate thread incoming). And to be fair, it makes sense. Z and GT are from the '90s while Super and Daima are from the 2010s and 2020s. To younger fans playing Zero as their Tenkaichi game, the Super and Daima characters probably fulfill what Z and GT were for us older fans with classic Tenkaichi.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

I REALLY agree with you about the Team BT4 mod. I actually recommended it on a separate thread a few years ago before Zero was announced, but it got little traction.

It may not be popular here, but it's quite popular in the DB gaming community, understandably so. Their next update will allow for customizable super and ultimate attacks like in Raging Blast. This team is sooooooo talented.

Zero feels more like a reboot than a true sequel.

Exactly, which is why I don't understand why they felt the need to include so many characters in it out of the gate. Less characters would've resulted in tighter gameplay and more modes to enjoy, as well as potentially more stages to play in. 100-125 characters between Z and Super would've been more than enough, with the likes of GT, DB, and the old movies being saved for either DLC or a sequel.

[MCDaveG]

I REALLY agree with you about the Team BT4 mod. I actually recommended it on a separate thread a few years ago before Zero was announced, but it got little traction.

It may not be popular here, but it's quite popular in the DB gaming community, understandably so. Their next update will allow for customizable super and ultimate attacks like in Raging Blast. This team is sooooooo talented.

Zero feels more like a reboot than a true sequel.

Exactly, which is why I don't understand why they felt the need to include so many characters in it out of the gate. Less characters would've resulted in tighter gameplay and more modes to enjoy, as well as potentially more stages to play in. 100-125 characters between Z and Super would've been more than enough, with the likes of GT, DB, and the old movies being saved for either DLC or a sequel.

Maybe they felt the pressure of people complaining each time with the series after BT3, that it had large roster but the RB games barelly scratched it... But I remember some strong voices, mostly from Latin America, wrecking the Bandai Namco FB page under almost all the posts – give us BT4, more characters, yada yada. Hence 70 % of development went into characters and time ran out for customization, costumes and accesories.

I still don't wanna lose hope with the last DLC and with that questionaire from Bandai we filled up, but it's hard.
I've spent like hour and half tots playing with the new characters and tried them out pretty much and now the DLC is used up... I need more There is nothing to do anymore, besides hunting Dragon Balls and slowly buying out the voices in shop.
I might try custom battles, when I will be super bored and there is also online play, but not really much people on PS5 honestly, when I login and search for play modes.

[Mr Baggins]

It's only diminishing returns if it's not what people are clamoring for, or if the base game didn't already do a good job with the story stuff the devs put into it.

That's exactly it, though. People on the socials are clamoring more for old modes from the series than any story-based content, and the base game's story mode is more than sufficient with the time it takes to fully get through it. Case in point, I don't see more of the latter getting demanded much at all. Again, this kind of stuff in fighting games is generally a one-and-done deal.

Obviously, this is all anecdotal and subjective as hell. But I will never care about watching slideshows of Daima in SZ or whatever when I can get a much better version of that in Kakarot.

Nothing that Xenoverse can put out will ever appeal to me, but I won't argue with a similar frequency of post-launch support.

[miguelnuva1]

I REALLY agree with you about the Team BT4 mod. I actually recommended it on a separate thread a few years ago before Zero was announced, but it got little traction.

It may not be popular here, but it's quite popular in the DB gaming community, understandably so. Their next update will allow for customizable super and ultimate attacks like in Raging Blast. This team is sooooooo talented.

Zero feels more like a reboot than a true sequel.

Exactly, which is why I don't understand why they felt the need to include so many characters in it out of the gate. Less characters would've resulted in tighter gameplay and more modes to enjoy, as well as potentially more stages to play in. 100-125 characters between Z and Super would've been more than enough, with the likes of GT, DB, and the old movies being saved for either DLC or a sequel.

I can guarantee this game would have had more overall disappointment if the character roster wqs cut which is what hampered Raging Blast.

Depending on if Sparking Zero(which was a soft reboot) gets more dlc or a sequel we will see but what modes are you missing that would have drastically improved the game for you?

[Vegeta th3 4th]

I can guarantee this game would have had more overall disappointment if the character roster was cut which is what hampered Raging Blast.

What hurt RB was its gameplay more than anything else, as it as a major step down from BT2 and especially BT3. As for the characters, I don't think many would've had an issue with the cut had the actual arcs been fully represented. The Buu arc for example was missing both Dabura and Mystic Gohan. The Cell arc was missing Mecha Freeza and Future Gohan. They had Videl in the game but not Spopovich. The game was also short on stages, only having ten if I'm remembering correctly.

What modes are you missing that would have drastically improved the game for you?

I would've liked to see mission 100 make a comeback. The parallel quests from XV2 would've been a great addition with all those characters. These wouldn't fix the issues I have with the actual gameplay, but they would've kept me coming back to the game at least.

[Scsigs]

Just saw this video going over the patch for the DLC & I think a lot of these are steps in the right direction.
https://youtu.be/IJlsHs_s07s?si=4-d3e8koYZ99NtVX

[Bardock God of Time]

What DLCs would you guys like to see next?

I'd like a GT DLC to include these characters, of course they wouldn't all be in the same DLC pack

Trunks (GT) Base, SSJ
Goten (GT) Base, SSJ
Ledgic
General Rildo: Base, Fusion, Metal
Vegeta (GT) Base, SSJ
Super 17
All the Shadow Dragons
Goku Jr.: Base, SSJ
Vegeta Jr.: Base, SSJ

Other characters like Mutchy & Luud would be cool but I'd rather have Ledgic & Rildo over them.

Another hope I have is that they'd include some DLC stories for the GT DLC. Goku, Pan, Trunks, Vegeta and Uub. All with some what if stories.

Goku What If: What If Goku wasn't turned into a kid but the Pilaf Gang still used the Black Star Dragon Balls?
Pan What If: What If Pan went SSJ after finding out about Giru's "Betrayal" and helps beat General Rildo
Trunks What If: What If Trunks defeated Baby before getting possessed? No SSJ4, so they're gonna have a bad time against Super 17 lol but maybe we could get Adult Gotenks to help?
Vegeta What If: What If Vegeta wasn't possessed by Baby, Baby Trunks (from DBHeroes) insues or Baby Goku :O
Uub: What If Uub avoided the reflected Chocolate Beam and defeats Baby

[Kaboom]

Doing a "What if Baby possessed Gohan instead of Vegeta" what-if could make a neat counterpart to the Gohan Black one.

[Trouser]

What DLCs would you guys like to see next?

I'd like a GT DLC to include these characters, of course they wouldn't all be in the same DLC pack

Trunks (GT) Base, SSJ
Goten (GT) Base, SSJ
Ledgic
General Rildo: Base, Fusion, Metal
Vegeta (GT) Base, SSJ
Super 17
All the Shadow Dragons
Goku Jr.: Base, SSJ
Vegeta Jr.: Base, SSJ

I want this with all my heart, especially the bolded ones. Funny thing is that Future Trunks has interactions with Pan (GT) and Goku (GT) about grand adventure so I guess Trunks (GT) was meant to be in the vanilla roster but something (greed for DLC's ¥¥¥) happened and he was unfortunately left out.

[Scsigs]

What DLCs would you guys like to see next?

I'd like a GT DLC to include these characters, of course they wouldn't all be in the same DLC pack

Trunks (GT) Base, SSJ
Goten (GT) Base, SSJ
Ledgic
General Rildo: Base, Fusion, Metal
Vegeta (GT) Base, SSJ
Super 17
All the Shadow Dragons
Goku Jr.: Base, SSJ
Vegeta Jr.: Base, SSJ

Other characters like Mutchy & Luud would be cool but I'd rather have Ledgic & Rildo over them.

Another hope I have is that they'd include some DLC stories for the GT DLC. Goku, Pan, Trunks, Vegeta and Uub. All with some what if stories.

Goku What If: What If Goku wasn't turned into a kid but the Pilaf Gang still used the Black Star Dragon Balls?
Pan What If: What If Pan went SSJ after finding out about Giru's "Betrayal" and helps beat General Rildo
Trunks What If: What If Trunks defeated Baby before getting possessed? No SSJ4, so they're gonna have a bad time against Super 17 lol but maybe we could get Adult Gotenks to help?
Vegeta What If: What If Vegeta wasn't possessed by Baby, Baby Trunks (from DBHeroes) ensues or Baby Goku :O
Uub: What If Uub avoided the reflected Chocolate Beam and defeats Baby

I...don't think they're gonna be interested in doing much GT content, tbh. At most, I can see them doing Super 17, GT Vegeta (though they may consider him covered since they put SS4 Vegeta in the base game), GT Trunks, GT Goten, & Nuova & Eice Shenrons. Maybe also GT 18. I can't see them wasting time or money on the rest of the Shadow Dragons, or any of the machine mutants. GT is still the least popular series in the franchise &, while it has its fans, most of the series doesn't translate into sales. I'm sorry, but the sooner more people who like GT accept this reality, the better conversations we can have. I've had this discussion before whether it was in this thread or another one.

Now, I would expect them to do more Daima stuff with SS4 Goku mini, Daima adult Goku (base, SS, SS4), Daima Vegeta (base, SS, SS3), & probably a few more characters like mini Piccolo & Glorio. I can see them making Glorio a character with a giant form.

What I WOULD expect is more OG DB representation. Teen Krillin, King Piccolo, General Blue, Devilman, the Pilaf gang in their mech, Mercenary Tao, etc. Maybe Goku from the Lord Slug movie with false Super Saiyan too. I can also see them possibly adding teen Trunks & Goten from Super Hero.

[Koitsukai]

What DLCs would you guys like to see next?

I'd like a GT DLC to include these characters, of course they wouldn't all be in the same DLC pack

Trunks (GT) Base, SSJ
Goten (GT) Base, SSJ
Ledgic
General Rildo: Base, Fusion, Metal
Vegeta (GT) Base, SSJ
Super 17
All the Shadow Dragons
Goku Jr.: Base, SSJ
Vegeta Jr.: Base, SSJ

Other characters like Mutchy & Luud would be cool but I'd rather have Ledgic & Rildo over them.

Another hope I have is that they'd include some DLC stories for the GT DLC. Goku, Pan, Trunks, Vegeta and Uub. All with some what if stories.

Goku What If: What If Goku wasn't turned into a kid but the Pilaf Gang still used the Black Star Dragon Balls?
Pan What If: What If Pan went SSJ after finding out about Giru's "Betrayal" and helps beat General Rildo
Trunks What If: What If Trunks defeated Baby before getting possessed? No SSJ4, so they're gonna have a bad time against Super 17 lol but maybe we could get Adult Gotenks to help?
Vegeta What If: What If Vegeta wasn't possessed by Baby, Baby Trunks (from DBHeroes) insues or Baby Goku :O
Uub: What If Uub avoided the reflected Chocolate Beam and defeats Baby

That would be great, although the What Ifs... are never going to happen. If SH didn't get any of that, if Daima isn't getting any of that, GT is not getting that either.

I would replace Goku Jr and Vegeta Jr for Ruudo and Mutchy, though. I'm no Goku hater, but we already have plenty of Gokus in-game as it is to add more brats that have no known movesets at all.

If the idea is to support the game a little longer, focused DLCs could definitely be the way to go. Stage DLC, GT DLC, ToP DLC, Movies DLC.
But I doubt we'll ever get the 7 shadow dragons, even though the first 4 dragons should bring plenty of new styles to the game.
The first one could deplete your health as the fight goes on, so you have to beat him before your HP runs out.
The 2nd one could be in constant sparking mode.

But, probably just the main three, as usual. If at all.

[Bardock God of Time]

https://xcancel.com/Gmedia_Games/status ... 5939216690

Sparking Zero rated for the Switch 2