Anything that has given people joy for fifty years is something that should be celebrated. For manga & anime fans, Shonen Jump has provided both incredible stories & characters that will last until some alien sporting a very high voice tries to wipe out the planet with the only thing stopping it being a group of odd looking individuals who shout when they’re trying to strengthen themselves. The premise of bringing together the best of the best from Shonen Jump to fight both online & offline definitely had this gamer intrigued. The developers at Spike Chunsoft promised to make “Jump Force” a game that will allow for players to have a casual experience while rewarding those who really want to learn how to handle some of the 40-plus characters available so one can pull off a Special Beam Cannon at that perfect moment.
Did I Complete “Jump Force”?
Rather than give the player a typical start-up menu where they choose what they want to do first, “Jump Force” thrusts the player into the game’s story so an avatar can be created featuring parts & pieces from various Shonen Jump characters. From “Jump Force” story’s hub the player is allowed to complete the main narrative that took yours truly some twelve hours to finish with some of the tougher fights extending that time, as well as playing some side missions to unlock various characters’ skills. Also from the hub is the ability to play offline & online with the latter making up the majority of my time in experiencing “Jump Force”. Though I didn’t complete the achievement list (mostly due to the grinding nature of certain achievements such as gaining the best ranking on the hardest missions), my time with “Jump Force” was definitely the equivalent of a satisfied Goku after a meal.
Did “Jump Force” Live Up to the Hype?
Structured like 2015’s “J-Stars Victory VS” (another Spike Chunsoft developed game), “Jump Force” features a relatively simple gameplay structure from the onset with the player being able to pull off auto combos by hitting the “light strike” button that will send an opponent flying for an airborne conclusive attack. Players can also throw “strong strikes”, as well as high & low light combos to mix things up by titling the movement analog stick upward or downward in regards to the latter. Blocking & throwing really tie into one another as throws can stop a habitual blocker such as every AI enemy in the story mode. With great timing the player can create moments of “High Speed Counters/Dodges” by hitting the light strike or block button right as the player’s character is being hit. Under the health of each character is an “Ability” bar that opens the figurative door for the player to pull off a variety of special attacks (by holding down the right trigger while tapping one of the four face buttons if someone is playing on consoles). Having a base knowledge of the characters’ special attacks like Goku’s “Kamehameha” energy beam will allow a player the understanding of how well these special attacks work in regards to distance – something that is a necessity as long range characters usually have the greatest advantage in this game.
A stamina/“Awakening” bar exists in the bottom corner of the screen for each character group that will deplete when the player does anything defensive such as sidestepping & dodging, as well as offensive strategies like calling in the next available character on the team for an assist. “Rush” or charging the character can close the distance when a character is trying to stay away in each sizeable level, but rushing does deplete stamina & leaves that forward moving character prone to a counterattack. The “Rush” button also allows a player to escape a combo if tapped at the right time, but depletes the stamina bar completely. When the stamina bar is full the character can “awaken” to boost their abilities & offensive strength with each character having an “awakening attack” that automatically puts that character in their powerful state.
One of the most interesting aspects of “Jump Force” is the fact these three-on-three battles feature only one health bar per team instead of three respective health bars that must be depleted for a victory to occur. This means players switching characters in the heat of battle is less about trying to prevent a favorite from falling and more about what character works best against another. This gameplay style also allows for quicker battles that will give players both casual and hardcore a chance to experiment – something that is a necessity when it comes to building that avatar to be the best of the best. Unfortunately there are definitely issues with the overall gameplay like certain characters having unblockable special attacks and others being ridiculously overpowered – so no matter how good a player is there’s a chance they’ll run into something unexpected that shouldn’t work, but does in the most distressing way possible.
Outside of the gameplay is where “Jump Force” falls apart. The game’s overall narrative isn’t bad or original (the audio is entirely in Japanese), but terribly long winded with the game using “Extra” & “Free” missions to extend the overall play time (the latter unlocking moves & clothing items that too can be purchased in the hub’s store). With each character including the avatar leveling up alongside completed missions, it is a necessity for the player to experience a certain amount of missions to either gain those maneuvers or earn enough in-game currency/gold to purchase certain abilities. A majority of players will be tired of what the Dr. Glover-led team is trying to accomplish by the story’s second of nine chapters. Add that to the fact there are difficulty spikes during various missions including against the nameless “Venoms”; while latter main missions simply have the player fighting the same opponents over & over again with reduced damage output by the player’s characters. Expect to spend time playing cheaply by abusing throws and long-range specials. There are also skills that can be purchased that temporarily boost the avatar’s team’s attacks or even debuff the AI characters, but are poorly explained in the tutorial.
Online functions as one would expect featuring “Ranked”, “Friendly” and “Quick Play” options with “Friendly” allowing for the player to create settings that accommodates them such as using leveled characters instead of ones at their base levels. For some reason players can use their created fighters in “Ranked”; which can be a big deal considering the opponent will have no idea what type of abilities that avatar will have until they’re getting hit. As of this time there are also no options for rematches, nor are there lobbies; making it pretty much impossible to play with friends online. Also, outside of “Quick Play”, finding players was incredibly tiring as there were times when the matchmaking couldn’t find a single opponent of similar level in “Ranked” or the matches would disconnect at the beginning of the second round no matter who won the first round.
Optimization is the game’s biggest flaw. From an online perspective, the connectivity can be a roll of the dice both during battle and when simply playing through the story. Most players will want to play online after loading their avatar & entering the oversized hub. But if the game loses connection to the Internet no matter if you’re playing against real people or simply completing the story missions the player will be booted to the title screen. Thankfully the game has a pretty good auto-save function. But even when everything functions properly, “Jump Force” is terribly slow. Loading screens will make up a majority of a player’s experience especially if that person has to restart or retry a mission. There’s even loading when opening the shop no matter if the player is offline or online. Moving around the hub when online is laggy; something made worse by the avatar’s slow movement. Even the story’s major cutscenes feature a lowered framerate compared to everything else presented. Following patches and many promises, “Jump Force” still operates like a snail outside of battle.
The premise of “Jump Force” – playing with a variety of Shonen Jump characters in a crazy 3D environment while pulling off special attacks and terrible emotes – mostly lives up to its promise from a competitive perspective. Sadly its almost everything else surrounding the fighting that makes the game a chore and something people may put down rather quickly when online competition proves to be too much or the game refuses to be stable.
Should You Play “Jump Force”?
“Jump Force” is a very fun game when the fists start flying, the special maneuvers start tearing up the various levels, and Goku’s voice proves to be shockingly irritating. Everything else about “Jump Force” – the average story unnecessarily padded, the terrible optimization, the lack of options for playing with friends online – takes away from the overall experience to the point there’s no way someone could recommend this at full price. “Jump Force” is a fun party game people should either get for half price to play with fellow anime coinsurers for a short while, or rent it from Gamefly/Redbox. It’s sad that not even Kenshiro’s healing hands can help fix the problems the developers somehow thought players wouldn’t mind including the hub’s theme song.
