Interview: Turning Jujutsu Kaisen Into a Fighting Game With Cursed Clash

Given the nature of the series Jujutsu Kaisen, a fighting game based on it only seemed to make sense. And so, now there’s one available worldwide. Siliconera spoke with Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash Producer Misaki Kai to learn more about how characters were picked and gameplay was implemented for this latest take on the series.

Jenni Lada: When did work start on Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash?

Misaki Kai:We have talked with Shueisha, the IP owner, for a while regarding the project, but the development itself took around two and a half years.

How familiar were you with the series before you started working on the game?

Kai: Personally, I was already a fan since it was still serialized in JUMP GIGA. I remember how happy I was as a fan when it was later serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.

There are 16 playable characters in Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash. How did you determine who would and wouldn’t make it in for this first fighting game?

Kai: Of course, on top of the main characters like Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, and Satoru Gojo, we based our selection of the characters to whom have had major roles and battles in the series.

As for Yuta Okkotsu and Suguru Geto, on top of their popularity for their appearances in the movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0, we feel that their unique combat styles would make it even more interesting for players to play, hence our decision to include them into the roster.

How did Byking’s past experience with anime fighting games like My Hero One’s Justice and Ultra Rumble influence Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash?

Kai: For this game, we highly value how the characters are going to be represented in the game, and with Byking’s track record in making captivating character-based action in their previous entries, we believe that they have brought the best out of the Jujutsu Kaisen characters in Cursed Clash.

What kinds of gameplay elements did you include to capture the use of curses from the original series?

Kai: Each character has its own detailed settings and characteristics; therefore, we prepared special gauges for each character that would fit their characters’ traits. Taking that into account, indeed it took a little bit of time for us to find and adjust into the right game balance, but we hope that you’ll be able to experience unique fights in every character available in the game. Make sure to try every single one of them!

Which Jujutsu Kaisen character or characters did you want to bring into Cursed Clash, but didn’t make it into the fighting game? What would you like to do with them in a future game if a sequel does end up happening?

Kai: For me… it was Junpei Yoshino.

We mentioned our basis in our character selection in the previous question, but Junpei Yoshino was a very important character for Yuji Itadori, as he has influenced him in his way of life as a Jujutsu Sorcerer. For various reasons, we were not able to implement him in this game.

However, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to make that battle happen someday.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash is available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll. Viz Media handles the manga outside Japan.