Tuesday, the entire Jojo fandom had an implosion when Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven was announced for PlayStation 3 and 4. The game is described to have 3D playing fields with tag team battles. New characters have been announced as well, Stroheim the Cyborg Nazi from battle tendency and Diego Brando, the Dino Dio and genius jockey from Steel Ball Run. Other characters confirmed to be returning include Jotaro, Kakyoin, part 4 pompadour Josuke, and Joseph at his part 2 age along with Caesar. The designs of the character models and the returning developer of cc2 suggests it to be a sequel to the massively fun and massively well received (in japan anyway) All Star Battle. The tag team style and 3D environments, however, suggest it to be either a completely standalone title or a spiritual successor.
It is worth noting that some characters such as Joseph, Caesar and Jotaro with star platinum have had a color change, now having the same colors as their anime counterparts. This is a nice touch because after getting used to the anime colors, seeing the differently colored characters was rather odd. On that note, it is possible that Kakyoin and any other part 3 voice actors may have changed to be voiced by their anime voice actors. The only voices confirmed thus far are Atsushi Imaruoka returning from the anime to voice Stroheim, and Takehito Koyasu voicing Diego, returning from voicing Dio in the anime and All Star Battle. Considering the games have tended to prefer to use voices cast for the anime, it is highly likely that any other in-game characters who have made anime appearances will be voiced by the same voice actors. It is also highly likely that at least the version of Dio from part 3 will be included as well, also voiced by Takehito.
There are many characters that seem likely to return from All Star Battle. It is probable that all the Jojos and all the villains will return, along with at least 1 other character from their part. It is almost guaranteed that Johnny, Gyro and Valentine will return as Diego is in. It is very likely that Cars, Wham, and AC/DC will return as Joseph, Caesar and Stroheim are in. Since Josuke is confirmed to return, it seems likely that Kira [or “Kosaku”] will return, and possibly Okuyasu as well. I hope for some more new characters too, including Yukako, F.F., Weather Report and possibly some Jojolion characters. I’m hoping that the entire cast of ASB will be returning, but there is no way to tell from what we have so far. It would be more likely for older characters to return, but the gameplay may be a completely different type as the genre is looking to be more a brawler than a traditional fighter so entirely new character move sets and animations would need to be made. In the first scan, we see a glimpse of one of the playable stages in the background of a seemingly edited picture of a battle between Jotaro, Kakyoin, Joseph and Caesar.
It does not look like any of the stages in All Star Battle. When wondering what the stage could be, nothing came to mind. Unless I am missing something quite obvious, or its just that enough of the stage has not been revealed yet, I am wondering if it could be an original stage for the game. Considering that, I am wondering if there may be an original story for the game. Something that leads me to believe this further is the title. The title seems to suggest a story to the game, possibly centered around part 6. Eyes of Heaven seems to strongly hint at the events toward the end of part 6, which I will not go into any more detail on to avoid spoilers. As no part 6 characters have even been announced, it also seems like the game could be going in a completely different direction as well. Just a hope, but I would love to see a story revolving around a crossover between all the characters. A game like that would cause the entire fandom to explode. Only time can tell what everything will be about.
One other thing mentioned in the scan is the “Dual Heart Attack,” a combo special with both team members. The name of this feature further connects it to All Star Battle as the special attacks in that game were known as “Heart Heat Attacks” and “Great Heart Attacks.” They showed a picture of what looks to be actual gameplay with Caesar and Joseph attacking Jotaro, being the only confirmed DHA. Other possible DHA’s could be between other Jojo’s and “Brojo’s” including Jotaro and Kakyoin, Josuke and Okuyasu (if he is in the game), and Johnny and Gyro (again if they are included).
A demo will be avalible at Jump Festa so we can expect to see gameplay then (the 20th and 21st), and they have stated that there will be a downloadable demo soon. This is all the information available as of now, but there will be new info soon.
Blog By Reuben Malone
Image courtesy of Albert Wang – Flickr License