A rookie question about transformations

[NoahZ]

I always knew about the Budokai Tenkaichi games but never played them. planning on playing sparking zero but I'm curious how transformations work. Do they give buffs? is it just for show?

[Papa yons]

I believe you do get a buff in the tenkaichi when transforming, but not if you start already transformed. Movesets change with transformations as well, so you'll lose some moves and get other ones instead. It's not a sweaty hyper efficient game that you have to min max anyway so, most people just pick their favorite characters regardless of buffs and what not.

[Grand Captain Speedy Dash]

Transformations in this game series are more akin to switching between characters where the stronger forms have higher stats. It's been a while but I think typically it's a marginal increase while also changing moves and possibly even fighting style in some cases.

[SadPlatty©]

Now - I am not sure if they would be as "in-depth" as DBZ:BT3, but in that one it worked like :
- Each form had some sort of passive skill; one example would be "Feiza Form 3" (the moneky one) which would start the battle with a buffed Ki recovery skill - but it was all "behind the scenes" and hard to really tell what you got without data mining later
- Transforming would accrue buffs from the forms; back to Freiza - starting in form 3 gave you that Ki buff to later forms; this however meant that, in theory, you wanted to start as earlier forms to get max value
- Cell/Freiza/Buu get health by transforming - usually a smidge of a bar (though I think earlier cell might have received 1 bar - it's been a while); Sayins did not heal
- In modes like "DP Mode" where you built a team using points, having characters like "Goku" and "Vegeta" on your team would allow you to transform into Gogeta or Vegeto depending on who you where when you initiated the transformation

So basically - the transformation mechanic was indeed a power scaling of sorts if you built for it. I have a Freiza build (still got my copy/save) who I would start in form 3 as his Ki power was silly, then would leverage the Ki charge buff to gun it to Final Form if I was taking a lot of damage. This would result in a Freiza able to "Max Power" (reach 10 ki bars) in seconds vs other characters, and generally was what resulted in me beating my friends as I could turbo charge/spam specials while they where Sayins focused on melee combos.

[Vlady]

Originally posted by Vlady:

-reskin + stat buffs (just like in XV)+
-pre combat animations (you can start already transformed) and various interactions (depending also on your opponent)
-different base moveset
-different special moves (like teleport or solar flare)
-different special attacks (like kamehameha or kamehameha x 20)
-different ultimate attacks (like large spirit bomb or angry kamehameha)

[NoahZ]

thank you all for your answers. definitely happy that they arent just for show.