Jujutsu Kaisen perfectly illustrates the problem with video games inspired by anime and manga

Gaming News Jujutsu Kaisen perfectly illustrates the problem with video games inspired by anime and manga

Jujutsu Kaisen is clearly the manga and anime of today. Recently, the second season of the show ended in style and everyone agreed. As for the original work, Readers will discover the final story arc as the adventures of Yuji Itadori and his friends are expected to end this year. In order to capitalize on the hype surrounding Gege Akutami’s work, video game adaptations have obviously been created.

If a mobile game called Jujutsu Kaisen: Phantom Parade is already available in Japan, Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash will be released worldwide on consoles and PC on February 2nd. And yet, It is the first one that JJK fans are waiting for the most and that says a lot about anime adaptations into video games.

Buy Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash on Amazon

Free or Premium for Jujutsu Kaisen?

To put things into context, let’s take a closer look at both games. Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash is a 3D arena fighting game with 2v2 battles. This is a paid experience which will be available on all current media from February 2nd. In contrast, Jujutsu Kaisen: Phantom Parade is a free-to-play mobile game that takes the form of an RPG with turn-based combat. It’s a gacha, a title with a random lottery mechanic to restore an important element of the gameplay, namely the characters here. Two experiences that are completely different in format and genre, and the only thing they have in common is that they are an adaptation of the same license.

At first glance, Cursed Clash promises to be a more ambitious game as it is a premium experience for current consoles. We find 3D graphics, nice animations and the presence of voice actors from the anime. Phantom Parade features 2D confrontations and less dynamic combat as it is turn-based. On paper, all of the fan excitement should be focused on Cursed Clash. And yet Phantom Parade promises a lot more hype to come, and you only have to look at the sales generated by mobile games in Japan to be convinced. In two weeks, Free-to-play generated over $20 million, a testament to the franchise’s popularity. Other than that, we’re hearing little about Cursed Clash, even though its release is imminent. For what ?

Gachas, the future of anime in video games?

First of all, one of the answers lies in the game itself. After playing it at Paris Games Week, Cursed Clash promises to be another arena fighter modeled after an anime because there are dozens of them. From what we saw in the trailers, we have the impression that we have already played the game, which offers nothing original either in terms of gameplay or content. Obviously this leads to a certain level of fatigue among the players. However, we cannot say that gachas are more original, since they often take the form of role-playing games with more or less technical turn-based combat. However, These free-to-play experiences know how to stand out from the crowd with one crucial element: fan service.

For several years, We observe that gachas benefit from better production value than premium games Give the fans what they want. A wealth of characters, careful animations, well-highlighted key elements of the work… All this together makes these free experiences more attractive than the premium versions. You only have to look at the latest mobile game based on an anime to be convinced, namely Black Clover M: Rise Of The Wizard King. Impressive graphics, comprehensive role-playing mechanics, gigantic content: everything comes together to satisfy fans of Yuki Tabata’s work in the long term. In contrast, the fighting game Black Clover: Quartet Knights, released in 2018, was not very successful, with a Metacritic score of 57/100.

In reality, this observation is not very surprising, because Gachas benefit from a much larger development budget than fighting games based on hastily created anime For one simple reason: They can pay off big in the long run, so you might as well invest heavily from the start. However, from our perspective as players, we can ask ourselves whether we can really be satisfied with this offer. Are gachas the only alternative to premium games based on often average anime? Will we really settle for just playing free games because frustration forces us to pay instead of demanding quality paid customizations? like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi or Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm? Only time will tell, but there’s definitely reason to be nostalgic for this era.