JUMP: Assemble Initial Impressions

There’s a new MOBA game in town! Developed by Shueisha and DeNa cooperate, JUMP: Assemble brings your favorite anime characters in an epic, most ambitious crossover yet (not canon though). We get to see the most popular manga IPs or anime characters like Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece, Naruto, Goku of Dragon Ball, Kamado Tanjiro of Demon Slayer, and many more clash in a 5v5 arena.

This game took off with its closed beta testing (CBT) and we’re among the lucky ones to get a slot! I have played several ranked games already and we’re gonna talk about my initial impressions about this exciting MOBA title.

Preliminaries

Logging-in to the game, new players are greeted with a tutorial that familiarizes them with the controls. After completing the tutorial, players are prompted to create a game avatar allowing for customization of your appearance in the lobby.

After creating an avatar, I am transported to the said lobby, a vibrant 3D space filled with various areas such as game modes and the store.

As I navigate through this interactive hub, I can see other players roaming about, giving a lively atmosphere to the game. To quickly access specific areas, there’s a convenient button located on the upper right corner that instantly teleports my avatar to the desired location.

While I initially found this feature unique, I eventually found myself using the convenient button more often.

JUMP Assemble Characters

Having manga/ anime characters as the champions to use in a MOBA game is definitely JUMP’s main selling point. Witnessing beloved characters from different shows collide in intense battles is what sets this MOBA apart. It’s a dream come true for anime enthusiasts to see their favorite heroes and villains come together and showcase their unique abilities on the 5v5 battlefield.

At the moment, JUMP’s pool of characters total to 25 which come from eight anime and manga, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Undead Unluck, and Mashle. In the game’s Discord channel, which I personally joined, I’ve seen players requesting the developers to introduce more characters from a wider range of anime shows.

Personally, I have only unlocked a few characters to use for ranked games. But probably, my absolute favorite is Kamado Tanjiro from Demon Slayer. While I love the anime itself, I am impressed to see his character animation in the store. It’s so flawless and accurate, I could cry. The same goes for Tanjiro’s in-game skill animations that I can truly recognize from the anime.

Water Breathing technique, second form: ‘Water Wheel’ from the anime stunningly replicated as Tanjiro’s third skill in JUMP: Assemble.

Talking about his ultimate skill, I found out that Tanjiro has two varieties of his ultimate: the first is ‘Constant Flux’ in which Tanjiro performs five sword swings that knockbacks the target at the last hit. And if he gains enough stacks or ‘Breathing Marks’ by hitting enemies through his skills, Tanjiro may unleash his other ultimate, the iconic ‘Hinokami Kagura’ dance—his five sword swings are now fiery, with each swing knockbacks the target and an area of effect damage is dealt at the last hit.

‘Hinokami Kagura’ from the anime is Tanjiro’s ultimate in JUMP: Assemble.

That ultimate also synergizes with another character, Nezuko—Tanjiro’s sister in the anime. When her ultimate, ‘Blood Demon Art – Exploding Blood’, is cast in close proximity with Tanjiro, it boosts his Hinokami Kagura ultimate, dealing True Damage per second.

Aside from that, Tanjiro’s skillset aligns with my playstyle—which I always prefer to have more buttons to click or tap. This way, I have more freedom to strategize and to time my skills.

Another thrilling feature of the game is having original character voice-overs. Checking out characters like Naruto, or Megumi Fushiguro from Jujutsu Kaisen, they have working voiceovers that match their original Japanese dub.

However, some characters’ voice-overs—like Tanjiro’s—are still a work in progress, and the devs are on a mission to gather all the original voice actors for production. Fingers crossed that all characters will have their epic voice-overs ready to go upon the game’s official release!

Moving on, most of the characters can be obtained during the closed beta. Especially through its 7-day event that lets me claim one of three characters: Son Goku, Uzumaki Naruto, and Monkey D. Luffy on the first day. I got Sasuke on the second day and will get Boa Hancock on the seventh day.

Gameplay and graphics

Now onto the fun part. Right off the bat, I saw easter eggs around the map which is called the “All-Star Arena”. The turrets, the minions, the wild monster, and the overall feel of the battlefield are derived from the world of Dragon Ball.

The late-game contested objective takes the form of a Saiyan Great Ape. The enemy base even takes the form of Frieza’s spaceship.

At fair settings, the graphics are decent, and it only goes crisper at HD settings. Its atmosphere is actually not that dark (at least how it appears) as it’s set in a place blended with desert and grassland with a hint of alien invasion.

With the absence of ‘fog of war’ too, the look and feel of the map is friendly and lively to the eyes.

Talking about the gameplay, expect to choose different roles such as Mage, Fighter, Jungler, Support, and Tank. There are the usual three lanes: top, mid, and bottom lanes. The Fighter role usually goes to the ‘Duel’ lane while the attack damage carry (ADC) usually goes with the Support role on the ‘Training’ lane.

For Junglers, there are the red and blue buffs that spawn at the 30-second mark. While the first objective appears at the two-minute mark. The maximum level is 15, and you get the ultimate at level 4.

There are also ‘Battle Skills’ to choose from with the usual mechanics, including a Flash skill, a Retribution skill for Junglers, and Scoot for a temporary movement speed boost. Of course, there are equipment items, and I haven’t really delved into it yet. But we’ll see if we can have a full-blown guide in the future.

After every game, a certain character animation plays depicting the match’s MVP. Which is a good approach to let every other character shine and be seen in the game.

I also noticed that the user interface (UI) is almost always derived from ink and paper with halftone textures here and there. You can even see a collage of manga panels shown in the background of certain screens.

Characters wielding a sword also have a simple yet clever animation that adds a nice touch to the game. When they are not in combat, they gracefully sheathe their sword as if a real swordsman would do.

This level of attention to detail makes me appreciate the game even more. My games usually lasted 15 minutes on average and I can say that each of them was an enjoyable experience.

Some hiccups

I know, the game has just entered beta testing, and it’s expected to have some issues. But I would like to express some of my concerns for the benefit of the game. I have three concerns.

First off, for some reason, once my character gets slain, I didn’t see any UI that shows how much damage, what skills, and from whom those damages came from. I need to know if I’m taking physical or magic damage and how much damage is being dealt by the enemy. In that way, players can adjust their equipment and take countermeasures against the enemies’ builds.

JUMP: Assemble’s pre-match loading screen

Second, when I get disconnected from a match, it takes too long to reconnect. I have to wait for about 10 minutes, and even after the match is loaded, I still have to wait for the game to adjust and sync with the match in real-time.

The developers did say that they have discovered this ‘abnormal incident’ and are now working to patch a fix.

Lastly, while there is still the capability to do in-game chats, I noticed that there might be no strict censorship on profanity in place yet. Profane words that are in the Filipino language are currently not censored in in-game chats. Trash-talking is not cool so, this one is a point for improvement to keep the game healthy.

JUMP: Assemble is a fun, promising, and kawaii MOBA game

I can tell that the developers put love and effort into the characters and the game itself.

Overall, JUMP: Assemble impressively captures the essence of the anime genre with its design and graphics. The game stays true and accurate to its anime inspiration, creating an immersive experience for players and otakus alike.

JUMP: Assemble is currently in closed beta testing exclusively for Android users in the Philippines. The closed beta started on September 26, and account registrations are being added daily in limited quantities.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join the exciting beta testing phase of this highly anticipated game! Visit JUMP’s Discord 344 channel now and secure your spot as a beta tester.

We can’t wait for the game’s full release!