Confession: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is an anime and manga series that has eluded me for years. I know of its legacy, but I haven’t gotten the chance to actually sit down and watch/read it. Truth be told, it intimidates me a little bit, but at the same time, I’m intrigued by its art style and zany, over-the-top theatrics.
Still, even if I don’t go here, I let out a fangirl cheer when I saw the announcement for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R during Sony’s State of Play. Why? Well, because I’m a sucker for a good anime-themed fighting game, and the more unique the characters, the better. With a cast as colorful as JoJo’s, this is bound to offer hours of hilariously amazing gameplay.
50 characters available?!
After showing off the gameplay, the trailer ended with an image of what looks to be a character roster. That image would, typically, be what the game has to offer, even if it’s for a series that has a lot more people you can choose from. For example, My Hero Academia has a huge pool of characters throughout the series, but its video game series, One’s Justice, had a little over 20 in the first game, 40 in the second, and a couple of characters as DLC.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R ends its trailer by boasting that 50 characters will be playable. That’s a pretty large number to start with. This is, of course, assuming everyone is available immediately, but you could have to unlock characters as you play, or maybe different variants to a character will count as a new one. I’m kinda hoping for an unlocking situation as I’m always been a fan of having to perform certain tasks to get a character. There’s no word on whether or not JoJo will have DLC (free or paid).
A remake of a PlayStation 3 exclusive
If you’re wondering why the title of the game has that “R” in it, it’s because this is actually a remake of a PS3 game that was released in Japan back in 2013 (and 2014 everywhere else). JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle featured 41 characters (32 in the game and the rest being released through DLC). According to Polygon, the updated version of the game will include characters from the anime and the manga—particularly Stone Ocean, which is the current arc the anime is in.
Polygon also commented on the voice acting in “R” compared to its predecessor.
The new version of the game also adds many of the voice actors from the anime. Since the original game was released in 2013, when the anime was still only on its first full season, the cast featured many actors that are different from their anime counterparts. With the update, it seems that developer Namco Bandai has brought in many of the anime actors to reprise their roles, though there hasn’t been a full cast list revealed for the game yet.
There’s no word on whether or not the game will include the dub cast of the anime.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R is scheduled to be released this fall. While it was revealed at Sony’s State of Play, the game will also be available on the Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
(Image: Bandai Namco)
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