Highlights

  • Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will bring the Budokai Tenkaichi series back with a huge roster and new innovations.
  • Players can make dialogue choices that impact the story in Episode Battle mode, deviating from canon paths.
  • The game's obvious source of inspiration for RPG elements is likely to be Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, allowing for character progression and alternate routes.

Launching later this year, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is set to revive the Budokai Tenkaichi series with a bold entry for a new generation. Remaining true to the arena fighter genre while featuring a huge roster, this upcoming title has also been confirmed to be deviating from its predecessors with several innovations. Apart from the introduction of many members of Super's cast on top of classic faces, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has been revealed to be incorporating dialogue choices which will be able to cause divergences in the game's Episode Battle story mode.

While Sparking Zero will be following the formula of recapping many key events from Dragon Ball's lore through a set of iconic fights in Episode Battle, its depiction of these scenes might be of a higher caliber than previous attempts. On top of the cinematic, fully-animated cutscenes that have been shown off, players will also be able to make decisions that can affect situations and go against canon. This is a refreshing option in a franchise which has become characterized by retelling its stories on many occasions, but it also evokes the RPG systems of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot in a way that hints at a wider influence.

Son Goku Sparking Zero local multiplayer catch
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Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's Dialogue Choices Stand Out in Its Genre

Several major features appeared in Sparking Zero's game mode showcase from its team at Bandai Namco, with Episode and Custom Battle fulfilling much of what fans would want out of a fighting game experience. In an unexpected turn, however, it was also shown that the player could decide to have Piccolo accompany them or not in the fight between Goku and Raditz. This seemingly allows players to have the option between deciding to follow the canon path or seeing the alternate route instead, which appears geared toward providing a greater challenge or varied perspective. Producer Jun Furutani confirmed that this will extend throughout Episode Battle, offering opportunities to define a narrative outside the anime during multiple important fights.

Meaningful Story Choices Tend to Be Limited At Most in Fighting Games

While arena fighters technically separate themselves, it's still uncommon for the main story modes of any release in the fighting genre as a whole to have various paths or endings. Leveraging mechanics and the player's wins with decisions risks stepping into pseudo-RPG territory and throwing off game balance, but Sparking Zero's potential new features may be leaning into this through referencing a popular title from the same IP in recent years.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot May Have Informed Sparking Zero's Episode Battle Routes

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Can Utilize RPG Mechanics That Worked in Kakarot

The narrative of DBZ's Kakarot RPG is primarily beholden to the events of the anime, but it still holds the distinction of offering some of the most freedom seen within that framework yet. Through exploration and training, players are able to define the journeys of Goku and others on their own terms as time progresses and affects Substory side quest availability. While Sparking Zero may only be confirmed to be iterating on story decisions so far, it could easily incorporate some of these elements into the same mode to similar effect.

It stands to reason that different circumstances in major battles could affect the progression of characters' abilities, so a progression system that sees stats or skills being unlocked over time could feel right at home in Sparking Zero. With its sprawling roster featuring a multitude of alternate forms of the same fighters that represent their growth over time, gaining access to these within Episode Battle depending on choices made could truly complement the scale of such a cast. It's not clear how far RPG elements in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero could go before compromising the integrity of its arena fighter gameplay, but they could also sell the drama and power of the anime in an unprecedented manner within gaming.