It looks like fighting game fans might want to invest in a spare controller or two, because Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is set to bring back the controller-destroying quick-time events that veteran Budokai Tenkaichi fans will remember well, including the notorious stick-spinning one that's already got many concerned about potential drifting issues.
We already knew that Clashes were coming back in Sparking! Zero. Historically, they've seen players compete in high-pressure QTEs when two powerful moves collide, with whoever does it best landing the attack on their opponent. If you're really good at mashing buttons or rapidly rotating your analog stick, you'll no doubt be great at these, but pulling them off with any kind of gusto means that your controller is inevitably going to take quite a beating.
Thanks to an official beginner's guide to Sparking! Zero posted by Bandai Namco, we can see in a screenshot that stick rotation QTEs appear to be back in the upcoming installment, and fans are already concerned about what's going to happen to their controllers. "DualSenses are like 70 bucks I need y'all to chill," one writes on Twitter. "I'm losing every single clash for the sake of my controllers," says another.
- Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is the fastest-selling Dragon Ball console game in the series' 38-year history, with 5 million copies sold in 4 months
- Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is one of the best-selling games in Bandai Namco history: "A nice surprise in a year that's been kind of rough overall," says analyst
SPARKING ZERO BRINGS BACK THE CLASSIC STICK ROTATION FOR CLASHES RIP CONTROLLERS 😭💀 pic.twitter.com/fuu9JV5rfUJuly 3, 2024
If you're worried about stick drift, though, it seems like this particular QTE might not be a requirement for all players if you don't want it to be. In the same guide, Sparking! Zero's publisher discusses the game's two control schemes – Standard and Classic – the latter of which "enables you to enjoy similar controls to those of the previous Budokai Tenkaichi games," while the former consists of the actual "recommended controls."
As well as differences in the controls themselves, Bandai Namco writes: "This change in controls will also affect the QTE sequences controls." In a screenshot below this, the stick rotation QTE is shown under the 'Classic' label, whereas the 'Standard' one appears to be a button-pressing one. This seems to confirm that you'll only have to spin the stick if you opt for those classic controls, hopefully providing a way to preserve your poor controllers without outright throwing matches.
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