LifeisXbox’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R Review | It’s time for Hirohiko Araki’s Japanese manga to come to life in this all-new intense fighting game – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R. With the title based on the fighting system that was originally released in 2012, this title modernises the experience with the addition of extra elements. In celebration of the 35th anniversary, take on multiple game modes, choose from a range of characters to fight with, numerous challenging levels and win extensive fights to always come out on top. Whether you wish to play offline in one of the single-player modes, play against friends, or face other players online, testing your skills and tactics in either player or ranked matches, the choice is entirely up to you and has something for everyone. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R has been developed by CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. to provide manga, fans of the series, and fighting fans around the world with a game that is certain to give provide you with numerous hours of stand-off content.
Most Memorable Moment
The awesome combos combined with the bold manga visuals are just a match made in heaven. They made every individual battle feel exciting with the use of different characters also showing their unique abilities and combat techniques. The pure power behind the characters is astonishing and is made to feel incredibly satisfying and devastating to all opponents when successfully landed. There are plenty of combos to learn for each fighter meaning new moves to unleash upon your opponent. That is if you want to style on them.
ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox One S | Review code provided by PR/publisher. This review is the personal opinion of the writer.
What we Liked!
- All-Star Battle mode | The main featured mode, which takes on a scenario-based approach, is called All-Star Battle. Within this mode comes eight different chapters with multiple fights for you to complete that then unlocks further progression. Not only do you get the chance to try out different characters which I found pretty cool, but you also get to take on varying difficulties through each stage to test your fighting capabilities. There are achievements locked to completing every stage in most chapters. In addition to the fights themselves, each has different secret missions to uncover to unlock various rewards and special rules that can massively affect your fight. For example, you may have less damage or your opponent’s health may continuously increase along with other handicaps. These do make those higher ranking levels challenging to say the least by adding an extra level of depth to consider. I struggled at the 4/5 star battles but that won’t stop me from trying again and again. I just can’t help myself; a bit of a glutton for punishment.
- Striking art style | The visual style and design used in Jojo’s is spectacular and is, without a doubt, for people who are a fan of manga. The style incorporates the manga art style from the original creator of the series, Hirohiki Araki, to keep its 2D comic book appearance with the use of comic panels and speech bubbles we see plastered throughout the game. This alone adds a minor touch of light-heartedness to the brawler but also the hand-drawn textures truly make the game stand out with its bold colouring and distinctive lines to bring out the true life-like potential we can all hopefully appreciate and admire. These elements combined make for a truly inspired piece visually. It’s overall far more than I had hoped for, making Jojo’s a magnificent, eye-catching composition for our eyes to take in.
- Manga-fighting bliss | Having the chance to play Jojo’s took me back to the days when I used to play SoulCalibur V, the only other fighting game I’ve ever played. The fluid combat, the wombo-combos, the aggression and the determination to be victorious in all your fights – all these feelings and more came flooding back to me. Jojo’s is undoubtedly a game for beginners, those who enjoy their button-mashing combat and even the more strategic approach, along with the sublime design that brings all the combat and settings to life; making you feel like you’re in a comic book. I found using similar combos worked for me but everyone will have their own way of playing. I can’t say more other than when I was in that 99-second match, I felt gripped to my TV screen and tried my damn hardest to beat my opponent as flawlessly as possible. It was just a blissful experience.
- Additional modes | Other than the main mode, All-Star Battle, there are a few additional modes which I guess come as standard in the majority of combat titles. Arcade mode I found to be a fun change of pace as the two separate battles you face test your endurance by fighting battle after battle. Versus is the usual mixture of fighting either against the AI 1v1 or 3v3 and a tournament battle where up to eight people can participate to become the overall victor. I do think this particular mode is for when you are playing locally with friends/family around which is always a nice option to have. Then you have online that consists of player or ranked matches to fight against online opponents or friends (more detail can be found later on in my review). Finally, practice mode. I guess this is self-explanatory but this is purely for you to practice with different characters, combos, and settings.
- Selection of characters | In every mode besides All-Star Battle, where you have to use specific fighters for the battles, there is a selection of over fifty fighters to take your pick from and the variety is outstanding. From female to male, styles of fighting, and the persona of each character – there is plenty to appreciate. It keeps the gameplay fresh and allows players to find the right character/s for them to master and with that comes more enjoyment for everyone. I will admit, I found some far more satisfying to play than others and that was the beauty of having so many fighters to choose from. Try them all out, stick to one or find a handful you like, and get to beating your foes.
- Voices, music, and sound effects | I have to start this paragraph by saying.. thank you for the English subtitles! otherwise, I would have been extremely confused as all the narration in Jojo’s is Japanese (as to be expected). It keeps the original origins intact and wouldn’t feel right without this quality. The fighters certainly like to shout and be vocally aggressive when fighting, unleashing their rage and adrenaline by use of this. The soundtrack present in Jojo’s is pleasant to listen to and changes with the menu navigation, with plenty of differing momentum and guitar rifts to keep things interesting. The music does take a step back when in combat but is still present, allowing the fighting to take its prime position at centre stage. As for the sound effects, these slot in with the genre, keeping the pronounced punches, dashes, and movement lively at all times. You need good audio in fighting games to display the impact of your actions and Jojo’s does this well.
Mixed Feelings
- Well-timed strategy | Admittedly, my perception of when opponents are going to attack me and from what direction is far from perfect which certainly isn’t didn’t work in my favour when playing Jojo’s. To be victorious and ‘retire’ your opponent, you will need to both attack and defend strategically. This means reading your opponent and countering their moves in order to unleash your own devastating damage. I did find myself struggling with this on the harder difficulties as you can’t just mash buttons in the hope you’ll land everything; the computer is too intelligent for that. Therefore, players need to take their time in fights, but not too long, and find opportunities to deal damage; a lesson that can be learned in due course.
- Combos and special moves | My oh my, there is a surplus of moves and super awesome ultra combos to learn – and they look awesome when you successfully carry them out! These, when learnt over time, will boost your fighting potential and enjoyment in every battle you come across. The only thing with these is the learning curve. Due to different characters each having unique combos, it can be rather overwhelming for people, especially newer players of the fighting genre. There is an easily-accessible menu option to look through when the gameplay is paused that allows you to read over all available combos and you can try them in practice mode. When playing All-Star Battle mode, you are constantly changing characters, making it difficult to keep up-to-date with the combos which are where I personally struggled. In modes where I can choose my fighter, I played a few and found it far easier to learn a small handful than all 50+ there are to choose from. If you manage that, I salute you!
What we Disliked
- Lack of story mode | For people such as myself who aren’t familiar with the story surrounding Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, there is no story mode included to give you a sense of what the lure surrounding the series is all about. I will admit the developers have tried to add some context for us by including the Jojo glossary, should we be interested in characters and keywords found throughout the Jojo universe but that only gives us a baseline and barely anything more to go on. I ended up going to trusty Google to research the background, plot, and some characters that interested me in further detail. Due to its nature, I think not including a story mode dramatically impacts the game for people who are unfamiliar with the series and does impact the overall quality.
- Online multiplayer | Unfortunately, during my time playing JoJo’s, I was unable to get a single online match, despite its somewhat active player base. Therefore, I’m unable to mention its quality or stability though I can speak about what you could have access to. When looking through the options, you can adapt your matches to suit the type of player match you want to play. To try and avoid any unstable connection issues, region selection has been included. Also, the session ID feature is another way you can get into specific games with friends, for example. As with most multiplayer games, there is a casual and ranked format for you to choose from, depending on the individual’s preference. Online missions also add extra bonuses for players to aim for, rewarding them with different things such as gold and cosmetics I believe.
How long to beat the story | Approximately 10-15 Hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Approximately 20-30 Hours
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Hello, I’m Victoria. I’m from the UK and have been playing video games for as long as I can remember; back on DreamCast. I’ve pretty much fallen for Xbox since I was around eight years old and remember BioShock being my first game on the Xbox360. Although I find it thoroughly enjoyable to not only experience gameplay, I also find comfort in getting lost and engrossed in the online worlds that sometimes differ greatly from what we know. Another side of my Xbox passion would be achievement hunting and gamerscore. I thrive when I hear the little sound of one popping up on the screen and I’m always finding ways to work on my backlog when possible. Horror is my favourite genre so if you have any recommendations, don’t be afraid to send them my way!