Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash PS5 Review
Summary: Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash's low-budget features, exemptions, and frankly tedious gameplay make the title hard to recommend to even a hardcore Jujutsu fan.
2.4
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most popular battle shounen series in the world right now. Saying this is far from an exaggeration too. With the release of the second season and the chapters of the manga being wilder than the last, stocks for the franchise are at an all-time high. While I wish I could say the trajectory remained upward, that is far from the case. Bandai Namco decided to release another anime arena fighting game based on the series developed by Byking. And in case you were wondering, it’s not really good.
Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash attempts to adapt the Jujutsu Kaisen series by transferring its bombastic, high-octane, fantastical fights into an arena fighting game. While it manages to transfer the combat, characters, and other similar elements from the anime and manga onto the game, it doesn’t do much else. It also doesn’t transfer these elements in a way that makes the game actually enjoyable. Not only that, but the game also blatantly displays its lack of a budget. The title lacks several essential features you’ll notice if you’re a seasoned fighting game fan in general.
The first aspect that proved this is that Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash lacks the most simple part of a fighting game, its character selection screen in the Free Battle Mode. Players wanting to choose any character in any game mode will have to choose from a text screen and nothing more. And if, for some reason, you have no idea who any of these characters are, then good luck. Because it seems the developers assume everyone is a fan of the franchise.
Another egregious element, or lack thereof, can be seen in the story mode. While this mode has its fair share of disappointing features, the worst is that the entire series is displayed only through slideshows and images. This is of course, as opposed to rendered animated scenes or scenes with models. This is perhaps one of the most disappointing parts of the game because the franchise it adapts features one of the most enthralling and hype moments in anime and manga, but the game’s story strips most of these moments down to basic sliding PNGs, which is tragic.
Additionally, the story only adapts a narrative based on the first season and prequel, skipping the latest season in general. The story mode also notably does not include several characters featured in the first season, like Miwa, Mei Mei, and Kasumi, who are very noticeable characters who played important roles in the series.
Another feature that’s noticeably absent from the game is local multiplayer, which is unfortunate, as the only way to play with friends is through the online multiplayer mode. This mode is far from perfect, as finding players to fight against can be a hassle. And if you have a connection that’s anything less than stellar, the gameplay experience will be a nightmare.
As for the gameplay, Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash is like any other arena fighting game, but this time it’s 2v2. As such, while characters retain their cool moves and special attacks, the structure unsurprisingly causes a lot of chaos on screen. This is especially as effectively chaining attacks and special moves together takes a while to get a grasp of and doing this with four characters at once is also quite daunting. What’s more, moving the characters and performing moves feel really sluggish and heavy, much slower than you’d think an anime game based on a series known for its swift and high-impact fight choreography would be. Lastly, because the fight animations are incredibly similar and very limited, each fight gets repetitive quickly, especially if they take longer than a few minutes.
It’s not all bad, however, as players can unlock many costumes and other items just by playing through the game. While the items are all cosmetic and not all that impressive save for the costumes, they could serve as a nice reward to hardcore fans.
Final Thoughts?
Overall, Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash is a blatant disappointment to what could’ve been a remarkable adaptation to a fantastic franchise. Its low-budget features, exemptions, and frankly tedious gameplay make the title hard to recommend to even a hardcore Jujutsu fan.
About the Author
Abdul Saad Abdul Saad is a seasoned entertainment journalist and critic, and has been writing for five years on multiple gaming sites. When he isn't writing or playing the latest JRPG, he can be found coding games of his own or tinkering with something electrical.
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