Developer: So Romantic
Publisher: HypeTrain Digital
Release Date: 20th September 2022
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox & Steam
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
▫️ Code provided by the publisher ▫️
A month ago, if a friend had recommended a JRPG to me I would have performed an on-the-spot PCR test, expecting to find a fever. To this day, I am still haunted by the time I picked up Final Fantasy VII on a whim during a shopping spree to spend my birthday money back in 1998. The cover looks cool I told myself. Four hours in – devastated – I finally threw in the towel and swore off turn-based RPGs. Outside of the two excellent South Park games from Obsidian and Ubisoft San Francisco that stance has held true. Until Jack Move.
My main reasons for avoiding these types of games are due to the fantasy settings, magic and often the time commitment required to see it through. I mean it’s 2022! Time is at a premium. So when I heard about a new JRPG that was under 10 hours and in a Cyberpunk setting it really felt like the perfect time to dip my toes back in the water.
Jack Move makes a superb first impression. The pixel art is absolutely beautiful and the level of detail in every inch of the world is a joy to behold. The grim reality of the world is there for all to see, but the splash of neon and stark differences between your character Noa’s neighbourhood, the slums and the financial district combined to make a compelling setting. Some of the buildings are also open for you to explore, with Uncle Guin’s Strix bar being one of the highlights. The soundtrack also deserves a special mention, with the low-fi synthwave style music matching the tone perfectly.
The story is also a triumph. We take control of Noa Solares, a hacker who along with her friend Ryder is out to make life difficult for megacorp Monolife, who are the villains in this dystopian future. The ante is raised pretty early on though when your estranged father is taken and it’s up to you to lead the rescue mission.
The supporting cast is also great. Each character feels multi-layered with their own problems and motivations that play out in nuanced ways. Ryder is trying to be a supportive friend but has his demons. Uncle Guin is what we here in Scotland call, “a character”. Someone that you’d want on a night out to keep the party going. While the world isn’t massively populated, there are still plenty of NPCs floating around and each one has something to say when prompted. This can range from a one-line snapshot of the times, a funny back and forth with Noa or a side quest. Many come with clever names like V-Sync as well.
As I said above, the story is probably just shy of 10 hours. I really enjoyed the pacing and the way missions were delivered though. There is no map, so you need to take in the instructions given and find the objective on your own. This isn’t as daunting as it first seems though, thanks to the manageable world size and attention to detail in the world.
Everything so far is a major win for me. The beautiful art style, fascinating world, interesting characters… but one aspect of the game remains: the combat. The turn-based combat. My nemesis. This was always the area that was going to be make or break for me. Would it be a triumph like South Park or utter despair like Final Fantasy VII? I’m happy to report, it was the former.
There are certain areas of the map designated as safe, where you can roam around freely. However, in many locations, you have a bar in the top right corner indicating a threat level. Each time you move it rises and once full and flashing, a random battle is imminent. The battles themselves take place in a virtual realm and during these sequences, an over-the-shoulder Tron style aesthetic is used, which went that extra mile in making fights feel special. Unlike many games of a similar ilk, you fight solo. To help manage this, you can use a turn to switch out gear mid-fight, which has a neat risk and reward element.
To vibe with the Cyberpunk style of the game, magic is replaced by software attacks. These are broken up into cyberware, electroware, and wetware. These various attack types beat each other in a rock, paper, scissors style mini-game, where enemies are handily colour-coded so you know which move to use against them. Each attack also builds your Jack Move bar, which when full allows you to unleash a devastating special move, similar to a limit break (or so I’m told). How much damage this does depends on your accuracy with the QTE button prompts required to perform it.
The game’s progression system is also excellent. The more you use a move, the more it levels up. This is in conjunction with the overall levelling of Noa herself, which includes toughness, guts, luck and more. You obtain new software attacks by completing specific objectives and finding containers scattered around, but you can also buy them from a few different vendors in the world.
Not everything can be equipped at once though. You only have a certain amount of RAM slots, so you’ll spend time early in the game switching out attacks. Thankfully there are expansion slots that can be purchased and used to increase your RAM or add modules such as one that increases the rate your Jack Move meter builds, increases the chance of getting a critical hit, ensures you always take the first turn in battle and more.
I initially found the frequency of random battles a little jarring as they would occur roughly every 30 seconds in areas where the threat bar rises. This is offset by the designated safe zones though, where you spend significant time. Should you start to tire of the battles though, developer So Romantic has you covered. A menu is available after the tutorial allowing you to alter the encounter rate between base (normal), hype (extra), slashed (fewer) and null (no battles). This can be changed on the fly at any point, so even if you are enjoying the battles, but are in a rush and just need a quick trip to a vendor for an upgrade, you can switch it off briefly to complete that task.
Turning the battle frequency down for too long could have negative effects though. Each battle allows you to level up and become stronger for the challenge ahead, so if you skip too much you could end up in one of the late-game fights under-levelled. Of course, if you do tire of the turn-based combat altogether there is an accessibility setting in the options menu labelled ‘quick victory’ which adds a ‘buffer overflow’ to the action list. This allows you to automatically defeat all enemies. So in theory, if you wanted to just enjoy the story you could enable this and set random battles to null, which would allow you to just auto-defeat the bosses. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this though, as the battle system is excellent.
One negative I do have to point out though is the trophy list. For this review, I played on the Switch, but I did absolutely intend to double dip for the platinum trophy as well. Unfortunately, Jack Move rocks up with a disappointing ten trophies. On the plus side though, it is a straightforward list that you will pick up naturally during your playtime. Plus the silver lining is that there is always 1000G on Xbox, so I’ll make sure to pick it up there.
VALUE: I wholeheartedly recommend Jack Move as a buy now. At £15.99 it is priced perfectly for what you get. I can’t imagine anyone being upset at the value proposition here.
Overall, Jack Move is brilliant. It is a bite-sized JRPG that will appeal to both newcomers like myself and seasoned veterans of the genre. A beautiful art style, captivating story, interesting characters, funny dialogue, compelling battle system and off-the-charts charm all blend together to make this one of my favourite gaming experiences of 2022.
-Craig ✌️