Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash Review - Fableverse

Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash is an underwhelming first entry of the Jujutsu Kaisen in the world of console video games. Despite each of the 16 individual characters’ unique gameplay and fighting styles, the overall package doesn't hold up due to a variety of factors, which we’ll discuss in this review. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a recommendation, then you’ll not find it here, even if you’re a JJK fan, and I believe the more of a fan you are, the more frustrated you’ll get with this game. Let me explain.

Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash is a 2v2 anime arena battler based on the popular Jujutsu Kaisen anime, covering the plot of the anime from the start of the series up to the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie (up to the Shibuya Incident Arc if you have the DLC). Let’s start with the positives: Byking did a really good job in giving each character a unique playstyle and mechanics, which makes the 16-character roster much more flexible and versatile than you’d initially think. Pair that with the fighters’ ability to do unique combat maneuvers based on their partner, then you have a roster that has more depth than games with much larger roster sizes.

Characters also have a deep arsenal of fighting moves available, with six different buttons dedicated to different kinds of attacks, with players being able to execute Domain Expansions as their Ultimate Moves. However, it’s tough to chain combos and the attacks do not vary based on position or movement, which makes the game feel very stiff. Movement is also very sluggish, especially since the arenas are spacious and have a lot of obstacles. It makes it hard to chase opponents and landing your hits. Given that recovery is also very slow when you get hit by an enemy combo, and you have a game that feels sluggish and cumbersome.

The fact that the game is also made to be a 2v2 game may have contributed to these issues, as all fighting mechanics and movesets may have been balanced with 2v2 in mind, which definitely affected all aspects of the game.

Much worse is everything else outside of the battle arena. The game’s story mode is told through slideshows, with character conversations mostly done by disembodied heads over plain backgrounds. There are a few cutscenes in the game but the game is so flat many players might have already given up before seeing one. Unlike Hinokami Chronicles 2, there’s very little reason to play this game if you wanted to experience the story.

It’s also baffling to see the game lacking a couch-coop game mode. A game made to be 2v2 would have made sense to have a couch co-op game mode, but all multiplayer aspects of Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash are online-only. Thankfully, Byking makes good netcodes, and playing online feels good. There is also very little incentive to partake in the game’s Rush Battle game mode, as there are no rewards that you would not otherwise get in normal gameplay. The Rush Battle game mode is very grindy and repetitive, which makes it a waste of space.

It’s unfortunate that this game isn’t as good as it should be, especially with the deep design for each character. We could only wish for an alternate reality where JJK had a better video game. Speaking of alternate realities, you can play re-imagined segments of the JJK story with What If scenarios and alternate universe stories with FableVerse. They are called JJK Fables, and you can even chat with Gojo, Sukuna, Nobara, redo the fight against Sukuna with Gojo, or play an open-world RPG in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and on the Nintendo Switch.