Here we go again! Just Dance 2022 much like every sports game like NBA and FIFA is a staple annual release and the year apparently never really ends without all of them wearing a brand new pair of pants before the holidays. So while I’m not really a fan of anything sweat-inducing, the kids in the household apparently are and I wouldn’t want to pass up the opportunity for yet another rhythm-based game whether or not it involves dancing and singing Vocaloid or two. Now without further ado, here’s my or rather our take on Just Dance 2022.
Right from the get-go, Just Dance 2022 isn’t anything special or spectacular out of the box. You get a handful of 40 or so songs to dance to and a bunch of features that if you’ve already played previous titles wouldn’t particularly surprise you either. What JD2022 is, is a safe play that doesn’t exactly reinvent the entire formula or change anything for that matter. So if you’ve already played previous games in the franchise, chances are, this wouldn’t be a game you’d be extremely excited about unless you’re in it for the new tracks you could potentially suck at… like you haven’t been that way already. There’s really nothing much to talk about in a Just Dance title that hasn’t already been said in previous iterations of the game so it’s a bit hard to even talk about it when I’m really just repeating myself from the past years I’ve handled the reviews for the franchise.
Although when it comes to its track selection it becomes a mixed bag of nuts for me. You can never really have a full playlist of just things you would like to dance to and there’s always stuffs you would rather just scroll down as quickly as possible just so you don’t get forced to dance to the beat only your kids would want. This becomes a never-ending battle of swiping on my smartphone just so we can have a middle ground to what tracks we could potentially dance into without embarrassing myself to the sassy and feisty songs like Buttons (remix) from The Pussycat Dolls or BLACKPINK’s붐바야 (BOOMBAYAH). But while there are songs that a 30-year old out-of-shape grown old man would rather bury in Neverland, there are a handful of songs that would either bring you to the hospital like the extreme version of Mood by 24kGoldn Ft. iann dior or just barely put you into a panic attack as you go in and out of consciousness. A great song and an even badass choreo but definitely not for the uninitiated.
Much like the previous iterations of the series, Just Dance 2022 still has its online mode like the World Dance Floor which is basically you against a bunch of other people online playing to the same set of tracks as you try to one-up everyone else in terms of scores. It’s a fun little mode until you suddenly remember that you can’t dance even if your life depends on it… which usually it does. You also still have a kid-friendly mode and the calorie-burning sweat mode. And again, the never-ending grind of gacha pulls for skins and the like is still a thing which all things considered is a great way to keep you playing should you want to have some sort of progression going as you try to lose calories or your extended life expectancy.
For someone who plays the game on the Playstation though, it would’ve been a great improvement if the mobile app Just Dance Controller gets a bit of a bump in terms of overall support. I’ve gone through four titles in the series from the 2019 version up until now and it still doesn’t allow me to connect the app if my console is connected to the internet using a LAN cable. So while other people would be quick to tell me just to connect it via Wi-Fi, the problem here is that for other games that I play such as Monster Hunter World, having a manually inputted connection with a static IP address and what not is a major thing I need to keep at all times for a stable online experience. So going into a Wi-Fi connection just to play Just Dance and then going back into my usual wired settings becomes a big hassle especially since this isn’t exactly a game you’d spend hours playing in longer sessions and rather in quick short bursts from time to time. In this case, you’d be better off with a Playstation Camera which to some extent isn’t exactly the perfect duct tape to the problem either when dancing real estate in the living room or someone’s bedroom becomes the issue.
With all things considered, Just Dance 2022 is still a good game but not exactly a kind of game that has a lot of merits to buy into. You get it for the new tracks but never really for anything else. Especially since Just Dance Unlimited, the subscription that gives you access to over 700 more tracks should you have an active online connection is something that doesn’t really go away if you own an older version of the game. I can’t say I like the idea of Just Dance Unlimited but it’s definitely a much eye-catchy offer if you’re on the fence on whether or not the new tracks are worth the price tag.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5, Google Stadia
Reviewed on PS4
Enjoy the review? want to read more of our reviews? then click right here to be whisked away to the realm of our opinions.
You must be logged in to post a comment.