Interview:Bandai Namco (June 2022)

An interview with Kentaro Matano, a producer on All-Star Battle R, published on Bandai Namco's website answering frequently asked questions about the game.

Interview
Greetings!

This is Kentaro Matano, producer of the upcoming anime-based and stylistic fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R! We’re thrilled to be able to show the first look at our new game, which launches on Sept. 1 on Windows PC via Steam, and Sept. 2 across all platforms. We’re looking forward to fan feedback and suggestions following our Early Access Demo, which launched today on PlayStation 4 ® and PlayStation 5 ®, and we truly appreciate the passion and enthusiasm from the fans as we move closer to launch.

We know there are going to be a lot of questions from people checking out the game, which we are happy to answer today. If our fans have further suggestions for the game, please continue to share with us, as we work towards making JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R the best JoJo’s fighting game experience available to players.

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Matano: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is a fighting action game that brings this mega-popular anime to the modern gaming era as it recreates the delicate and unique character expressions created by Hirohiko Araki! The game has an assortment of new features, including revamps to the fight system first introduced in 2013, changes to the main mode, and new characters added to the game, giving players a total of 50 fighters to play at launch!

If you are not good at fighting games, don't worry, there is an easy beat system that, once toggled when you select your fighter, allows players to connect combos with a single button and even enjoy special moves.

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Matano: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R features a massive cast of 50 fan-favorite characters from every JOJO arc. We have already announced 44 characters, so please stay tuned for the remaining six fighters.

In addition to characters, there are six modes players can experience at launch - All-Star Battle, Arcade, Versus, Online, Practice and Customize, which features 850 customization options available for players to experience.

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Matano: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R aims to be a game that can be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences from casual anime fans to fighting game players.

The Early Access Demo includes casual matches in Online Mode and Practice Mode, so players can look forward to enjoying regular fights. New players will see the in-game graphics, which aims to reproduce JOJO's visual aesthetic as depicted by Hirohiko Araki, while fans of the original game can look forward to new mechanics like assist attacks, dash jumps, and hit stops.

The main mode at launch, All-Star Battle, is a mission mode for one player where they can enjoy the impressive cards from the original game, as well as the original dialog and interdivisional dream battles that are unique to this title. This dialog is different from what players can experience in Versus, as it is exclusive to All-Star Battle mode.

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Matano: Data cannot be transferred to the full game. After the demo expires, you will not be able to play the downloaded version.

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Matano: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R will not utilize rollback netcode, and there are no plans to implement it at this time.

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Matano: Please refer to the table below: Bandai ASBR FPS Table.png

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Matano: You can play with console controllers, keyboard for PC, and a fighting stick. PvP matches will be available for offline and online play with a maximum of two players.

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Matano: While JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R does not feature cross-platform multiplayer, the game features Cross-Gen Multiplayer between PS4 and PS5, as well as Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

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Matano: In Practice Mode, players can set COM actions, adjust the difficulty and various in-game gauges, as well as toggle visual elements like the display amount of damage, attack types, and input keys. It is also possible to practice by selecting techniques from the command list.

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Matano: We added new actions, such as assist attacks, dash jumps, and Stylish Guard. The team also adjusted the hit stop and behavior of various techniques.

Other major changes are the modes, as we added All-Star Battle mode, Team Battle Mode, and Tournament modes in lieu of the original story mode and campaign from the original release. The team also adjusted character models and voices from Part 1 through 6 to conform to the ongoing anime.

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Matano: I hope fans will forward to the release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, as it has evolved even further from the previous title, and we can't wait for fans to see what makes a JOJO's fighting game unique from other fighting games.