This morning we got a nice and in-depth look at the battle mechanics and gameplay elements of a normal fight of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. The showcase itself was only 12 minutes long but had many elements we hadn’t seen before of the game.
The first thing mentioned by Jun Furutani in the showcase is the difference in speed. The current movement he says is as fast as the dash speed in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, which makes the dash speed in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero even faster! This is intensified a lot by the speed of reaction abilities and counters in the game that we were able to see from the Goku Vs Vegeta fight.
The number in blue next to the character portraits he described as the skill counter. You can use the skill counter for several things. Counters is one we saw a lot of in the fight. You can use the skill counter to deplete some of the number accumulated to stop a giant ki blast from hitting you at the right time or to stop a combo that is about to get your character juggled by vanish attacks.
Another thing that I think fans of the games will appreciate they demonstrate in the bout against Vegeta and Goku is that transformations are in the game. Though I wonder at what level, in the match they had Vegeta and Goku go straight into Super Saiyan Blue. I hope we get to transform from Super Saiyan to Ultra Instinct in just one match. That is my big hope!
Quicktime button presses are back and do what they did in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, which adds extra power to the super attacks. The Sparking mode also makes a comeback where when you charge your Ki to the max and charge it afterward it will become blue and increase your character’s damage and evasion. Looks like the combo of continuously attacking with no combo finisher makes a comeback in Sparking mode as well.
One of my absolute favorite mechanics that they showed making a comeback was the beam clashes. Instead of mashing buttons to finish the fight, it looks like you just have to press the correct button at the best interval with the bar it shows.
The HUD overall looks like it is inspired by Xenoverse 2 and Kakarot’s HUD. Smaller bars and a normal-size portrait.
The Ki can be used for super attacks, dashes, vanish attacks, ki blasts, and vanishes before you get hit. Which will make Ki one of the most important bars you will need to keep an eye on. Health has multiple bars but can be taken down pretty quickly especially if you are stuck in a combo.
Still no release timeline but Dragon Ball Sparking Zero is still in active development and will be released on PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC.
