Jump Force, released in February to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Shonen Jump manga, brings together many recognizable anime characters. Though it is a good effort to commemorate 50 years of one of the most iconic manga magazines, its awkward control scheme, poor hub-world design, and subpar story leaves much to be desired.
Jump Force brings many popular Shonen Jump characters together in what may be the biggest mash-up of these characters ever. Even though I did not grow up reading the manga or watching any of the anime. I remember seeing commercials all the time for them on Cartoon Network and the cartoon blocks on Saturday mornings but I never had much interest in them.
That being said, when I booted up Jump Force I found it all too easy to recognize the majority of the characters. The characters of Shonen Jump anime shows (such as Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, etc.) are so popular that even those of us who never watched the anime or read the manga can easily recognize them. With such recognizable characters, and stories that are loved by many, Jump Force should be a great way to pay tribute to the Shonen Jump franchise on their 50th anniversary.
Check out the trailer here:
Unfortunately, Jump Force did not stand up to expectation. I had high hopes for this game after recently reviewing Dragon Ball FighterZ for the Nintendo Switch. After seeing a Shonen Jump game done so well, with great graphics, an awesome fighting system, and an all-around wholly enjoyable experience, I have to admit that I was let down by Jump Force.
The Controls
The stages in Jump Force are 3D environments where you and your opponent chase each other around until one of you is close enough to land a hit on the other. And I mean chase very literally, it is an actual mechanic built into the game as a way to cover ground faster and reduce the space between you and your opponent.
After you get close enough to your opponent, you mash the square button to land hits on them quickly or the triangle button for slower, heavier attacks. You can also charge a meter to unleash stronger attacks by holding R2 and pressing one of the action buttons.
That’s it. That is the heart of this game, which is very similar to other fighting games. However, most other fighting games also have a locked camera and players only play on two axes. Adding the dimension of depth makes landing satisfying combos harder and makes the game more frustrating to play.
The camera is by far one of the worst parts of the combat system, and there is nothing the player can do about it. The camera is positioned behind and a little above the back of the player character, but it moves mostly based on your enemy movements. There is very little player control over it and it makes playing Jump Force extremely disorienting.
The characters movements are often too rapid to keep up with and, when paired with the camera controlled based on movement, the game often feels like watching a fighting scene in a movie where they cut to about 20 different camera angles a second. It is difficult to keep up with where people are in the environment and makes the game frustrating to play.
The Characters
Aside from the poor controls, the rest of the game is not too bad. The characters, as I said above are all recognizable. It was cool to see them all in one place and all on a task force built to save their worlds as well as our own. There is one thing that caught me off guard and may do the same for you if you do not know already: the voices.
I did not know, but this game is voice acted in Japanese only. There is no English spoken language localization, and so anyone who does not speak Japanese will have to rely on subtitles for the entire game. I did not have much of a problem with this, but I know this is problematic to some. I wish I was able to watch the game a little more closely though.
All of the characters look decent. Some of the conversions from two-dimensional anime to 3D models feels weird, but for the most part, it works well enough. Though it does make the player character stand out, who is designed by the player in the in-game character creator.
The character customization option feels like a weird choice for this game. I understand the developers wanted to better immerse their audience in the game, but it feels so out of place. The game begins with a lot of POV shots from your character, though it comes off like a found-footage documentary at first.
The customization is pretty inclusive, with styles mostly coming straight from popular Shonen Jump characters. This is most evident in the hairstyles. Most are pretty unique to a specific character and are easily identifiable as such. However, the character customization system allows for a good bit of freedom of expression. It is not the most inclusive character editor I’ve seen, but it’s also not the worst. There are limitations on what you can do to the character, and certain options are pretty limited. Especially the face options.
Perhaps the weirdest part of the editor is the full-body options. When the player slides the weight slider, the character goes from skinny and strong to not-as-skinny but still strong. There isn’t too much in the way of body inclusivity, and most body types look more-or-less the same. They do include a “chest” adjustment slider, which, on the female characters does what you expect it too. However, there is a limit to it, and it is also present for the male characters. Though, their chests just puff out a little and that is it.
As you progress through the game, more clothing options become available to the character and I have to admit, I like most of them. There are some simple “work-out” style clothes that definitely shouldn’t be used in combat, but on the other hand, there is plenty of combat armor as well. And players rejoice. There is at least some armor for females that is practical.
There are also costumes the player can buy that come right from some of the characters. But the best clothing item of the game has to be the frog onesie. It can be bought almost immediately and makes the game much funnier to play.
The Environment & Story
The best part of Jump Force is, by far, the set pieces. The environments are gorgeous. The first scene is in Times Square, and it does look like it. There are other, more fantastical set pieces later in the game that are much more fantastical and much nicer looking.
However, there are two big downfalls to the environment: The hub-world and the water physics.
The hub world is way too large, and way too confusing. There are so many interwoven paths it is easy to make a wrong turn an get lost. The map is also partially to blame as well. There are markers that do not specify what level they are on and it is easy to miss an entrance.
As for the water physics, well, there aren’t any. It is common to see ripples made when a character steps in a puddle. Nothing. There is an ocean part of the hub world, and I saw my chance. Anytime I see water in games I like to see how it move and how realistic it feels. Ran my character into the ocean, and nothing. They just clip through the top layer to keep standing on the ground and the water does not react.
The story is almost as bad as the water physics. It is very predictable. It also feels very stiff and lifeless. Even the “twist” I predicted from the beginning. Stories usually take a backseat in fighting games, but this one feels uninspired and boring.
Jump Force has plenty of potential and source material to work from, but falls flat. It is a little disappointing to see such a beloved franchise celebrate its 50th anniversary with Jump Force. The only thing that the game has going for it is the graphics. The story is dull. The combat is disorienting. Unfortunately, Jump Force does not live up to the hype.
