Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is now out via early access and players all over are grinding through its Episode Battles story mode with lightning speed… until they run into Great Ape Vegeta.
This early bout in anime’s most famous rivalry is proving insanely hard and frustrating users left and right. Indeed, seemingly every gaming outlet already has a “how to defeat Great Ape Vegeta” article out already, and Bandai Namco even chimed in on X with the advice that players lower the difficulty… which is a contender for most anti-Dragon Ball Z thing you could say to someone facing adversity.
Perhaps the most consistent thread running through the entire Dragon Ball property is the concept of believing in oneself to rise to occasions and overcome seemingly impossible adversity. The original manga artist behind Dragon Ball, the late great Akira Toriyama, somehow managed to make this theme feel fresh and inspiring time and time again despite its near constant repetition.
We get it, Bandai wants its players to strike that perfect balance between challenge and triumph, which is why Sparking Zero (like so many games that have come before it) offers players the option to reduce the difficulty of fights should they find themselves losing on repeat.
Developers want to make sure as many people stick around as possible, and if a particular challenge proves so difficult that large swaths of fans turn off the game, that’s just not good for business.
Still, it’s interesting to see how a “Great Ape Vegeta” search on X will currently yield tons of references to how hard the fight in Sparking Zero is, but the moment Bandai suggested making things easier, everyone seemed to respond with their Saiyan pride.
It’s as if the community is screaming “Yes, we’re frustrated. Yes, I’m on my 150th attempt today. Yes, I’m not seeing much progress. BUT… if I learned anything from watching Goku and Vegeta duke it out over the last 40 years, it’s that this is how it’s supposed to feel, and glory awaits on the other side.”
My Sayin pride wont let me pic.twitter.com/FUFqNGfH0C
— Grilled Cheese (@Chern00byl) October 8, 2024
In the spirit if finding a strategic way forward, here’s a quick video from Accelerated Ideas that offers advice on how to beat Great Ape Vegeta whilst still maintaining one’s Saiyan pride: