JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven

Plot

The narrative, over-seen by Hirohiko Araki, takes place immediately following the events of Stardust Crusaders. Jotaro Kujo and his allies, who had just defeated the evil vampire DIO, are suddenly attacked by friends and enemies who have either disappeared or died along the way. It is then they are approached by a young Robert E.O. Speedwagon, who possesses a piece of the Saint's Corpse that allows him to travel through time and space as well as vanquish the evil influence possessing the others. He leads Jotaro and his allies on a journey through time, space, and alternate universes, in order to stop another iteration of DIO and his disciple Father Enrico Pucci from obtaining the other pieces of the Saint's Corpse in DIO's quest to finally be free of the Joestar family and achieve his own personal heaven. Characters from all 8 parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure appear as Jotaro travels through time to meet his ancestor Jonathan Joestar, his grandfather Joseph Joestar while still in his youth, his younger uncle Josuke Higashikata, DIO's son but a Joestar nonetheless Giorno Giovanna, and his own daughter Jolyne Cujoh, while Jonathan and Josuke meet their alternate universe counterparts, the jockey Johnny Joestar and the John Doe only known as "Josuke Higashikata", respectively.

Gameplay

Eyes of Heaven is designed to be a 3D action brawler with tag-team elements set in large arenas based on locations in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga. Players may pick a single character to control in a large environment, as well as a second character that may be controlled by either a CPU or second human player to fight the enemy team for a 2v2 battle. Certain match-ups contain special animations and dialogue between two characters, mostly between allies in the form of unique combination attacks such as the Dual Combos (デュアルコンボ, Dyuaru Konbo) and Dual Heat Attacks (デュアルヒートアタック, Dyuaru Hīto Attaku), though provide no discernable bonuses or advantages in battle. The playstyle is similar to that of other known CyberConnect2's Shonen Jump game series, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series, such as the combo mechanisms and the air to air combos. The game allows for online play through the PlayStation Network system.

Battle Styles

Like in All Star Battle characters are categorized by Battle Styles which change how each character plays in the game, as well as their different strengths and weaknesses. For example, Vampires and the Mode-using Pillar Men heal from damage over time, except from Ripple-enhanced attacks and they can be immobilized by ultraviolet lamps as part of Rudol von Stroheim's "The Prime Example of Superior German Science" style. The Battle Styles "Ripple User", "Vampire", "Mode", "Stand User", and "Mounted" return from All Star Battle (with slightly different names), while Eyes of Heaven adds "Ogre Street" (食屍鬼街（オウガーストリート）, Ōgā Sutorīto) and "The Prime Example of Superior German Science" (ゲルマン民族の最高知能の結晶, Geruman Minzoku no Saikō Chinō no Kesshō, literally "The Greatest Crystallized Intelligence of the German People") to the game. Also new in Eyes of Heaven is that characters that were previously classified in All Star Battle as having one Battle Style but displayed abilities of another are now classified as having two Battle Styles. For example, Old Joseph Joestar is now classed as both a Ripple User and a Stand User, while in the previous game he was only classified as a Stand User who happened to have Ripple attacks as well.

Characters

The following characters are playable in the game.

Development

The game was first announced in the January 15, 2015, issue of Famitsu and featured characters returning from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle, such as Joseph Joestar, Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin, Caesar Zeppeli, and Josuke Higashikata (from Diamond Is Unbreakable), but also revealed the introduction of new characters Rudol von Stroheim and Diego Brando. Voice actors from All Star Battle as well as the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders anime adaptation reprise their roles in Eyes of Heaven. The game's genre is described as "Stylish Tag JoJo Action" (スタイリッシュタッグジョジョアクション, Sutairisshu Taggu JoJo Akushon), referring to its tag team style fighting. A demo of the game was revealed at the 2015 Jump Festa on December 20, 2014, and was made public on the Japanese PlayStation Store on January 29, 2015. On June 20, 2015, a second trailer for Eyes of Heaven was publicly revealed in downtown Shinjuku at the Studio Alta building. The trailer showcased all playable characters revealed so far from Phantom Blood to Diamond Is Unbreakable, as well as adventure and arena stages based on the locations featured in the manga.

The developer's official Twitter revealed on July 18, 2015, that the story mode for Eyes of Heaven would be personally handled by series creator Hirohiko Araki. In addition, it was also promised that the game would receive no paid downloadable content (DLC) or microtransactions beyond release, though they noted the possibility of preorder DLC. On August 21, 2015, a new key visual unveiled for the game revealed the remaining Parts, Stone Ocean and JoJolion alongside the playability of main protagonists Jolyne Kujo, Johnny Joestar and Josuke Higashikata. On September 11, an issue of Jump magazine revealed the inclusion of the remaining Diamond is Unbreakable characters previously appearing in All-Star Battle, being Rohan Kishibe, Okuyasu Nijimura and Kosaku Kawajiri, as well as the game's upcoming playable appearance at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show. In addition, it was also announced that players who buy the first printing of the game would receive a limited-available code that allows them to play as Jotaro Kujo in his Part 4 incarnation (unavailable for use in either the game's Story Mode or in a Tag Team match paired with his Part 3 counterpart). Lastly, the game's release date of December 17, 2015 was revealed.

The third trailer of Eyes of Heaven was revealed on September 20, 2015, during a special JoJo conference, along with several gameplay demonstrations streamed live. The trailer is once again narrated by Rohan who meets with Tonio Trussardi at the "Cafe Deux Magots", and is later confronted by a shadowy figure once he discovers a fallen "Book of Heaven".

Reception

The game received a 34/40 by Famitsu magazine.