There have been many anime-inspired video games over the years but none quite as ambitious as Jump Force. Sure, there are already plenty of anime fighting games out there but this one is a bit different. Whereas most games are based on one series, Jump Force will feature iconic characters from a large variety of well-known franchises. These include the likes of Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, and Death Note.
That’s already a pretty impressive selection but there’s more where that came from. According to the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, a few Soul Reapers from Bleach are also joining the roster. The E3 2018 reveal trailer for Jump Force didn’t feature any Bleach characters but they’re definitely coming. According to Weekly Shonen Jump, fans of the anime can expect to be able to play as Ichigo, Rukia, and Aizen when the game launches. The magazine also mentions that all characters will come equipped with costumes from the Thousand Year Blood War story arc.
Heroes vs Villains
With Ichigo and Rukia presumably joining the heroes camp, the good guys’ team is now looking even stronger than before. Aside from the two Bleach characters, Jump Force also includes the likes of Goku, Naruto Uzumaki, Monkey D. Luffy, and Ronora Zoro from One Piece. Given the recent success of Dragon Ball FighterZ, it’s say to assume that Jump Force will include a few more characters from the series. Fan favorites like Vegeta, Gohan and Trunks are pretty much guaranteed.
The E3 trailer focused primarily on the playable heroes but it’s starting to look like Jump Force will also include a fair number of antagonists. In addition to Aizen, gamers will also be able to play as Frieza from Dragon Ball and Sasuke from Naruto. Death Note’s Light Yagami and Ryuk have also been confirmed but it seems like they won’t be playable. Instead, the pair will reportedly be important in some way to the story of the game. There are no other details regarding the story at this time but Jump Force may end up doing something similar to Injustice given the heroes vs villains theme.
A Few Other Franchises That Could Be Included
Jump Force is said to primarily feature characters from franchises that have appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump over the years. The magazine has been around for decades so there are definitely plenty of good series to choose from. A few interesting ones that might make the cut include Fist of the North Star, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Quest, Hunter X Hunter, My Hero Academia, and Shaman King.
Admittedly, it would be somewhat strange to see characters from some of these series fighting against Goku or Naruto. But publisher Bandai Namco could theoretically add any number of characters just for the plot like they’re doing with Light Yagami and Ryuk. We can only speculate for now but this certainly opens up a lot of exciting possibilities.
Jump Force is scheduled to launch sometime in 2019. Bandai Namco has not confirmed any platforms just yet. However, PC, PS4, Xbox One and even the Switch all seem like good fits for this type of game.
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