This review is based off of playing on PC and the Steam Deck.

(In-depth analysis below)
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash grapples with uncertainty and a lack of cohesive vision, hindering its overall experience and resulting in a subpar product. Though the 2v2 format and clever character kits offer some intrigue and fun, the combat lacks fluidity, the story mode disappoints, and the visuals feel outdated and inconsistent. While there is enjoyment, considering its state, it becomes considerably challenging to justify it at the asking price, let alone on sale.

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The first story revolves around Yuuji Itadori, an ordinary high schooler thrust into the world of Curses and Jujutsu Sorcery after unintentionally interacting with a cursed object. Recognizing the dangers that Curses pose to society, he joins Jujutsu High, an institution dedicated to combating curses, embarking on an irreversible path as a Jujutsu sorcerer. The second story centers on Yuuta Okkotsu, a high school bullying victim haunted by a curse that kills anyone who harms him. Yuuta's power gets recognized by Jujutsu High Sorcerer Satoru Gojo, who takes him under his belt to aid him in wielding his destructive power for good. However, Suguru Geto, a powerful curse user, notices his strength and plans to exploit Yuuta's power for a genocidal plot against non-jujutsu users.

JJKCC covers the pivotal story beats of JJK season one while adding some extra fluff content; however, inexplicably omits crucial fights and memorable moments from the movie. The approach to storytelling is lazy and outright bland, as it's essentially only anime stills, which undermines the otherwise well-written and entertaining narrative of JJK, stripping away its depth and resulting in a subpar experience devoid of any real enjoyment. Each notable encounter unfolds in a PVE battle; initially seeming intriguing they swiftly devolve into repetitiveness, falling short of capturing the impactful essence of the source material, if even any.

The combat is surprisingly intriguing, as it is built around 2v2 fights where you and your partner team up to execute combos and constantly switch between opponents to wear them down. It has a diverse roster of characters, all with unique playstyles. Unfortunately, the execution falls short, resulting in an awkward amalgamation of disparate elements that fail to harmonize seamlessly.

Core Mechanics
Each character has six attacks varying from combo mashers and projectiles to movement-orientated buffs or debuffs. Most of the attacks, however, don't do damage; instead, they contribute to your curse meter. Once you start filling it up, your character levels up, enhancing your damage output while unlocking the ability to unleash two distinct special techniques and an awakening, be it a problematic domain expansion or a signature move.

However, due to a majority of your attacks solely being used for curse generation, a substantial amount of your attacks end up feeling extremely underwhelming and taints the otherwise quite intricate combat. To further exacerbate frustration, the mobility feels oddly cheap, unresponsive, and incredibly janky. There are moments of redeeming fun, but it undeniably requires substantial refinement and polishing to fulfill its potential.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3165253480

Stages
Typically, arena fighters fall into the category of having incredibly generic stages to ensure a more balanced playing field. However, Cursed Clash faces a different issue because rather than embracing the more evenly distributed arenas, it features a variety of maps teeming with impediments like clutter, breakable walls, vertical floors, and more. This deliberate design choice, while intriguing in concept, consistently obstructs vision and disrupts movement while encouraging dull hit-and-run playstyles that are incredibly annoying to face.

Versus, Free Battle & Co-op
In the versus mode, you either queue up with a friend or get queued together with a random and face off against players worldwide in casual or ranked play. Multiplayer feels like the most polished aspect of Cursed Clash as the intended game mode. There's an undeniable element of fun through the jankiness and quirks, especially if you tag up with a friend. Free Battle is essentially offline matches with custom settings. However, it's super limited and lacks local versus.

Co-op is a PVE wave-based mode in which you fight curses, level up your characters, purchase items, equip them to enhance your power, and subsequently engage in battles against progressively challenging enemies. It is initially fun but quickly becomes repetitive and serves little more than a way to grind cosmetics. The customization options provide a substantial variety of content, including costumes, voice packs, poses, and various other miscellaneous goods, all of which can be shown off in online matches.

Visuals
The graphics, without a doubt, look outdated. While not inherently terrible, the inconsistency throughout is striking. The landscapes lack depth and vibrancy, coupled with textures that are out of place, resulting in a visual experience that feels sparse and one-dimensional, and that's without mentioning the lazy slideshow of anime stills to progress the story. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3169235009 Sadly that is slow-lived as the animation quality is a mixed bag, ranging from visually exciting special techniques to combos that lack impact and feel sluggish and unpolished.

Audio
The OST effectively encapsulates the eerie and supernatural atmosphere with haunting melodies and intense battle themes throughout matches or as background noise for the narration. Hit sounds and vocals are adequate as they generally sound good, but the occasional effect falls flat or dialogue sounds off.

[i]This review is based off of playing on PC and the Steam Deck.[/i] [h2]Overview[/h2] [b](In-depth analysis below)[/b] Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash grapples with uncertainty and a lack of cohesive vision, hindering its overall experience and resulting in a subpar product. Though the 2v2 format and clever character kits offer some intrigue and fun, the combat lacks fluidity, the story mode disappoints, and the visuals feel outdated and inconsistent. While there is enjoyment, considering its state, it becomes considerably challenging to justify it at the asking price, let alone on sale. [table] [tr] [th]Positives[/th] [th]Negatives[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]- The 2v2 format injects a unique dynamic into gameplay, emphasizing teamwork and strategic coordination that leads to memorable moments with friends. - The character kits are creative, offering diverse playstyles and making the roster mechanically and visually unique. - The netcode is surprisingly robust, not flawless, but notably better when compared to most arena fighters.[/td] [td]- The story mode is a letdown with its half-hearted attempt to convey an otherwise fantastic narrative, using anime stills and voiceovers that fall short and taint the experience. - The combat lacks fluidity, feeling rigid and somewhat unresponsive, with a spongy quality that diminishes the overall enjoyment. - There's no leaver penalty for online matches and no local versus mode. - The visuals are incredibly inconsistent, leading to a subpar presentation that fails to maintain cohesive quality control. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [th]PC Specs & Steam Deck Performance[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]PC: i7-9700K, 24GB of RAM, RTX 2080 Ti at 1080p. SD LCD: 30-45 FPS, ~1.30 hours battery, ~20-25 W, ~70-80 C at 800p. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3154480123 On the Steam Deck, I faced an issue where the graphics settings were inaccessible, forcing me to use default configurations. Despite others reporting a consistent 60 fps, I couldn't achieve that no matter what I tried. Consequently, I opted to limit the frame rate to 45 fps for a more consistent experience. [/td] [/tr][/table] [quote] Follow [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/41449676/] Summit Reviews [/url] For more insightful and high-quality reviews, or follow my [url=https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/36435986/] Curator Page[/url], in case you're interested in more Steam Deck orientated reviews.[/quote] [h2]In-Depth[/h2] [h3]Story[/h3] The first story revolves around Yuuji Itadori, an ordinary high schooler thrust into the world of Curses and Jujutsu Sorcery after unintentionally interacting with a cursed object. Recognizing the dangers that Curses pose to society, he joins Jujutsu High, an institution dedicated to combating curses, embarking on an irreversible path as a Jujutsu sorcerer. The second story centers on Yuuta Okkotsu, a high school bullying victim haunted by a curse that kills anyone who harms him. Yuuta's power gets recognized by Jujutsu High Sorcerer Satoru Gojo, who takes him under his belt to aid him in wielding his destructive power for good. However, Suguru Geto, a powerful curse user, notices his strength and plans to exploit Yuuta's power for a genocidal plot against non-jujutsu users. JJKCC covers the pivotal story beats of JJK season one while adding some extra fluff content; however, inexplicably omits crucial fights and memorable moments from the movie. The approach to storytelling is lazy and outright bland, as it's essentially only anime stills, which undermines the otherwise well-written and entertaining narrative of JJK, stripping away its depth and resulting in a subpar experience devoid of any real enjoyment. Each notable encounter unfolds in a PVE battle; initially seeming intriguing they swiftly devolve into repetitiveness, falling short of capturing the impactful essence of the source material, if even any. [h3]Gameplay Analysis[/h3] The combat is surprisingly intriguing, as it is built around 2v2 fights where you and your partner team up to execute combos and constantly switch between opponents to wear them down. It has a diverse roster of characters, all with unique playstyles. Unfortunately, the execution falls short, resulting in an awkward amalgamation of disparate elements that fail to harmonize seamlessly. [b][u]Core Mechanics[/u][/b] Each character has six attacks varying from combo mashers and projectiles to movement-orientated buffs or debuffs. Most of the attacks, however, don't do damage; instead, they contribute to your curse meter. Once you start filling it up, your character levels up, enhancing your damage output while unlocking the ability to unleash two distinct special techniques and an awakening, be it a problematic domain expansion or a signature move. However, due to a majority of your attacks solely being used for curse generation, a substantial amount of your attacks end up feeling extremely underwhelming and taints the otherwise quite intricate combat. To further exacerbate frustration, the mobility feels oddly cheap, unresponsive, and incredibly janky. There are moments of redeeming fun, but it undeniably requires substantial refinement and polishing to fulfill its potential. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3165253480 [b][u]Stages[/u][/b] Typically, arena fighters fall into the category of having incredibly generic stages to ensure a more balanced playing field. However, Cursed Clash faces a different issue because rather than embracing the more evenly distributed arenas, it features a variety of maps teeming with impediments like clutter, breakable walls, vertical floors, and more. This deliberate design choice, while intriguing in concept, consistently obstructs vision and disrupts movement while encouraging dull hit-and-run playstyles that are incredibly annoying to face. [b][u]Versus, Free Battle & Co-op[/u][/b] In the versus mode, you either queue up with a friend or get queued together with a random and face off against players worldwide in casual or ranked play. Multiplayer feels like the most polished aspect of Cursed Clash as the intended game mode. There's an undeniable element of fun through the jankiness and quirks, especially if you tag up with a friend. Free Battle is essentially offline matches with custom settings. However, it's super limited and lacks local versus. Co-op is a PVE wave-based mode in which you fight curses, level up your characters, purchase items, equip them to enhance your power, and subsequently engage in battles against progressively challenging enemies. It is initially fun but quickly becomes repetitive and serves little more than a way to grind cosmetics. The customization options provide a substantial variety of content, including costumes, voice packs, poses, and various other miscellaneous goods, all of which can be shown off in online matches. [h3]Presentation[/h3] [b][u]Visuals[/u][/b] The graphics, without a doubt, look outdated. While not inherently terrible, the inconsistency throughout is striking. The landscapes lack depth and vibrancy, coupled with textures that are out of place, resulting in a visual experience that feels sparse and one-dimensional, and that's without mentioning the lazy slideshow of anime stills to progress the story. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3169235009 Sadly that is slow-lived as the animation quality is a mixed bag, ranging from visually exciting special techniques to combos that lack impact and feel sluggish and unpolished. [b][u]Audio[/u][/b] The OST effectively encapsulates the eerie and supernatural atmosphere with haunting melodies and intense battle themes throughout matches or as background noise for the narration. Hit sounds and vocals are adequate as they generally sound good, but the occasional effect falls flat or dialogue sounds off.