Developers of Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero remain unconcerned about overpowered characters in multiplayer

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero will prioritize canonical character power over traditional game balance. One of the game’s producers has elaborated on its team-based purchase system.

Despite boasting one of the largest fighter rosters in the franchise’s gaming history, Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero has left fans concerned about how the developers will manage to balance the massive cast of characters. This is especially worrying considering that most of these characters have the power to destroy entire planets with a single attack.

In a recent interview, Jun Furutani, the producer of Sparking! Zero, discussed the developer’s approach to balancing characters for online multiplayer matches. The team has decided to take a more relaxed and hands-off approach to this controversial topic.

In an interview with GamesRadar+, Furutani addressed the challenge of balancing online multiplayer environments, as the team had decided to give each character their canonical power level instead of following traditional balancing methods.

Furutani explained, “This game is played in teams, as you are aware, and each team can have up to five characters. In order to ensure fairness, we have implemented a system of cost.”

“Essentially, each team will have a set cost, such as 30, and every character within the team will have their own individual cost,”he explained. “Therefore, it is crucial to construct a team with a total cost that does not exceed 30, otherwise you will be unable to participate.”

Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero will feature a unique “buy your team”system in multiplayer game modes, where players will need to carefully consider their team composition instead of relying on a single main fighter. This mechanic will assign higher costs to stronger characters and lower costs to weaker ones, encouraging strategic decision-making when building a team.

Furutani affirms that the developer’s intention was to balance the game in this manner, stating that it prevents players from simply choosing the most powerful characters in a team of three or five. Instead, players must aim for a well-rounded team with a mix of strong and weak characters, as the strongest ones will have a higher cost while the weakest ones will have a lower cost.

To ensure a well-balanced team, it is important to carefully consider the members. For instance, while it may seem unlikely, pairing Goku and Krillin to take on Perfect Cell and Yamcha would be a sensible choice. However, a team consisting solely of powerful fighters such as Goku, Broly, and Vegeta would be uncommon and may not necessarily result in optimal performance.

Fortunately, when Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is released on October 11, 2024, you can rest assured that your favorite Z Warrior will not be weakened. The game will be available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC through Steam.