The popular anime and manga series Jujutsu Kaisen has made its first foray into video games with Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash. The series is known for its intense battles between sorcerers and dangerous curses.
The game allows players to take control of the main character Yuji Itadori and other students as they learn to wield Jujutsu sorcery against supernatural threats.
However, the game has unfortunately set an unfavorable record. Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash has received the highest number of refund requests in the shortest amount of time for a video game.
The magic of the anime and manga did not seem to translate well to the interactive format.
There are clearly issues with the game that have caused an exceptional number of players to request their money back soon after purchase.
The developers likely hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the Jujutsu Kaisen series by expanding it into video games.
However the excessive refunds indicate serious problems with Cursed Clash that have overshadowed its ties to the successful franchise.
The developers now face the significant challenge of figuring out what exactly went wrong and how to prevent this record level of refunds from happening again.
Jujutsu Kaisen Makes its Gaming Debut with Dynamic Team Battles
The hugely popular manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, which runs in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, is making the jump to video games for the first time with a new console release.
This 2 vs 2 fighting game allows players to take control of over 15 playable characters from the series, including both powerful Jujutsu sorcerers and dangerous cursed spirits.
A major highlight of the game is the ability to utilize the unique cursed techniques and abilities of each character.
Players can strategize and create their own 2-person teams, identifying complementary partnerships that align with their preferred playstyle. For example, pairing a ranged fighter with a close-quarters brawler.
Successfully landing attacks fills up a power meter, enabling even stronger abilities and combo attacks between teammates.
Defeating enemies grants experience points to level up fighters, further expanding their deadly techniques and offensive options.
The core premise takes advantage of the rich cast and supernatural powers from the manga/anime by letting fans control these characters directly for flashy, team-based paranormal battles.
The depth of choosing from the roster and building creative duos adds replayability and strategic choice.
Jujutsu Kaisen, A Game of Missed Opportunities and Technical Hurdles
The game features 1v1, 1v2, and 2v2 match formats, but the 2v2 setup seems to be the focal point that much of the gameplay is designed around. Outside of Story Mode, there is no option for standard 1v1 fights, further indicating that 2v2 is the premier match type.
However, combo attacks between partners feel limited, as spamming the square attack button comprises about 90% of match play. This stems from a critical flaw – many normal attacks inflict zero damage.
Only special moves fueled by Curse Energy deal actual damage, usually limited to end-string attacks.
Non-damaging strikes are labeled as “Curse Extractors” to build up one’s Curse Meter, but players can often build meters just as quickly by repeatedly mashing square while actually damaging the opponent.
Additionally, many attacks do not fluidly chain together. Launcher moves triggered with a triangle cannot be followed up on beyond the occasional ranged attack.
Downing an adversary with the circle button often just grants them a long period of wakeup armor to punish you, without dealing any damage yourself.
The movement also feels floaty jumping and sluggish on the ground, attacks carrying little sense of impact.
Some Awakened Techniques have visually appealing animations but even these get disrupted by a distant teammate activating their own cinematic super move.
There is minimal incentive to stay invested in an active fight, critically hampering the core combat experience.
The story mode in Jujutsu Kaisen provides only a barebones adaptation of the anime’s first season and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie into abbreviated slideshows. There are occasional fully animated cutscenes, but most of the time it simply displays still images from the anime with overlaid text.
For fans already familiar with the plot, these summarized glimpses offer little value. And for newcomers, there are much better ways to experience the narrative rather than this minimalist game retelling.
Many story battles pose little challenge, with most levels easily achievable to “S” rank on the first try. There is little sense that crafting an engaging story mode was a priority, making it both boring and nearly worthless.
The additional modes also fail to impress. There are a few online options to face other players or team up against bots to level up your fighters.
However, network problems consistently interfere – either preventing me from joining matches successfully or dropping connections mid-fight.
Noticeable frame rate drops during online play also routinely make battles an uphill slog against both lag and glitched graphics.
Even when things are functioning optimally, lobby setup proves needlessly convoluted.
The game bombards you with excessive match setting screens instead of tucking those details away into a menu.
This makes the already clunky process of switching between modes and grouping with friends even more difficult than necessary.
