As Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's classic-style quick-time events are teased, fighting game fans fear for their controllers: "DualSenses are like 70 bucks I need y'all to chill"
Jul. 4, 2024You might want to get a cheaper controller before playing this
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
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 anofficial beginner’s guideto Sparking! Zero posted byBandai 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,” onewriteson Twitter. “I’m losing every single clash for the sake of my controllers,“saysanother.
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.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is delightfully unbalanced and “definitely not an esports game,” so the devs had to find a unique approach to ranked online.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I’m one of GamesRadar+’s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.
Upcoming Hunter x Hunter anime fighting game unexpectedly banned in Australia, with no reason given for the decision
Sparking Zero is the best-selling Dragon Ball game ever released in the US and Bandai Namco’s biggest published title outside of Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3
Todd Howard “rolled his eyes” at the idea of Troy Baker playing Indiana Jones in the Great Circle, but the Bethesda boss later told him “you’re doing a hell of a job”
