JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken for SFC

Image: MobyGames

JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken

Part visual novel (manga), point-and-click, and JRPG

Genre: rpg - japanese

Publisher: Cobra Team

Year: 1993

System: SFC

Gameplay Score: 1

Gameplay Notes:

This is probably better described as a point and click visual novel than a true RPG. All movement is made via 2D point-and-click viewer which takes up only one-quarter of the screen. It's tiny. You can walk left or right, enter doors, or stop to open a cursor which allows you to interact with your surroundings or talk with NPCs. Staple RPG features exists, such as building a party of fighters, exp and hit points, items, and such. The battles are where it gets weird. It's a first person view and you have the usual Attack and Item menu items, but you also have Talk and Tactics menu items where you taunt your opponent or discover their weakness. It feels completely random, although I suspect that an in-depth knowledge of the manga might inform you on how to approach each battle. It feels like a dumbed down version of the Talk/Recruit mechanic used in the Shin Megami Tensei games. I found that having a bunch of healing items and trying every combination of talk, tactics, and attack would win every fight. Again, it doesn't feel like there's any skill required, but rather the patience to fight the correct combination for that fight. For that reason, I think this is better described as a visual novel than as an RPG. Overally this is a curiosity made for uber-fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

The rooms are tiny and the dialogue of the NPCs will steer you where you need to go. It's a linear as could be.

Theme Score: 2

Theme Notes:

I know nothing about the manga. Apparently there are demons or spirits in you and your opponents which can fight one another. That, combined with a male power fantasy of your character walking around while every young woman he meets fawning over him like they're in heat. Super weird.

Art Style Score: 2

Art Style Notes:

As I said, the playing area is barely one-quarter of the screen. Most of the time you only see characters from the shoulders up. The artwork is decent, but with it taking up so little of the screen it doesn't impress.

Audio Score: 3

Audio Notes:

The music is easily my favorite aspect of this title. It's not amazing, as it feel like a product of its time, but it's upbeat and kind of silly.

Overall Score: 32

Review ID: 1706