In a post-Dragon Ball FighterZ world, there is a lot of hope for a quality leap for anime games, especially fighting games. Games are often great additions to the source material and allow for more interaction with certain characters and settings. Few franchises are more perfect for a new fighting game in today’s market than JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, a legendary story that is amazingly a little bit of everything while still retaining its signature style. Rather than creating a brand new title, a fan-favorite release was revamped for the modern player base, and while there’s a lot to love about this release, there are areas that need improvement for the life of the game. For returning fans, All-Star Battle R expands the roster, performing at a smooth 60fps and adding new layers to the battles.
Game name: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R
Platforms: PC, Xbox One (reviewed), Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: CyberConnect2
Publication date: September 1, 2022
For those who don’t know, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is an anime that has inspired countless tributes and influenced many creations since its first manga release in 1987, with the anime adaptation pushing the work even further into pop culture through bizarre scenarios. , meme-worthy moments, and original stories. The show covers everything from a murder mystery to an English drama to a car chase around the world to a horse race set in different time periods, mostly framed by the Joestar family line. Finally, the world of the show resets in Part 7: Steel Ball Run but remains in the style of a JoJo. Due to its tone and visual language, there is something for everyone in the JoJo story. However, for anime viewers, we’re only now getting Part 6: Stone Ocean on Netflix, with the final episodes of the season coming up in the future.
It’s a mature, often gross story full of ridiculous logic confrontations and absolutely wild character designs, but there’s nothing in anime quite as good as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
All-Star Battle R is a celebration of the entire JoJo franchise through Part 8: JoJolion, but there’s not much to worry about for those afraid of spoiling the show as most of these characters are presented without much context , although they are beautifully rendered. Anyone wanting to learn more about JoJo’s can get pretty confused after playing a few rounds of this game, but it’s a lot of fun discovering each character’s crazy moves. I’ve only seen the anime, so discovering Diego Brando turning into a dinosaur was an unforgettable, laughable moment. Confronted with a violent hawk called Pet Shop who summons ice and taunts with an intense stare, I also find hilarious. There’s a huge roster of 50 characters and more are coming via DLC, so there’s a lot to take in.
Each character feels unique enough to play with special moves and unique style buttons. At its core, this is a six button fighter with weak, medium and strong attack buttons and dodge, aid and style buttons. Style usually coincides with a character’s power type, such as a Stand (evokes a powerful entity, adds new moves) or Hamon (a type of ki energy), as examples. By far the most entertaining style type is Mounted, with characters fighting and jumping on horseback for elaborate combos and scenarios.
There’s a funny absurdity to the games of All-Star Battle R, something that really only happens in the world of JoJo.
The combat is familiar to the fighting game genre with automatic combos, canceling special moves and super attacks (called Heart Heat Attacks and Great Heat Attacks), resulting in flashy, exciting attacks. Baked into the game’s combat is a useful taunt that can lower an opponent’s meter when used after a knockdown, an interesting twist. Stage gimmicks are also a threat, which are activated after a knockdown in a specific area. These moments refer to moments in the anime and can be used to open enemies or deal damage in a combo. Or, if you’re not a fan of stage gimmicks or assists, both can be disabled.
The dodging and 3D character of the stages add depth, similar to Tekken, but the game feels mostly like Street Fighter 4, where meter management and link combos predominate. In fact, the overall art direction is similar to Street Fighter 4, with stages and characters looking fantastic.
The core battles in All-Star Battle R will keep the game alive for years to come, and it already appears to be a popular game in the fighting game community. It’s a lot of fun to work through the grid and discover how movements can fit together. Adding the new assist function creates great strings that feel great to pull. Unfortunately, until there is an update to the game’s netcode, much of this positive energy will only be found in local play.
I was unable to enter an online match on Xbox One (ranked or casual), and it’s something that many players on social media have reported having issues with. Unfortunately, if a fighting game doesn’t have a rollback netcode (the best online connection method in the industry yet), it feels like a huge shame. People seem to be playing All-Star Battle R okay on Steam and PlayStation, but it still hasn’t rolled back, leaving it behind the times. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future patch. Anyway, I think All-Star Battle R will make for a really fun local tournament game.
This game would have been such a phenomenal title with rollback.
Where not reverting is most irritating is the lack of other meaningful modes to play. There’s a fun challenge mode and an arcade mode, but even those don’t have cutscenes or character stories. All game types are function over depth. There are costumes to unlock, as well as artwork, music, and character models, but not much more than that. I was excited to jump into competitions, but everything out there felt like busy work with little reward. The game’s menus often get bogged down with characters appearing in run-out lines, covering sections and slowing down how long it takes to switch modes.
Really, the joy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is in the characters and playing with friends. The move lists are fun to explore, combos are satisfying, and the characters are perfectly represented with original Japanese voice actors. It would have been even better if the English cast had joined in too. The music is good and the stages look fantastic with beautiful color palettes. Super moves look great, and the mechanical depth is definitely there.
I definitely envision myself playing this game more, but I really hope the content after launch makes up for it’s current state.
Overview
Expanding the modes, adding new characters, more customization options and improved netcode would work wonders for All-Star Battle R. As it stands, this game is still a love letter to JoJo and worth checking out for fans of the franchise or anyone with fighting game chops who want to branch out.
Pros
- Solid battle system with layers to discover
- Exceptional fan service with a huge selection
- Really a stronger game than the previous version
cons
- Online infrastructure is missing
- Could have used more modes
- Story mode with more character introductions
0 Comments