GioGio's Bizarre Adventure
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''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure'', known in Japan as is an
action-adventure video game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action gam ...
developed and published by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
on July 25, 2002 in Japan. It is based on '' Golden Wind'', the fifth part of
Hirohiko Araki , better known as , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one ...
's
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series ''
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly manga magazine ''Ultra Jum ...
''. The player controls characters from the manga, and fight enemies in 3D environments using both physical attacks, and special combination moves performed by spirit-like "Stand" characters released from the player character's body. To recreate the art style used in the manga, Capcom developed a graphics technique called Artistoon, with which the game renders
cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a Color gradient, shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often us ...
graphics; additionally, Araki's art was featured in the game. Capcom planned to release the game in North America and Europe, but after delays, it ended up not getting released outside Japan. Critics praised the game's visuals and presentation, commenting on how it recreated the look of the manga well, while the gameplay was met by mixed opinions. The game received a full English language fan translation in 2018.


Gameplay

''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure'' is an
action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...
in which the player duels against enemies in 3D environments, controlling several characters who each have their own sets of moves: Giorno Giovanna, Bruno Bucciarati, Guido Mista, Narancia Ghirga, Pannacotta Fugo, Leone Abbacchio, and Trish Una. The battle system includes physical attacks such as kicking and punching, and the ability to dodge attacks by rolling; physical attacks are performed through a single-button input, and can be chained into a combination attack by pressing repeatedly. Additionally, the player can release a spirit-like "Stand" character from the player character's body, through which they can perform special combination moves, which are more powerful. The Stands require energy to be used, which is drained whenever the Stand itself gets hit by an enemy, but recharges over time. Battles differ depending on the layout of the arena they are fought in, as well as the Stand abilities of the opponent: for instance, Bucciarati can use his Stand, Sticky Fingers, to create zippers in the walls, and enter holes within to avoid attacks. When the player wins a battle, they receive points and are graded based on their performance, which unlocks items in the game's art gallery mode. The game uses 3D and 2D cutscenes, which come in the form of exposition between battles, and slow-motion, mid-battle cutscenes, such as one showing the player's Stand punching out the enemy's teeth. In addition to fighting, the player has secondary objectives they can fulfill in the different levels.


Development and release

''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure'' was developed by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
. It is based on '' Golden Wind'', the fifth part of
Hirohiko Araki , better known as , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', which began publication in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one ...
's
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series ''
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly manga magazine ''Ultra Jum ...
'', and features artwork by Araki. To recreate the art style of the manga, Capcom developed a technique called Artistoon, which is used to render
cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a Color gradient, shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often us ...
graphics. Capcom published the game in Japan on July 25, 2002 for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
, with a budget-priced re-release following on September 20, 2007. Capcom also announced North American and European releases of the game, and showcased it at the 2002 edition of the annual
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
(E3). The North American version was to be titled ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', while the European version was announced to be titled ''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure'' in August 2002. This change in naming was on the request of Araki, who wanted an Italian spelling in order to stay true to the title character. The game was shown at
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Team Soho was a British video game developer based in Soho, London. It was formerly the video game development division of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe before being spun off to develop ''The Getaway'' series; a second unit at Cambridge ...
's PlayStation Experience expo in August 2002, and was available for the public to play. At E3 2002, it was announced for an October 2002 release in the West, but was delayed to December 2002, and then again to February 14, 2003. By May 2003, it had not been released outside Japan, and was not listed as part of Capcom's game lineup for E3 2003, leading ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
'' to speculate that the Western release had been cancelled.


Reception

George Walter from the '' Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine'' thought the gameplay felt "samey", but said that the creative use of various kinds of Stands prevented the game from feeling repetitive. David Smith at ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' thought the game seemed like a "rather basic action experience", with a set of offensive moves that felt limited, and said that while it at first is fun to use Stand abilities, the novelty of it eventually fades. He still considered it a "must-buy" for people who like the manga, but otherwise not something one would want to import a Japanese copy of immediately. Critics enjoyed the game's visuals. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' Adam B. Vary thought the game did a good job at recreating the look and feel of the original manga. Walter called the game's visuals "gorgeous" and "striking", and thought that they were what would get people from places where the manga had not yet become popular interested in the game. ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
'' Tom Bramwell described the visuals as distinctive, and at times reminiscent of ''
Jet Set Radio (originally released in North America as ''Jet Grind Radio'') is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GG's, as they use inline skates to traverse ...
''. Smith called ''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure'' among the most faithful manga-to-video game adaptations he had seen, praising the 3D recreation of the manga's artwork, and said that its use of effects such as speed lines and visual
katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
sound effects made it feel familiar. He noted that the environments looked "a little crude" and with blurry textures if one looked at details up close, but that they looked impressive from a distance. Reviewers at ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' also enjoyed how the game reproduced the look of the manga in 3D, but noted that the presentation of the story felt insufficient for people who have not read the ''Golden Wind'' manga, and that it seemed mostly targeted towards people who already were fans of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''.


Notes


References


External links


Official website (archived July 13, 2002)
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