Gaming Instincts recently had the opportunity to speak with Jump Force community manager Dmitryi Khlynin about the game and it’s gameplay features, you can check the video interview below:
Below is a transcript of the Interview:
Leonid Melikhov
Hey guys welcome to Gaming Instincts and today we are going to be talking about Jump Force with
Dmitryi Khlynin
Dmitryi Khlynin, the community specialist for Jump Force.
Leonid Melikhov
Awesome man, So what can you tell us about Jump Force?
Dmitryi Khlynin
I can tell you it’s gonna be a huge anime fighting 3 v 3 title, it’s really big for us just because of like the crossover of all the different anime characters from Dragon Ball, from One Piece and from Naruto.
Leonid Melikhov
When did this game started development?
Dmitryi Khlynin
I can’t go to the exact details of how long but it’s been a while, it’s been in development for a long time.
Leonid Melikhov
For a long time, It’s on PC?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s coming for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Leonid Melikhov
No Nintendo Switch?
Dmitryi Khlynin
No Nintendo Switch…
Leonid Melikhov
Do you guys want it put it on there or is It something that is just not possible because of technical problems?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s nothing like that, it’s just that we have to see how well it does on the other platforms before we can make any kind of decisions.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, what kind of engine do you guys are using?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s the Unreal 4 engine.
Leonid Melikhov
Awesome! do you guys had to modify it in a specific way to fit what you needed to do, in terms of game mechanics or not really, how modified is it?
Dmitryi Khlynin
There was really no modifications to the game engine itself. The story of the game is that these anime or manga characters are coming into the real world, there is like a convergence between the two worlds, so we had to kinda have to give them realistic proportions.
Leonid Melikhov
Speaking of real world, in the demo you had Manhattan, and you had something else, what other stages can we look forward to?
Dmitryi Khlynin
You can look to a lot of different stages but the two stages we have playable here are the Matterhorn and New York City Times Square.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, how many characters is it gonna be total?
Dmitryi Khlynin
We don’t have a final character count yet so there is more to be announced.
Leonid Melikhov
When is it coming out?
Dmitryi Khlynin
The game is coming out on 2019, we don’t have like a solid date yet, it’s still really early so we still have a lot of thinks to work on.
Leonid Melikhov
So how would you say this compares to the previous games like this?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s a totally different game, it might carry the Jump name but it is its own type of game, it’s got its own engine, the gameplay, it’s own style so it doesn’t really compare.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, but it kinda looks influenced from that type of genre.
Dmitryi Khlynin
I mean yes, there is definitely similarities then, sure.
Leonid Melikhov
Right of course. Who is your favorite character?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It would have to be Luffy, I’m a huge fan of One Piece and the character design there so it will have to be him.
Leonid Melikhov
Tell me a little bit about the combat system and how you guys went on with that?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yeah I think the idea behind the combat system it’s that, if we wanted something that was easy to get a hold up but difficult to master, so you’re able to jump in there and make things look really cool as you are playing with just simple button presses, but then we you start tagging in the different characters and optimizing the special moves, that’s were the advanced play comes into the gameplay.
Leonid Melikhov
Now, comparing pros or average players do you think this is a game that’s easy to pick up for a casual person?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yeah, The aim there was to be easy for casual people just to pick up and play, go to the story mode and have fun with their friends but we also wanted that competitive aspect, so as you get better at the game, you are able to jump in and just learn the more advanced techniques.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, so is there blocking, counterattacking, how does that work?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Sure, so there are different parry systems you can set, it works with the tag buttons, so as you’re being attacked if you tap the tag button you are actually able to counter that attack and have the other person jump in, or you can counter the attack with a strong move, so it’s kinda like a rock papers scissors aspect at most.
Leonid Melikhov
So you got to re-learn how to read the moves and all that kind of stuff?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s more about the timing of the move.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, so there is definitely a lot of skill play involved for the pros, are you guys gonna be at C.O.or all that good stuff eventually?
Dmitryi Khlynin
We are going to be at C.O.but it’s going to be for Dragon Ball FighterZ, is not gonna be for Jump Force just yet, it’s still too early, there is not enough characters yet so we are still developing.
Leonid Melikhov
Is there a certain amount of characters that the game needs to have in order to become competitive, like is that usually a thing with all the other games as well?
Dmitryi Khlynin
I mean, the more the better I would say, but it depends, there are games that have a small roster but there are very unique to each other and there are games that have a big roster that are just clones of each other, so it has to be a balance.
Leonid Melikhov
What do you think of the host and net code, is it gonna be pretty good?
Dmitryi Khlynin
We are definitely focusing on making sure the net code plays well, it’s a very fast paced action game, so we need the lag be like non-existent.
Leonid Melikhov
Cool!, Are you guys gonna have a beta?
Dmitryi Khlynin
We haven’t decide it yet.
Leonid Melikhov
Like there was a demo for Street Fighters.
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s still too early to say what are we going to do or what not.
Leonid Melikhov
And obviously you are gonna be showing the game at different venues, different events.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Definitely, yes.
Leonid Melikhov
Ok cool! Gamescom maybe?
Dmitryi Khlynin
We definitely want to feature it as many places we can, we haven’t made a decision yet either.
Leonid Melikhov
Probably in Japan.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Definitely in Japan, it’s Shonen Jump, so it will be a fit.
Leonid Melikhov
Now, I don’t know if you guys are able to talk about this, because business reasons, but why did you guys decided to show this game at Xbox Conference and not maybe at somewhere else.
Dmitryi Khlynin
It wasn’t something we were thinking about, we just wanted the best platform for it, and Xbox seemed the best platform at the time for it.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, what makes the Xbox the best platform.
Dmitryi Khlynin
No, I don’t mean to say the Xbox is the best platform system, I’m not talking about the system, but like the event, the whole conference area, it seemed like a big conference, they offered us to spot, we were like sure definitely.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, now as far as PS4 Pro go and Xbox One X, I guess you are going to take conventions of that?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Definitely yes, we are looking to take advantage of it, I know for the Xbox One X it’s gonna be enhanced, 4K.
Leonid Melikhov
HDR?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yeah, we are still looking into that, I know it is going to be Xbox One X enhanced, but we haven’t locked on the details about what that’s going to be yet.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, is the game also is going to be locked at 60 FPS for the previous platforms, this is a fighting game, most fighting games have to be kinda of 60 FPS for a competitive thing.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yes they have, and they are still optimizing it so we are working towards a lock on 60 FPS.
Leonid Melikhov
How good is the PC port, is there going to be a lot of advanced options, widescreen support?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Still to early to say.
Leonid Melikhov
What was the most challenging thing for the development team to develop for in this game?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It was the balance of the different characters, so you have characters like Zoro from One Piece who doesn’t have any super powers and you have characters like Goku, who’s essentially a god, and you have to be able to have them fight each other on equal footings, so that was the biggest challenge for them.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, how many supers are there for each character?
Dmitryi Khlynin
It’s two so far that I’ve seen. Different characters can have more.
Leonid Melikhov
And how do you trigger them, is it like a gauge or what’s up with that.
Dmitryi Khlynin
So the way it works is there’s a gauge below the health bar, if you hold down the right trigger and click in the right stick, you’re able to activate their awakened state.
Leonid Melikhov
I see, so when you’re in an awakening state, that’s kinda like god mode.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Goku goes Super Saiyan, you get 4th gear luffy, stuff like that.
Leonid Melikhov
What’s your favorite super
Dmitryi Khlynin
It would be Naruto turning into nine tails fox and decimating the area.
Leonid Melikhov
I played this game earlier and one thing I will tell you right now, I’m not a anime fan, but this game, was fun for me, even though I’m not an anime fan.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yes, still plays like a fighting game.
Leonid Melikhov
Yes, it looked alike and I think I’m gonna get it for myself, and for my friends, I’m gonna tell them about it.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Nice, I think even if you are not a fan of anime, these guys are like super heroes right, it’s just fun to play.
Leonid Melikhov
The special effects, I think in my opinion, Unreal Engine 4 it’s really great if the developers know how to use it, I think this is perfect for this game, it looks very nice and I love the trailer at the Xbox Conference.
Dmitryi Khlynin
That was amazing right?
Leonid Melikhov
When I saw the trailer, I was like, what is this, is it gameplay? I couldn’t tell, it was seamlessly going into gameplay, and I said This Looks cool!
Dmitryi Khlynin
Are you a big Death Note fan?
Leonid Melikhov
I’m not really into anime, I know who Goku is and I kinda grew up on Dragon Ball and one thing that caught me personally in the trailer was Goku appearing after a weird anime character because I knew who Goku was and I see frieza and I was, oh my god I’m gonna have nightmares now of Frieza, so you know, it kinda went ahead of my childhood when I was a little kid you know.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Oh I see OK.
Leonid Melikhov
I was wondering, is this a fighting game or is this some kind of a open world super heroes game like action based, I couldn’t tell what it was, so I had no clue it was playable until someone told me and I was like, OK I need to check this out, so I played it today and one of my employees play it as well, so you got two people who had hands-on, and now we have the interview, so we have the whole package for you guys. So I’m definitely going to send you a link you can check it out our preview and all that good stuff
Dmitryi Khlynin
I can’t wait man.
Leonid Melikhov
Yes awesome! is there anything else you would like to say about Jump Force.
Dmitryi Khlynin
I just want people to be excited for the game man, honestly, when I first saw the trailer it took me back to when I was like twelve years old, playing with like action figures you know, combining G.I. Joes and He Man, having all this great characters in one game, it’s just blows me away.
Leonid Melikhov
For a lot of people at Gaming Instincts, they’re crazy anime fans, they were screaming their hats off.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yes, that’s the reaction we want.
Leonid Melikhov
Yes it was holy sh*$!, we are gonna have like this nice graphical fidelity, super awesome anime all-stars fast-fighting game. It’s a dream came true for a lot of people.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Including me.
Leonid Melikhov
Quick question, and then we’re gonna go.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Sure.
Leonid Melikhov
Have you guys have the thought of if you look at a game like Monster Hunter for example, they recently have a lot of crossovers like Final Fantasy, Mega Man, Are you guys thinking of doing crossovers maybe of characters from other genres or other universes, or is this just strictly anime, like would you have put it Super Man in here probably not, that wouldn’t fit in there right?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Nothing is ever out of the question, it’s just a matter of timing and licensing and all that, but we are really focused on anime titles.
Leonid Melikhov
I see. So you can grab like all the anime characters that are maybe not so well known possibly.
Dmitryi Khlynin
Yes, It’s hard to say what’s the future holds, right now we are just kinda really focusing on Jump Force and all the different characters.
Leonid Melikhov
Are you going to be doing post launch content as well, supporting the game, maybe new characters or new stages?
Dmitryi Khlynin
Well see how well the game does.
Leonid Melikhov
Awesome! thank you so much.
Dmitryi Khlynin
All right no problem, thank you.
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