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It might not be 2023 yet but Just Dance<\/strong> just got \u201cdancier\u201d! And while that might not be a real word that has caught up to the English dictionary yet, \u201cfancier\u201d is a real one and it\u2019s one that has been synonymous with Ubisoft\u2019s popular franchise for years. The rich and vibrant colours are still very much in full swing and its hip choreography is very much on point as always. Just Dance 2023<\/strong> also comes with a handful mix of music genres and it\u2019s one that I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll have at least a couple you\u2019d want to dance to while some might grow into you as you explore the game\u2019s rich pop culture.<\/p>\n

However what makes this a bit disappointing is that Santa this year is a bit too stingy with its next-gen consoles so if you haven\u2019t gotten one already, the only real choice here is a Nintendo Switch version so Xbox One and PS4 users, I feel for you. But to put it bluntly, this honestly doesn\u2019t particularly felt like a game that would need the next-gen exclusivity considering it\u2019s something a Nintendo Switch can pull off just fine without issues. What\u2019s even more interesting here is that a Nintendo Switch can pull off playing through the game exclusively online. What I mean here is that you never had to actually download the whole game including the music that came along with the 2023 edition (although you can if you wanted to)<\/em> which saves up precious space on your handheld while not feeling like a pixelated mess considering the vast difference when it comes to me downloading a 100Gb game on my Playstation in an hour whereas my Nintendo Switch would take almost an hour to download a 4-5Gb game. But that\u2019s a different mess for a different day\u2026<\/p>\n

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But the real question here which applies to every new release for the series is \u201cwhat\u2019s different?\u201d For starters, a cleaner and more modern interface for JD2023 gives off a different vibe to the whole thing while also making it more accessible. The interface has mostly stayed the same with its main buttons for Home, Playlists, Song List or Song Search aside from your Profile and all that jazz but it\u2019s made in a way that it doesn\u2019t take a huge chunk of the screen and is only protruding slightly to the sides. JD2023 also solved my previous concerns that at times it\u2019s hard to navigate since it only really shows a couple of songs at the top of your screen while a huge chunk below it is dedicated to giving you a preview of that song as well as the other cute tidbits that aren\u2019t too relevant like leaderboards of people I don\u2019t know. It also didn\u2019t help that the way they let you know which song you\u2019re hovering over is a purple box that encapsulates the song so it really wasn\u2019t all that prominent. For JD2023, this isn\u2019t going to be an issue anymore since now you have your list of songs going all the way down depending on how you sorted it but the thing is, when you actually hover over a song, this will instead enlarge itself to show the preview so it wouldn\u2019t take up a lot of the leg room meant for the other songs. You now also have a cursor that shows where you\u2019re pointing, so that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

Although probably the biggest change to the series is the removal of World Dance Floor which was introduced back in Just Dance 2014<\/strong>. This mode pits you against people around the world that join in and while that is a bit sad to hear, Just Dance 2023<\/strong> introduces online multiplayer including cross-play where you and a few friends of up to six people can group up and start dancing from whatever song or playlist you\u2019d love.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no expert at pop culture nor do I know most of the songs included in every Just Dance<\/strong> title. It\u2019s not something I just look up for my daily Spotify playlist considering I had mostly saved either anime songs or local rock band music from my country, but Just Dance 2023<\/strong> is a game that has a lot of things going for itself when it comes to its list of tracks. Disregarding the over-the-top outfits of its coaches for a second, its visuals are something of an eye-catcher with its high-quality effects and the kinds of theme it tries to go for really works wonders for the overall feel of each track paired with some great choreography that makes you want to dance to the beat. There\u2019s a boatload of tricks each song has packed into it and the fact that I can just find myself watching each song play out without having to really dance to it speaks volumes. Good Ones by Charli XCX<\/strong> is one good example of that. It starts off by showing the title with a sparkly golden font in front of an altar of some sort filled with candles and a butterfly-themed glass window. It then zooms out of that shot and introduces the coach with a similarly butterfly-themed outfit while dancing in this dark room only lighted by some lanterns and candles scattered around the room. The way this song plays out really shows how much fun the developers have done with this as certain areas of that room would start lighting up every now and then and all sorts of effects like a swarm of glowing butterflies would start zooming out of a sarcophagus at some point. I can give other examples but we\u2019ll be here all day if I do so let\u2019s just move on for now.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve gone through 2019 to 2022\u2019s Just Dance<\/strong> on the Playstation 4 but 2023 is a bit different. I\u2019ve talked about not having a Playstation 4 version for this title and that one did hurt a bit considering we do have a Playstation 4 in the living room specifically bought for these titles where there\u2019s enough space to move around on without having to bump on any objects that any Dragon Quest main protagonist isn\u2019t going to leave untouched or unbroken. Transitioning to the Nintendo Switch version of the game isn\u2019t all that frustrating though. Since it has been a huge worry for me that kids would need a phone for the JD controller App, going with the Playstation Camera was the way to go in most cases because I at least wouldn\u2019t have to worry about my iPhone or Samsung flying off across the room at any point in time. On the Nintendo Switch, however, there is no camera and all you have for scoring is your joy-cons which is a far better option than a phone but still not exactly my preferred one. Aside from having minor difficulties, in the beginning, using the joy-con connects in a snap and gets detected automatically as you turn it on or pull it out from the Switch. The way you score however is a whole different ball game as motion detection isn\u2019t the most accurate whatsoever whether it\u2019s through a phone app or via joy-cons but it does the job done as a casual enjoyer of the franchise.<\/p>\n

And while this might not be a really big thing, the unlockable stuff in this game looks phenomenal. Gone are the character heads as profiles and comes in a slew of new and fancy avatars animated from head to toe not to mention having customizable profiles you can mix and match with different backgrounds, borders and all sorts of cool effects to match your avatar of choice. They are so well done that I can\u2019t help but try to unlock the ones that really stand out to me.<\/p>\n

Just Dance 2023<\/strong> is definitely not the perfect game but it\u2019s such a huge step up from the previous titles that I couldn\u2019t believe how much it has changed and improved. From some great choreography and just straight-up effects and videography for maybe not all, but most songs, it deserves some praise in that regard and its one that I can\u2019t wait for how the series is going to step up even more in the coming years. There are just a lot of things that worked with this title, especially with the new interface, unlockables and an easily accessible way to connect with friends and family whether you\u2019re using the Joy-cons or even the mobile app because this is in fact, the ideal party game we always have during our December Holidays and it\u2019s one that will stay that way for a while longer.<\/p>\n