The game is excellent, the combat is perfect, the maps are very enjoyable with beautiful destructions and size to fight and the new graphic quality that Sparking Zero brings to the Tenkaichi saga makes it become a very well-rounded title. However, it is not exempt from problems as it has a few optimization problems, a somewhat boring OST and a rather vague story mode that although it is not bad at all, it feels very empty and lacking in personality especially when compared to Tenkaichi 3 or Budokai 3. Even with these problems the game is full of content to be enjoyed both online and individually, the level editor is quite extensive and I do not doubt that people will start to create unique levels with personal what ifs or even recreating 100% of the story of several films in the franchise. The game is huge, beautiful, and has incredible potential to be exploited in the future by both its Devs and the fans themselves. Highly recommended, 8.5 [/b]



It's incredible, but after 17 years of waiting we have with us another Budokai Tenkaichi. And it is aiming directly to be the best Dragon Ball game to date, which I think it achieves by not only being a (well-deserved) sequel to the previous Tenkaichi 3, but also applying mechanics and systems from other successor attempts such as both Raging Blast. I will try to briefly summarize the systems that the game has and clarify why it is a worthy successor to the crown in Dragon Ball games.

> Gameplay <

First and foremost, the gameplay is simply perfect. It's fluid, dynamic, fast, and entertaining. All the good things I can list about Tenkaichi 3 gameplay are in this new title. Although it's also interesting to see Tenkaichi system merge with RB mechanics, in the sense that you have the best of both worlds. You have the automatic combos and the more casual gameplay that characterizes BT, but these are combined with a class system oriented towards buffs and manual and more demanding combos that can be found in the RB series. (For example, if you find yourself playing with SSG Vegeta and your opponent has a lot of brute strength and a playstyle very oriented towards melee combat, you can choose to transform into SSGB and buff yourself to Blue Evolution which would balance the combat in your favor, this transformation being more oriented towards melee combat than the use of ki bursts like SSG is) The final result of this fusion is perfect since it can be played both as something casual, as something more oriented towards the competitive without an imbalance between one and the other as it had been happening in the last Dragon Ball titles where it hovered between either very casual (Xenoverse) or very competitive (FighterZ) with no possibility of an in between. The team in charge of developing the gameplay has done an excellent job and should be congratulated for it, good job guys.

> Story <

As for the story mode of this game... Eh, it's not necessarily bad and the what ifs that one can create are interesting, yes, but... not only its short, but it's noticeable that some characters have been cut in content for unknown reasons. Vegeta only has his story up to the Buu saga and Gohan only starts in the middle of the Cell arc, ignoring all of Namek It's very similar to Budokai 3's Dragon Universe mode where you play from the pov of each available character, logically there are going to be characters with more fights than others no doubt, but I feel that in the case of Sparking Zero this mode was somewhat rushed especially with certain characters like the ones I mentioned in the spoiler tag. Goku is the one who feels the most complete because logically he's the protagonist but characters that you would expect to see with more fights like Trunks or Piccolo are quite left aside and even skipping iconic fights they've had. I don't necessarily consider it a bad mode, but it's rather rushed, and this becomes more noticeable the more characters you play with. I think a "normal" story mode like the one in Tenkaichi 2 or even 3 would have suited this style of game better, but eh whatever.

> Technical <

As for the technical section, there is nothing to complain about, the game is beautiful. The effects, models and even the animations are very well done and the maps are VERY BIG, this section is so well cared for and detailed that it really adds a lot of value when considered as a Dragon Ball simulator. The special attacks are beautiful with the new Sparking Zero style oriented to the new Cell Shading trend and the destruction of the stage is also well done, it is very nice to see after a fight with several bursts of special attacks the stage totally destroyed, especially in the places with more assets like the 2 cities.

>>> Optimization on PC? ... I do have to point out that at least on PC it seems that there was a lack of optimization that, although it doesn't make the game unplayable, it does get annoying on a few occasions. Since the game is made in UE5 (and therefore always has to compile shaders when you enter a new map) the first time you start the game it's going to be a stutterfest, the more you play the problem gets solved until you restart or turn off the PC. Even so, after having compiled all the shaders the game seems to have stability problems in certain scenarios regardless of the graphical quality or the power of the PC. I was able to check it first hand with a more powerful PC that a friend has and it's an exclusive problem with the engine. I'm still waiting for the aforementioned day 1 patch that should arrive on the 10th but nothing, so far the only solution I've found was to deactivate Vsync and use the -dx11 command in steam to fix the framerate a bit.

> Soundtrack <

I don't dislike the OST, it has some great songs like The Final Battle but I do feel that it's a little uninspired. Something that doesn't happen to me with other DBZ entries like Tenkaichi 2, 3, Budokai 2, 3 and even Infinite World and Ultimate Tenkaichi has an excellent OST. In the case of Sparking Zero it has some very good songs, but the vast majority are nothing more than random electric guitar riffs to maintain the fighting atmosphere, there is no greater intention or emotion in the vast majority of the soundtrack. It's not a point that ruins the experience but I did expect something more interesting knowing the impeccable musical section of previous titles. It's a shame, the game has a lot of music to choose from but beyond a few songs these feel quite meh. I'm hoping that future DLCs can fix something in the musical section but I don't expect great things either.

> Overall <

The game is excellent, the combat is perfect, the maps are very enjoyable with beautiful destructions and size to fight and the new graphic quality that Sparking Zero brings to the Tenkaichi saga makes it become a very well-rounded title. However, it is not exempt from problems as it has a few optimization problems, a somewhat boring OST and a rather vague story mode that although it is not bad at all, it feels very empty and lacking in personality especially when compared to Tenkaichi 3 or Budokai 3. Even with these problems the game is full of content to be enjoyed both online and individually, the level editor is quite extensive and I do not doubt that people will start to create unique levels with personal what ifs or even recreating 100% of the story of several films in the franchise. The game is huge, beautiful, and has incredible potential to be exploited in the future by both its Devs and the fans themselves. Highly recommended, 8.5 [/b]

[h3] TL;DR: [/h3] [b] The game is excellent, the combat is perfect, the maps are very enjoyable with beautiful destructions and size to fight and the new graphic quality that Sparking Zero brings to the Tenkaichi saga makes it become a very well-rounded title. [/b] [u] However, [/u] it is not exempt from problems as it has a few optimization problems, a somewhat boring OST and a rather vague story mode that although it is not bad at all, it feels very empty and lacking in personality especially when compared to Tenkaichi 3 or Budokai 3. Even with these problems [b] the game is full of content to be enjoyed both online and individually, [/b] the level editor is quite extensive and I do not doubt that people will start to create unique levels with personal what ifs or even recreating 100% of the story of several films in the franchise. The game is huge, beautiful, and has incredible potential to be exploited in the future by both its Devs and the fans themselves. [b] [u] Highly recommended, 8.5 [/b] [/u] It's incredible, but after 17 years of waiting we have with us another Budokai Tenkaichi. And it is aiming directly to be the best Dragon Ball game to date, which I think it achieves by not only being a (well-deserved) sequel to the previous Tenkaichi 3, but also applying mechanics and systems from other successor attempts such as both Raging Blast. I will try to briefly summarize the systems that the game has and clarify why it is a worthy successor to the crown in Dragon Ball games. [h2] > Gameplay < [/h2] First and foremost, [u] the gameplay is simply perfect. [/u] It's fluid, dynamic, fast, and entertaining. All the good things I can list about Tenkaichi 3 gameplay are in this new title. Although it's also interesting to see Tenkaichi system merge with RB mechanics, in the sense that you have the best of both worlds. You have the automatic combos and the more casual gameplay that characterizes BT, but these are combined with a class system oriented towards buffs and manual and more demanding combos that can be found in the RB series. (For example, if you find yourself playing with SSG Vegeta and your opponent has a lot of brute strength and a playstyle very oriented towards melee combat, you can choose to transform into SSGB and buff yourself to Blue Evolution which would balance the combat in your favor, this transformation being more oriented towards melee combat than the use of ki bursts like SSG is) The final result of this fusion is perfect since it can be played both as something casual, as something more oriented towards the competitive without an imbalance between one and the other as it had been happening in the last Dragon Ball titles where it hovered between either very casual (Xenoverse) or very competitive (FighterZ) with no possibility of an in between. [b] The team in charge of developing the gameplay has done an excellent job and should be congratulated for it, good job guys. [/b] [h2] > Story < [/h2] As for the story mode of this game... Eh, it's not necessarily bad and the what ifs that one can create are interesting, yes, but... not only [b] its short, but it's noticeable that some characters have been cut in content for unknown reasons. [/b] [spoiler] Vegeta only has his story up to the Buu saga and Gohan only starts in the middle of the Cell arc, ignoring all of Namek [/spoiler] [b] It's very similar to Budokai 3's Dragon Universe mode where you play from the pov of each available character, [/b] logically there are going to be characters with more fights than others no doubt, but [b] I feel that in the case of Sparking Zero this mode was somewhat rushed [/b] especially with certain characters like the ones I mentioned in the spoiler tag. Goku is the one who feels the most complete because logically he's the protagonist but characters that you would expect to see with more fights like [spoiler] Trunks or Piccolo [/spoiler] are quite left aside and even skipping iconic fights they've had. I don't necessarily consider it a bad mode, but it's rather rushed, and this becomes more noticeable the more characters you play with. I think a "normal" story mode like the one in Tenkaichi 2 or even 3 would have suited this style of game better, but eh whatever. [h2] > Technical < [/h2] As for the technical section, there is [b] nothing to complain about, the game is beautiful. The effects, models and even the animations are very well done and the maps are VERY BIG, [/b] this section is so well cared for and detailed that it really adds a lot of value when considered as a Dragon Ball simulator. The special attacks are beautiful with the new Sparking Zero style oriented to the new Cell Shading trend and the destruction of the stage is also well done, it is very nice to see after a fight with several bursts of special attacks the stage totally destroyed, especially in the places with more assets like the 2 cities. >>> [u] Optimization on PC? [/u] ... I do have to point out that at least on PC it seems that there was a lack of optimization that, although [b] it doesn't make the game unplayable, it does get annoying on a few occasions. [/b] Since the game is made in UE5 (and therefore always has to compile shaders when you enter a new map) the first time you start the game it's going to be a stutterfest, the more you play the problem gets solved until you restart or turn off the PC. Even so, after having compiled all the shaders the game seems to have stability problems in certain scenarios regardless of the graphical quality or the power of the PC. I was able to check it first hand with a more powerful PC that a friend has and it's an exclusive problem with the engine. I'm still waiting for the aforementioned day 1 patch that should arrive on the 10th but nothing, so far the only solution I've found was to deactivate Vsync and use the -dx11 command in steam to fix the framerate a bit. [h2] > Soundtrack < [/h2] I don't dislike the OST, [b] it has some great songs like The Final Battle but I do feel that it's a little uninspired. [/b] Something that doesn't happen to me with other DBZ entries like Tenkaichi 2, 3, Budokai 2, 3 and even Infinite World and Ultimate Tenkaichi has an excellent OST. In the case of [b] Sparking Zero it has some very good songs, but the vast majority are nothing more than random electric guitar riffs to maintain the fighting atmosphere, there is no greater intention or emotion in the vast majority of the soundtrack. [/b] It's not a point that ruins the experience but I did expect something more interesting knowing the impeccable musical section of previous titles. It's a shame, the game has a lot of music to choose from but beyond a few songs these feel quite meh. I'm hoping that future DLCs can fix something in the musical section but I don't expect great things either. [h2] > Overall < [/h2] [b] The game is excellent, the combat is perfect, the maps are very enjoyable with beautiful destructions and size to fight and the new graphic quality that Sparking Zero brings to the Tenkaichi saga makes it become a very well-rounded title. [/b] [u] However, [/u] it is not exempt from problems as it has a few optimization problems, a somewhat boring OST and a rather vague story mode that although it is not bad at all, it feels very empty and lacking in personality especially when compared to Tenkaichi 3 or Budokai 3. Even with these problems [b] the game is full of content to be enjoyed both online and individually, [/b] the level editor is quite extensive and I do not doubt that people will start to create unique levels with personal what ifs or even recreating 100% of the story of several films in the franchise. The game is huge, beautiful, and has incredible potential to be exploited in the future by both its Devs and the fans themselves. [b] [u] Highly recommended, 8.5 [/b] [/u]