If the story is going to be so crucial to a game like Jump Force, it really should have been better integrated into its structure, rather than being an annoyance you have to chase down. Eventually, these missions run dry though, leaving you to wander the base until you spot an exclamation mark on the map, indicating what's next. Most of the time, you'll just select a Key Mission from a kiosk – a soulless dispensary mechanic that really needs to be laid to rest – complete the objective, then be deposited right back in front of the clerk to repeat the process. Sometimes that means speaking to Director Glover, the commander of the Umbras Base hub world you'll explore between fights – a too-large and mostly empty space, where character animation downgrades to an embarassingly janky spectacle – or finding characters hiding around. Cutscene, fight, find who to speak to next to move the story along. It's all rather oddly strung together, with an awkwardly staccato rhythm for a fighting game. Introducing the complete Jump Force roster
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Sometimes you'll be battling with just your avatar, other times with an allied hero, others still going in with a full team of three, as is the standard for multiplayer fights. Some fights are one round brawls against story-pivotal characters, others are multiple rounds against Venoms, the grunts du jour. There's also no real consistency to how the game progresses. It's all a little overwhelming, when all I wanted to do was slap the irritating grin off ninja brat Boruto. There are dozens of stats and attributes to consider, along with which particular set of skills you equip to your main character – which, of course, can themselves be levelled up and enhanced.
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The story links each battle, and the battles move the story along by unlocking new characters to join the in-game Jump Force alliance, but you earn EXP for each brawl, and between them you'll buy and upgrade skills, engage in side missions to level up your characters, or buy cosmetic items.
Jump Force's biggest problem though is that it doesn't seem to quite know if it wants to be a story driven RPG or a fighting game. Fair enough, you might say – there are a lot of characters to squeeze in, from the globally renowned trio that grace the cover to faces only hardcore manga enthusiasts may recognise, such as City Hunter's Ryo Saeba, or newer characters yet to reach mainstream attention, like Black Clover's Asta. Now, I'm one of those weirdos who plays fighting games for their story – I know far too much about SoulCalibur's history and the interdimensional politics of Mortal Kombat's realms, for instance – but Jump Force's story ultimately feels more like a quick justification to bring together so many disparate Shonen Jump heroes.
With all that still to come though, I fiddled about for a few minutes, created a suitably outré spiky-haired warrior, named him Sean Anjump (geddit?), and set about saving the world alongside Goku, Luffy, and dozens more classic characters. Initially it's just their aesthetics, but as you progress you'll be able to add gain access to their signature moves, dubbed J-Skills, and be able to add them to your own attack repertoire. The more Shonen Jump manga and anime you know, the more you'll get a kick out of the editor tool, with assets such as hairstyles, eyes, and facial features cribbed from other characters. The lead-in is simply justification for you to create your new heroic avatar, customising their design as you're reborn.