What was the incentive for reviving the Budokai Tenkachi series after so many years?

 

First of all, we are aware that this game series has a very very strong fanbase. And we are very very grateful to have such loyal fans. Seventeen years ago, we launched the third installment of Budokai Tenkaichi and concluded the series.

 

Since then there have been several other Dragon Ball Games filling the time and the gap for Budokai Tenkaichi players. But, given all the developments in the gaming technology there was the inspiration and incentive to create a more immersive and modern Dragon Ball experience and explore moments that were not in Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Therefore, we decided to create a sequel to Budokai Tenkaichi.

 

What inspired the development of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, and how does it build upon the legacy of the Budokai Tenkachi series?

 

Of course, as I said, this game is a sequel to the Budokai Tenkaichi series. It is named "Sparking! Zero," because "Budokai Tenkaichi 3" was launched as "Sparking! Meteor" in Japan. So this is the next installment of the "Sparking!" series. As a successor, it is important that players who played the previous games have an experience that is new but also fits seamlessly into their old memories.

 

When they play the new game, it should feel like "Oh yeah, this is familiar, like the previous games." We adapted the original battle system, but we also kinda evolved it and put in some new mechanics, trying to create a new, more immersive experience.

 

What improvements have been made since Budokai Tenkachi 3?

 

One of the main improvements is that you can experience the super powers of Goku and others in real time. One of our main goals is to let the players experience what it is like to be a character in the Dragon Ball world, and we are putting a lot of effort into this! For example, when Goku starts charging his "Ki" the weather and the background change or, you know, the environment changes. These kind of things are, of course, possible now in real time. Like if you hit someone with a "Kamehameha," for example, and you blow them away, then when they hit a building, the building will crumble, or a mountain will be destroyed! So all this interaction with the environment in real time it makes the whole thing a much more immersive experience and makes the player feel like they're really inhabiting the character.

 

So, on top of these real time features that we just explained, we thought about how to make the player's experience even closer to a Dragon Ball experience. For example, like in the Dragon Ball series, you can instantly move from one place to another, using a quasi-teleportation. And there are other things, like when you are attacked, you can counter the attack and fight back. This is called a "Revenge Counter" in the new game. These are all things that the fans know from the Dragon Ball series which are now added to the fighting system so that you can have an even more "Dragon Ball" experience!

 

Could you tell us more about the Episode Battle Mode and the impact of players’ decisions?

 

So, as you could probably see in previously released videos, there is an option for players to make choices within the episode battle which will impact how the story will proceed. But at the same time, there are certain outcomes of battles that may also impact the outcome of the story.

 

For example, if, within an episode battle, you win against an opponent that in the anime you weren't able to beat, this may impact upcoming battles and battle scenarios. Both the choices that the player makes and the outcomes of the battle may influence the chance that the player will experience new battle story paths. Therefore, ideally, the player should try to become the character, think about how they would react in that situation and enjoy the different experiences that arise in the episode battle.

 

Of course, episode battle is based on the original scenarios, so naturally, these choices and these different outcomes are limited to certain battle stages and will not be available all the time.

 

Talking about custom battles, how much freedom do players have to customize and create new scenes and events?

 

In the custom events, you can customize a lot of things like the positioning of the player, the camera movements, the pose or the facial expressions, etcetera. Players can choose from a variety of pre-made options. You will have multiple poses, for example! There are dozens of pre-made poses that you could use. There is also a collection with dozens of pre-made facial expressions and so on and so on. So there's quite a lot of freedom when creating a scene to customize the way you want to create it.

 

Additionally, there are scripts and subtitles that you can add to the cutscenes. There's a pre-selection of roughly 5000 lines that can be used. Within these texts, you can also switch certain nouns. For example, you can change the name of the characters like "Goku" or "Vegeta." So this way you can create good dialogue within the scenes you're building.

 

What’s your favourite in-game feature and why?

 

For me, the most important thing and the best thing about this game is that you can actually become a character. I think it's very important, therefore, we put a lot of effort into the real time features that we talked about. These features allow players to experience super powers! They allow you to become super powered characters and use their special moves.

 

Every single character in the roster is unique. They all have big special moves, but also small movements like punches and kicks are customized so they feel unique. We put a lot of effort into these small details, which is what makes this game so special to me. So of course, I would be happy if the players hopefully notice these details and enjoy this immersive experience of becoming a Dragon Ball character.