JUMP FORCE
A dizzying leap of faith
This crossover fighter celebrates 50 years of the long-running manga magazine Shonen Jump. Unfortunately, it’s a 50th birthday party in the run-down, faded husk of a once-beautiful church hall, where all the attendees feel awkwardly obliged to come, trying their best to be amicable and humble despite the fact the most popular among them have already moved on to bigger and better things than Jump Force. This is a party that was outclassed before it even began – as a fighter, by the likes of Dragon Ball FighterZ, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, and One Piece Burning Blood; and in terms of custom character self-inserts by both Dragon Ball XenoVerse games. Heck, even J-Stars Victory VS+, the 45th anniversary party, was a much more peppy affair.
A crossover like this should feel joyous, but there’s simply nothing fun about this one. Thanks to the woefully stiff animation and visual styles failing to mesh, this is akin to sitting on the floor smashing action figures together. Made in Unreal Engine 4, the real-world environments do look somewhat pretty (the manga characters have come to stop an invasion of the our world), but it all feels like a proof-of-concept more than anything. Character models just look gross, and barely move in most of the story scenes, doing a great injustice to the fantastic artwork and animation in the original manga and anime on which they’re based.
FORCE OF NATURE
The fighting, at least, looks pretty flashy – and fans of the source material will be pleased to see some great recreations of characters’ best-known moves, from rasengans all the way through to ora ora oras. There’s really not much variation to how characters play, however, and simplicity quickly gives way to repetition. It doesn’t really matter who you’re controlling, and the story missions are essentially just a checklist of boring fights between which you have to navigate confusing UIs and the blandest online hub possible.
Character customisation works pretty well. You’re offered a lot of different options that neatly combine aspects from many of the Shonen Jump series represented – and you can even set up to four special moves to use from your favourites. Considering everything meshes together on your original character pretty well, it’s strange that everything fails to do the same in the main game. It’s just too bad that you’re limited to using your creation in a game like this. All in all, it’s a bland grind that really inspires little desire to play, even if you’re a massive fan of Shonen Jump. That’s sad enough, but the true tragedy is that the less-popular series represented in the eclectic character roster (which has some seriously odd choices) won’t have much time to shine in this dud of an event.
VERDICT
“A CROSSOVER SHOULD FEEL JOYOUS, BUT THERE’S SIMPLY NOTHING FUN ABOUT THIS.”
A fighting game that won’t appeal to anyone. Newcomers won’t be endeared to the Shonen Jump series, and longtime fans will know there’s better out there. Oscar Taylor-Kent