After many years of absence, the world of Dragon Ball, full of excitement and suspense, returns to us with the anticipated new fighting game Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco.
The game generated great enthusiasm among fans, but it also sparked widespread controversy over the developers’ decision to unbalance the characters. Is this a bold decision that will revive the magic of the series, or is it a fatal mistake that will lead to the game’s failure? In this article, we'll delve deeper into this controversy, exploring how imbalance can actually be a positive feature, and how it can serve to see the game as a perfect simulation of the Dragon Ball universe.
It's something that could be strange, but in a recent interview with GamesRadar with producer Jun Furutani, it was hinted that the characters will not be balanced and this is one of the best things for the success of the game, although this is something that is disappointing for players who love competitive fighting games, which It is primarily focused on e-sports. Ultimately, this is an arcade fighting game and is designed for fans of the series' crazy combat.
Previous Budokai Tenkaichi games had characters that were stronger than others, giant characters like Broly and the Great Apes would have powerful armor, and while most characters wouldn't be able to defeat them with a single punch, any beam attack from some characters might damage a character more From another.
Imagine, dear reader, if a character like Yamcha walked up to Beerus and challenged him to a fight and was able to win fairly. It's a good thing, but this wouldn't make sense in the canon of the series. What would likely happen is that Beerus wouldn't even notice Yamcha. The first scenario is entirely possible in a game like FighterZ, and in the context of the manga and anime, the latter scenario will occur because it is a simulation for fans of the series.
Some characters use special moves that can give them an advantage with knowledge of Law, for example Devilman from DragonBall has a move called “Devilmite Beam”, which deals different damage depending on the identity of the opponent, in the Law series Devilman takes an opponent's negative thoughts and uses them against him. For good characters it won't do much at all, but for evil characters it can take away up to half of their health and depends largely on the player's knowledge of the tiger.
In the same GamesRadar interview, Furutani stated that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is definitely not an esport game like FighterZ. This may upset some players. Sparking Zero is a 3D fighting game that is only focused on fun and for everyone who is a passionate fan of the series.
Even if the game isn't big and fair enough to make it to big events like EVO, it doesn't mean that dedicated people won't come together and hold their own tournaments. When the community becomes large enough, they will set their own rules for other players to make the game as balanced as possible. They can go from only playing by certain rules to completely banning certain characters.
This is what happened with the Super Smash Brothers community. Before the series became big, a smaller community came together at local events and created the rules that are now common. If SparkingZero is a huge success, we'll likely see encounter types and rules become popular.
It's not all as bad as you imagine, dear reader, if you want some kind of balance in the game. In the interview, Furutani said that they added something called the “cost system,” which makes it seem that each character has its own cost. If there is a certain limit, players can only choose no more than this cost.
In the example mentioned by Furutani, he set this limit at thirty. Players can choose up to five characters to play with. Players must choose the players while taking care not to exceed this limit. While one player may be able to choose five characters to play, his opponent may be able to Choose only one or two characters. While the latter may have the advantage of strength, the former will have the advantage of numbers. A smart player can use his character's strengths well enough to be able to win by force or numbers.
One of the best moments in fighting games is when the opponent who chooses the stronger character is defeated. Especially in the presence of friends playing against each other, the player who wins with the weakest character has every right to make his friend angry with sarcasm. Certainly, these are moments to brag about.
The last word
In the end Sparking Zero is a game that aims to be fun, not many players want to spend time learning the deep combat mechanics, as most of the general public wants to choose their favorite character and jump into battle mindlessly.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to take the game seriously and be the best player in the world, every player should be able to enjoy the game the way they want. Sparking Zero is the biggest game in the series yet and with more characters appearing with each episode, it's a dream come true for every anime fan.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will be available on October 11 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series
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