The Jet Set Radio series has always been deeply flawed in spite of the massive promise those games had. So, given a skilled enough team, it would be more than viable to follow up the last game over twenty years later with all the rough edges sanded off. Modern design philosophy feels like a snug fit for a series that always felt like it should have played a lot smoother than it did. I could (and have) spend all day grinding around the open-ended maps, something that Jet Set Radio Future teased with it's earlier maps but then sacrificed for more linear design around the halfway point. What this game also has is an actual story which doesn't take up much time at all but still manages to have interesting twists and a message in there.
I do think there are many places this could have gone further, like with tricks still being about as simple as they were in JSRF though at least there's more timing considerations since you can't turn corners to add to the multiplier while simultaneously pulling off tricks to add to the score. What is there is tuned to perfection but I hoped to have more of a skill ceiling when the game itself is this easy; it is clearly targeted towards those who didn't grit their teeth through the more frustrating parts of the original games to the end. I found half the challenge here was in actually finding which rail or gap in the floor I had to grind/slide through/over to find a piece of graffiti I missed rather than actually beating the game.
The combat feels like it was added out of formality more than anything, though it does make sense to at least have one more element in there so it isn't purely pulling off the same few moves for hours (as satisfying as that is in of itself). It is the absolute bare minimum beat-em-up gameplay as if this was a movie tie-in game, though it does feel satisfying to take down the mechanized enemies after popping open a weak point.
I enjoyed this, I still prefer the soundtrack and aesthetics of the games that inspired it but not everything can be exactly the same and I can commend how they built their own spin on the sound and visuals with a modern twist, which goes for the gameplay as well. I would love to see them iterate on this though what is there is very finely tuned and a great time front to back.
I do think there are many places this could have gone further, like with tricks still being about as simple as they were in JSRF though at least there's more timing considerations since you can't turn corners to add to the multiplier while simultaneously pulling off tricks to add to the score. What is there is tuned to perfection but I hoped to have more of a skill ceiling when the game itself is this easy; it is clearly targeted towards those who didn't grit their teeth through the more frustrating parts of the original games to the end. I found half the challenge here was in actually finding which rail or gap in the floor I had to grind/slide through/over to find a piece of graffiti I missed rather than actually beating the game.
The combat feels like it was added out of formality more than anything, though it does make sense to at least have one more element in there so it isn't purely pulling off the same few moves for hours (as satisfying as that is in of itself). It is the absolute bare minimum beat-em-up gameplay as if this was a movie tie-in game, though it does feel satisfying to take down the mechanized enemies after popping open a weak point.
I enjoyed this, I still prefer the soundtrack and aesthetics of the games that inspired it but not everything can be exactly the same and I can commend how they built their own spin on the sound and visuals with a modern twist, which goes for the gameplay as well. I would love to see them iterate on this though what is there is very finely tuned and a great time front to back.