Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Has A Lot In Common With Black Myth: Wukong

"Dragon Ball" fans have been waiting nearly two decades for a true follow-up to the "Budokai" trilogy, and now it's finally here. Fans are digging into "Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero" during the game's early access period ahead of its October 11 release, and they're discovering that it shares some interesting traits with 2024's biggest surprise hit.

Of course, "Black Myth: Wukong" blew everyone away because of its next-level graphics, intricate level design, and excellent combat. It's also based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," which just so happens to be the inspiration behind the "Dragon Ball" franchise as a whole. Compared to "Sparking! Zero," "Black Myth: Wukong" is a more accurate adaptation of the book, but to be fair, the "Dragon Ball" mythology has had a lot longer to evolve beyond its source material.

Fans of both games are having a fun time discovering their thematic links, but that's not the only connection between the two. Combat is naturally the main focus of both games, and even though they have wildly different mechanics, "Black Myth: Wukong" and "Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero" both aim to give their players a serious challenge. This game is hard. As players grind through the story mode in "Sparking! Zero," they're encountering soulslike-level challenges, but they aren't as happy about the difficulty in this game as they were about "Black Myth: Wukong."

For the most part, "Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero" has impressed everyone who's played it. The game has a stacked roster of 180 characters, multiple game modes, and top-tier fighting mechanics. In basically every way, it's the hardcore "Dragon Ball" gaming experience players hoped for. The only problem that players are reporting in droves is how hard the game actually is.

Fans are getting demolished by some of the story mode bosses, and unlike when players were bashing their heads against bosses like Tiger Vanguard in "Black Myth: Wukong," "DBZ" fans don't seem as excited about these fights. So many players have been voicing complaints about the difficult fights in "Sparking! — in particular, the boss fight against Great Ape Vegeta — that publisher Bandai Namco decided to put out a PSA.

A win is a win.

Lower Difficulty and Retry ◀️ pic.twitter.com/klr55NWD2Y

— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) October 8, 2024

One of the biggest differences between "Sparking! Zero" and "Black Myth: Wukong" is that "Dragon Ball" offers difficulty options that players can adjust for themselves. Surprisingly, though, it seems like fans don't want to change those options themselves.

I DIDN'T, I SAY NO TO LOWER DIFFICULTY MY PRIDE IS OVER THIS, I MUST WIN ! pic.twitter.com/wrgSE3J06m

— ✨ Sparking MualaFlo' (@Flodze_) October 8, 2024

It seems like many fans are priding themselves on tackling "Sparking! Zero" at the normal difficulty, even while complaining that developer Spike Chunsoft needs to address the game's balance issues in a patch.

Even though many fans are upset about the difficulty of "Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero," they're still loving the game. Make no mistake: "Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero" is already shaping up to be a huge hit, breaking concurrent player records on Steam and outpacing "Call of Duty" in preorders. 

We already learned from "Black Myth: Wukong" that a game doesn't need to be perfect to be successful. The one problem everyone has starting "Black Myth: Wukong" is figuring out how where to go to actually make progress in the various chapters — but even though some people complained about that at the time, they still kept playing "Black Myth: Wukong." The real reason people are so bothered by the difficulty in "Sparking! Zero" compared to "Black Myth: Wukong" most likely comes down to the genres at play. "Black Myth: Wukong" can be brutally hard, but it's an adventure game at its heart. When the going gets tough, players can explore more of the world, try some other bosses, and come back after gaining a few levels. The only real option in "Sparking! Zero" is to push through the pain, or maybe spend some time in the game's training mode to level up your own personal skills.

Give it a little time, and people will probably stop complaining about how hard "Sparking! Zero" is. People will eventually get back into the groove of this style of fighting game, and things probably won't seem so insurmountable. Plus, when the game is officially released, the multiplayer servers will fill up and provide struggling Story Mode players a new way to take a break from the grind. Until then (and we hate to say it) maybe people should just listen to Bandai Namco's advice.