While we had previously mentioned the latest two roster additions — Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) and Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin) — for the upcoming “team battle action” game J-Stars Victory Vs on the PlayStation 3 and Vita, last week’s August 2013 issue of V-Jump in Japan digs a little deeper into the characters and some of the gameplay techniques.

So far, we know there are regular attacks, power attacks, area-based attacks, and finishing moves. Regular attacks are of course the main part of the battle, and all combos begin with them. As for power attacks, they do leave you open, but they have a big impact if they connect. You increase power of the attack by charging it up. Area-based attacks, appropriately enough, allow you to hit your opponents over a wide area. The finishing move is what it suggests. Highlighted is Ichigo’s Getsuga Tenshō, which lets loose black Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) over a long distance, while Kenshin comes equipped with his Shinsoku – Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki, as well as his Kuzuryū-sen (nine-headed dragon beam).

By using different techniques, you can lead your team to victory; the promotional text declares that learning each character’s different power, range, and effects is the first step towards being unbeatable. Coming as no surprise, the swordsmen have quite the long reach.

At the top of the screen, there is a “WIN” gauge, which fills one section each time you defeat an opponent. By filling all three sections, you win the battle.

The field in the game is 3-D, and it appears you can move in all directions. The magazine suggests that you should learn the lay of the land, and formulate a battle plan with a character suited to it. The stage highlighted in the screenshots is Planet Namek, which includes Freeza’s spaceship.

To wrap things up, V-Jump takes the reader through a four-part simulation of a fight in the game:

1. The battle begins, and is two-on-two as a rule. You take one character, while the other character on your team is controlled by the computer.
2. Defeat one character, and it becomes two-on-one. The one who is defeated is at an overwhelming disadvantage, but after a set amount of time passes, they invariably come back.
3. Depending on the makeup of the team, the battle situation changes; you can use different characters to take advantage of different areas of expertise, such as battles in the air or charging in head-on.
4. By defeating an opponent three times, you light up all three parts of the “WIN” gauge and achieve victory. Finish the job in style!

Celebrating the 45th anniversary of Jump, the game will launch for the PlayStation 3 and Vita at an unknown point in the future. Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), and Toriko (Toriko) were the first three characters teased for what was originally known as Project Versus J, with Naruto being announced alongside the formal name change.

There is currently no word on an international release for J-Stars Victory Vs, and judging by previous crossovers (Jump Super/Ultimate Stars on the Nintendo DS and Battle Stadium D.O.N. on the Nintendo Gamecube and PlayStation 2) sticking in their home country, we are not holding our breath. Thankfully, the PlayStation 3 and Vita are region-free by default, with only a few select titles venturing down the region-locking rabbit hole.