Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero may still be in early access, but dedicated fans of the franchise are already struggling with a particular boss in the game's story mode — and Bandai Namco loves it.
First, the facts: Sparking! Zero features a story mode that delves into different chapters within the series. The mode has multiple Episodes featuring more than Goku, with fans able to play as characters such as Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, and even Goku Black.
Goku's arc starts right at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, with Raditz coming to invade Earth. If you're familiar with the story, you know the Prince of all Saiyans eventually turns into an Oozaru (or Giant Ape) to duke it out with Goku.
click to enlargeThis particular boss fight has a massive difficulty spike, immediately becoming a hot topic among Sparking! Zero players. Fans took to every social app possible to confirm it wasn't an isolated skill issue but a massive one everyone faced.
A glance at the game's official subreddit will showcase multiple threads making fun of the situation. Rest assured, I expect these posts to increase tenfold once the game officially launches on October 11.
Even popular content creator Shoyoumomo created a fantastic video to offer a funny, illustrative example of what fighting the Great Ape feels like.
The devious part of this entire situation is that Bandai Namco is fully aware of the situation and their response was a simple "Git Gud."
In fairness, fans may be just hopping into story mode, thinking it's a breeze, and they can spam their way to victory. Based on players' impressions of the fights before the Great Ape, this seemed to be the case.
The Great Ape boss fight might require a bit more finesse and is taking players by surprise, as Sparking! Zero seems more mechanically complex than its PlayStation 2 predecessors.
It could also be a situation where the development team simply botched the difficulty curve. The Great Ape could be an abnormal spike that once players clear, the story mode will return to being a button-mashing fest with little to no thought put behind it.
Barring any potential U-turn, the response by Bandai looks pretty deliberate. It could imply that the Great Ape is balanced around players who took the time to hit the lab and cook up some combos and strategies.
So, if you're having trouble with the Great Ape, simply lock in and don't let him hurt your Saiyan pride.
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