Overview [JP]: J-Stars Victory VS - Standard Edition (PS3)

Next up on my overview Japanese games backlog is my second import J-Stars Victory VS. Like Project DIVA I also ended up using the Amazon Marketplace to pay for these (not recommended because that marketplace is unpredictable, as evidently seem with my copy of Project DIVA F 2nd which ended up being the Region 3 version).

Anywho the game got localised so what's the original set like then? Let's find out.

J-Stars Victory VS is the 7th Weekly Shonen Jump crossover title in the series and is the first to see a release on PlayStation 3. Like the previous instalments this game features tons of characters from various manga series including Bleach, Dragon Ball, Gintama, Naruto, One Piece and Toriko.

This fighting game puts 2 characters and a summon against another 2 characters with their summon in one big arena. The arenas vary from various major manga titles in particular the six titles mentioned above and there are some destructible environments so you can bash through them like a boss.

There are 39 playable characters and 13 summon only characters. Here's the entire list:

Playable characters:

Assassination Classroom - Koro-sensei

Beelzebub - Tatsumi Oga with Baby Beel

Bleach - Ichigo Kurosaki, and Sōsuke Aizen

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo - Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo with Don Patch

Chinyūki: Tarō to Yukai na Nakama-tachi - Taro Yamada

Dr. Slump - Arale Norimaki with Gatchan

Dragon Ball Z - Son Goku, Vegeta, and Freeza

Fist of the North Star - Kenshiro, and Raoh

Gin Tama - Gintoki Sakata

Hell Teacher Nūbē - Meisuke Nueno (Nūbē)

Hunter × Hunter - Gon Freecss, and Killua Zoldyck

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Jonathan Joestar, and Joseph Joestar

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo - Kankichi Ryotsu

Medaka Box - Medaka Kurokami

Naruto - Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Madara Uchiha

One Piece - Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Boa Hancock, and Akainu

Reborn! - Tsuna Sawada with Reborn

Rurouni Kenshin - Himura Kenshin, and Shishio Makoto

Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan - Kusuo Saiki

Saint Seiya - Pegasus Seiya

Sakigake!! Otokojuku - Momotaro Tsurugi

Tottemo! Luckyman - Luckyman

Toriko - Toriko, and Zebra

Yu Yu Hakusho - Yusuke Urameshi, Hiei, and Younger Toguro

Support characters

Bleach - Rukia Kuchiki

D.Gray-man - Allen Walker

Gintama - Kagura and Sadaharu

Haikyū!! - Shōyō Hinata

Hunter × Hunter - Hisoka

Kuroko's Basketball - Tetsuya Kuroko

Medaka Box - Misogi Kumagawa

Neuro: Supernatural Detective - Neuro Nōgami

Nisekoi - Chitoge Kirisaki

Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar - Jaguar Junichi

Sakigake!! Otokojuku - Heihachi Edajima

Sket Dance - Bossun, Himeko, and Switch

To Love-Ru - Lala Satalin Deviluke

The game is entirely in Japanese but there are some parts in English. The main gameplay is relatively simple to understand and the story mode (while heavily in Japanese) is not that bad to navigate as the main choices are basically yes and no and there are guides to know where to go.

Format: PlayStation 3 (also available on PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 4 (+ Ver.))

Version: Japan

Exclusive: Yes (to Sony that is)

Local Players: 1-2

Online Players: 2-4

Resolution: NTSC 480p, 720p [This is based on the video output, resolution in-game may be different]

HDD Space: 1362 KB (Save), 3000MB (Game Data)

Trophies: Yes

J-Stars Victory VS is also available in English by Bandai Namco. This took me by surprise because you would think that licensing restrictions would prevent this from getting localised but in fact all of the characters do carry over to the English version (voices are Japanese only). The localised version, released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in physical/digital form, includes pretty much everything from the Japanese PS3 release with an added Arcade mode. The original Japanese PS3 version should still be around and while it would make sense to get the PS4 version, it's basically a port with minimal changes so I would honestly recommend going for the PS3 version (or Vita if you like portable games).