REVIEW | Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash

“I expected a lot more bang for my buck”

I am a huge fan of anime but I’ve always been wary when it comes to videogame adaptations of famous anime properties. Some games get the formula just right while others fall flat and are consigned to the nether realms. Jujutsu Kaisen is an odd one however as it captures the aesthetics of the anime incredibly well but still somehow feels as though it’s lacking. The story mode is great for those of you who want to recap an abridged storyline of the first season of the anime itself, or if you are new to the anime it will give you a taste of what you are in store for. But ion both respects I would recommend just watching the anime itself. For games like this I always hope for a sort of side story to the main one, like something new to bring to the fans instead of just rehashing the world we already know, but it was not to be. You have a roster of 15 characters which should be plenty to play around with, especially taking into account all the outfits and power ups that are available to buy with the in game currency which you earn by completing battles in story mode and online challenges. The soundtrack is decent and the voice acting seems to be lifted straight from the anime in both the Japanese and English voice overs. However the game feels unpolished, slightly broken and in some cases like a very bad cash grab to entice fans of the series in. and at the cost it is selling for I expected a lot more bang for my buck.

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Things I liked!

• Graphics | The graphics are incredible, Every character moves fluidly in single player story mode and you can tell that a lot of work was put into the visual aspect of the game. I loved looking through the art work you unlock as you play through the story mode and particularly enjoyed seeing the characters in alternative gear.

• The soundtrack and Voice over | I have zero complaints about the soundtrack and in fact would be quite happy just listening to a lot of it while I chill out sometimes. The Japanese voice over will always be my go to but the English voice artists did an awesome job as well.

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Neither good nor bad

• Story Mode | Like I mentioned previously, the story is an abridged version of Season one of the anime, it misses out on a lot of key plot points and a significant amount of gore, however as a recap it works well and for people who don’t know the story it could be a great wee introduction to the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. But the problem is that people who don’t know the franchise aren’t going to buy it and people who do already know the story, so although it is done in an easy to digest format I feel it should have been a side story or alternate version of events.

• Fighting | Fighting in Jujutsu Kaisen feels solid enough, you hit buttons, you destroy or exorcise your enemies and that should be enough…So why does it feel like it could be more? The button presses are easy to get to grips with and the styles are fun to play, but you don’t feel like you are actually doing much other than hitting buttons, the lack of any kind of skill is a little annoying, essentially you can button mash and win every single battle. I hope this doesn’t become a trend.

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Things I disliked!

• Online | The stutter and lag during online battles was awful, there were times when I couldn’t see the action at all and other moments where I ended up inside of a wall after trying to perform a series of what I would call awesome hits. It took a good while to get partnered with anyone online as well and oftentimes I would be mid battle and it would just cut out. For a game that has a main focus of coop battles it has done an exceptionally poor job. I hope it gets patched in the future but for the moment there really isn’t much point in playing the online mode at all.