Video Game Blog 044: SoraRabbit Dances Part VII

Welcome back to my extensive Just Dance coverage! I managed to get through the three newest games in the series this year, so as of now I’m caught up! The previous posts are listed out below:

This time I’m talking about the most recent release, Just Dance 2025 Edition. I’m also hard at work on a full-length companion post covering the increasingly dense lore of the Just Dance series. You’ll see lots of mention of that in this post, since I’ve been working on that post concurrently with this one. It’s going to be a big one and I’m looking forward to having the time to focus on it more.

Just Dance 2025 Edition was released in 2024 by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. This is the sixteenth installment in the series and there are 42 new tracks with 11 alternate versions that have different choreography. (The new track number includes the free DLC Song Pack. More on that later.) This is the third “annual song pack” following the new release format introduced by the previous game.

I love the graphic for this playlist. (Credit: Ubisoft)

This edition is notable for being the 15th anniversary celebration of the franchise. Several of the songs are aimed at celebrating this milestone. Also, just before finalizing this post, they released a massive 15 song, 53 minute playlist of past songs. This was made up of temporarily free Just Dance+ songs from previous releases. I haven’t had the time to attempt this yet, but I plan to over my Thanksgiving break. I’ll mention this in my Year-End Video Game post. When I made the screenshots for this post I managed to play 13 songs which equaled out to around 50 minutes, so I think I’ll be fine.

Godzilla is in love with superheroes. (Credit: Ubisoft)

I already covered the new Song Pack release format in the last two posts, so I won’t go over that here. The games have lived in this new hub program for three releases now. All the versions are blurring together now. The only thing that was really setting each edition apart was the story mode playlist… but more on that later.

The big change this time around is the inclusion of a new menu item called “Shop” and the new DLC Song Packs. This game, as mentioned, came with a 6 song Ariana Grande Song Pack. (5 individual tracks and one alternate choreography.) In the shop you can buy the three annual Song Pack releases, the Song Pack DLCs, and the Just Dance+ subscription.

So far there are three packs available and they seem to all be previously-released content. (There are more planned, one of them is labelled Disney Hits Vol. 1.) Each one comes with 6 songs and are $10 each. I mean, that’s priced about right… you figure around 50 songs on the main releases (including alternate choreo) priced at $60 if you buy the new release right away. That would be around $1.20 per song, where the DLC is charging $1.60 each for recycled routines that can be found elsewhere. I just don’t see the value, but maybe that’s just me. (Now if they included ten songs, that would incentivize me.)

I doubt I’ll get any of the Song Packs… I’m usually all about the DLC, but these packs are considerably pricey for songs that are already on my previous games and I assume listed on Just Dance+. Which I will be getting as soon as I get done with my replays for my Lore post.

Yes, after years of resisting, I’m finally worn down and will be subscribing to Just Dance+. I know I said in previous posts that I would never do this and was annoyed by their constant insistence that I subscribe to a monthly service for my dancey game. But I figure I’m caught up on the series now, and I know there are some lore-related songs exclusive to this service. (Some of the goals can also only be done on Just Dance+ since I missed their Season events.) Also, Cocoashade occasionally plays now too, and this will give her more variety without having to switch out discs all the time. Also, I did notice in the Shop area that the free subscription they give me each year for buying the new edition seems to stack, as I have three listed there. So I may be able to get three months free? I’ll see, but somehow I’m doubtful they’ll let me cash those in.

Hmm, should I do a post covering Just Dance+? Maaaybe…

An interesting change is the addition of coach difficulties. In some songs the main coach and the backup dancers have different set difficulty levels, allowing you pick what fits your mood and activity level. For instance, like in the screenshot above, the main coach may be Medium, and the backup dancers Easy.

The only other new improvement was customizable playlists, but this was added in between Seasons earlier in the year.

Progression is still saved between all three yearly Editions, which is a feature I love. This edition, as before, brought in several new goals to complete related to the songs, playlists, and tags for 2025. When I started this playthrough I was on Silver Prestige Level 29 and ended right on the cusp of Level 44. (Overall Level 94.) The level cap still seems to be Gold Prestige Level 50 (Level 150 max) but I’m sure they’ll bump that up for the 2026 Edition. I imagine after I finish replaying these three for my Lore post, the new 15th anniversary playlist, and jump into Just Dance +, I should be getting pretty close to that level cap by this time next year.

As you may notice in the shot above, I went in and finally changed my avatar, badges, and title. I figured it was time for a change and I was playing this during the spooky season, so Corrupted Sara fit. I’ll probably go back to my old classic Sara eventually. I still like that design.

Hehe. (Credit: Ubisoft, Stephen Hillenburg)

Downsides: As before, this is the same old, same old. The introduction of Song Packs and the hub means that innovation is pretty much over… Just Dance has reached its final form. One of the fun things about each yearly release was wondering what the new game would look like and what features would be included, as well as what songs and dances they’d release. With the yearly release schedule a lot of that fun is gone since you know what you’ll get each time. Although I am a big fan of the familiar and comfortable… so knowing there won’t be a drastic change ever again is a bit of a comfort for me.

The biggest downside that I have to get into is that this edition has no story mode. That’s right… they left us on the big cliffhanger from 2024 with no resolution. I can’t tell you how much of a staggering let down that was. With the above-mentioned lack of innovation and change, story mode had become what I was looking forward to with each new edition. If that’s been phased out for good or if it will be back next year, no one knows for sure as of the writing of this.

I can find no reason for the story mode to be left out, but there are two possibilities. One— the more positive option— is that they were trying to focus on the 15th anniversary songs and didn’t want to take the focus away from the Ariana Grande Song Pack that they seemed to think would be a huge draw to this edition. (The character based on her is even front and center on the cover.) Although this is possible, I also find it doubtful because I would think the 15th anniversary milestone would be best captured in an epic conclusion to the story mode trilogy.

The less positive and also more likely option is that the story mode playlist will be released as a DLC Song Pack next year. (Or in time for Christmas.) If true, I really think this sucks and is money-grubbing, causing you to have to spend even more money on top of paying for a full release just to get the end of the story they were cultivating as a built-in part of the last two editions. But of course I’ll buy it and I’m sure a lot of other fans will too. The story modes were really the high points of 2023 and 2024, and it was what I was looking forward to the most in 2025. To put this behind a paywall is very corporate and shitty of them and the possibility of this really tainted this edition for me for most of my playthrough. (For real… I was all excited to jump in and played the first two songs. Then as I was sitting down to take my preliminary notes I thought to check the playlist and realized there wasn’t a new one. I didn’t feel like dancing to more songs that day.)

Okay, enough negativity. Although there is no story mode, we do get two substantial bits of lore. I’ll go more in detail on these in my upcoming Lore post that I keep teasing, but I’ll mention them briefly here.

While the story remains on a cliffhanger for now, the information given in the song “In Your Eyes” changes everything. It shows Leda’s past. (Oh yeah, Leda is Night Swan’s real name and she’s a human, not a natural resident of the Danceverses.) We get to see that she was involved with the Traveler, who I mentioned a few posts back is Wanderlust’s father. We see a young Jack Rose trying to get the Traveler’s attention, so the implication here is that he’s Jack’s dad and that makes him and Wanderlust half brothers, which may add some context to their cold (supposed) first meeting two editions ago.

Anyway, keeping it brief, we see Leda is unhappy with her life and gets into dancing in the city. A young Mihaly is there watching, which explains why she had a poster of Night Swan in her apartment… she used to look up to the older woman. Leda meets a mysterious man named Cygnus who predicts her dark rise to power. At the end she sneaks back to the Traveler’s ship and takes Jack away with her to start down her dark path.

So this could provide hints to where the story will eventually go when they get back to it. If you recall, in the cliffhanger Jack was left alone, all of his friends and allies captured by his mother. Well, this makes it seem like he could go get some help in the forms of his father the Traveler and Cygnus, who seems to have some insight in what Night Swan is up to. The reunion with his dad would likely be very emotional and conflicted, but Jack seems to be unable to make portals like Traveler, Wanderlust, and Leda can.

I really want to know what happened between them. (Credit: Ubisoft)

In addition to that bit of backstory and foreshadowing, we have a continuation of the long-running drama between Rasputin and the Bride. Their ill-fated love has been the subject of several routines over the years. In Payphone, we see Rasputin calling the Bride up and reminiscing over their shared past. (Where we see their old costumes and character models.) We get no insights into why they broke up in the first place, but we do see there’s no reconciliation to be found, at least not yet. Their relationship seems to be broken beyond repair, the gulf between them uncrossable. (Again, I will get into this all in much more detail in the Lore post.)

This was a cute routine. (Credit: Ubisoft)

This game does continue the franchise’s lean towards varied media. There is an animated Spongebob Squarepants routine, which I showed up above. It features animation comparable to the long-running cartoon. There are a couple done with CGI. There are the usual claymation routines and an interesting one (Playdate, seen above) done in an old time Eastern European cartoon style.

Aww, look at the ducky. (Credit: Ubisoft)

There are three sitting routines this time around. This is great for accessibility, but I still have to stand for these or else my cat will take the chance to jump on my lap, which throws off my rhythm.

The song Something I Can Feel is an interesting routine that is a fusion of dance and American Sign Language, since the artist is deaf. This is a nice positive in the accessibility column.

There are a whopping six Ubisoft Originals included in this edition. (These are songs created specifically for Just Dance.) This is a much higher number than usual, and I figure it reflects the 15th celebration. The Spongebob song was cute, and Sunlight (above) was a really fun dance.

There were a lot of older songs included like Basket Case, Calabria 2007, Party in the U.S.A., Pokerface, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and more. Very few extreme songs, only four were included this time. Where 2024 was higher in average difficulty, this one notched it down a level, making things feel more casual.

One thing that really perplexed me is that they didn’t coordinate a new Season with the release of this game. It had been a few months since I’d visited the hub game due to my research replays, but when I fired this one up I was surprised to find the option for Season was missing altogether. I later saw in the patch notes that they now hide that section when there is no Season active. I have to wonder if they’re phasing it out already or if they’re just in between. I thought the Season events were fine, but after playing the temporarily free songs I didn’t really push to earn all the prizes on the prize track. I don’t know, I just expected them to time their new Season with the release of this game because that would be the time everyone would be playing. (It occurs to me while editing this that they may have delayed the next Season to make room for the massive 15th Anniversary playlist. I bet that’s what it was.)

The Ariana Grande Song Pack was… fine. I played through that whole playlist on my second play session and aside from some lore for my other post, there isn’t much to comment on. Fans would probably love the pack. I’m not a fan, I’m pretty indifferent to her work. But songs are songs and we’re here to dance. I’ll dance to anything in this game… Chattahoochee taught me that.

One thing I appreciate is that they’re moving away from the shifting angles and moving camera during the dances. That was so distracting. They do still zoom in and out at parts, but it’s not as disruptive as it had become. There were a lot of recurring characters and locations. It’s a very brightly colored and shiny game. It really did feel like a celebration.

Songs in this game include Pokerface by Lady Gaga, Playdate by Melanie Martinez, Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson, Lunch by Billie Eilish, Whenever, Wherever by Shakira, The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) by the Tokens, My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, Calabria 2007 by Enur, and more, including five tracks by Ariana Grande.

Best Song: Move Your Body, the Sunlight Shakers: 12,825 points.

Worst Song: Paint the Town Red: Extreme Version, Doja Cat. 4,441 points. (Man, I sucked at this one.)

Most Fun Songs: I actually have a lot for this section this time. Calabria 2007 was one of them. I liked the aesthetics and the references to the three recurring animal characters. (The Unicorn, the Panda, and the Reindeer.) The dance is fun and I’ve always liked the song. (It shows up on my Friday playlist a lot.) Chattahoochee took me by surprise. I’m not a Country fan and I don’t like the song, but the dance was unexpectedly fun. Control Response has a nice rhythm to the moves. Lovin’ On Me: Moo Version was a lot of fun too and had amusing visuals. (Alien Cow Saucer invasion!) Dubidubidu was a fun dance with a cute song and graphics. And I like that the cat character came back. Both routines for Vogue were fun, but I really liked the main one. (They brought back the character and record store from last year’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody.) It had a nice vintage 90s feel and a fun dance. I really liked Playdate for the interesting animation and the song is really good too. Aside from this one, I think Sunlight was my top favorite. It had a lot of energy and nods to previous routines, characters, and imagery in the series. And at the end they pull back and show the crew filming the routine, along with the actual actors playing the coaches.

Oddest Choices: Nothing’s really odd with Just Dance anymore. This section is probably outdated. What can we replace it with? Oh, I know.

Least Fun Song: Paint the Town Red: Extreme Version. I really don’t like the dances where the moves constantly shift throughout the song with no rhythm and few repeated moves. It feels less like skill and more like memorization. The Extreme Versions are generally like that, but this one was especially bad with it. I didn’t enjoy the routine at all and I tried it twice with no improvement.

So, ultimately, Just Dance 2025 Edition is just another game in the series for good or bad. This edition lost serious points for me for the lack of story mode and releasing in between Seasonal events. Each annual release being placed in the same hub have both positives and negatives, but more than anything it shows that no further innovation is going to be made aside from the occasional tweak… Just Dance has been fine-tuned all it will ever be and has reached its final form, full stop. This makes me feel they’ll eventually atrophy and all but the biggest fans will stop coming back eventually. Will we see a 20th Anniversary? Probably not… why else celebrate a 15th? It’s a weird milestone.

They have also released a Just Dance exclusively for VR, which I find highly disappointing. I have zero interest in VR, so I will never get to play this one. (A similar thing happened to me with the sequel for Until Dawn. I loved that game but the sequel was VR-only. Ugh.)

I don’t want to sound like I hated this game. It was a decent release with both positive aspects and disappointing aspects. Neglecting story mode, the lean towards high-priced, low-content DLC, and the shift to VR for the side titles makes this a more negative review than I was anticipating.

Still— I feel like I need to stress this— once I got past these complaints, I ended up really enjoying the dances they included in this one. There are some really fun routines and good throwback songs. There are new playlists and goals to achieve to drive replayability. The Song Pack DLC may be worth it down the road if they release exclusive songs through it or up the number of included songs, but until then I don’t see it being worth the money. Still, another 53 routines gives me more incentive to stay on the hub, and I will be checking back every new Season to see if they’ve released story mode yet. I have another year or so to wait for the 2026 Edition, but I have a bit more to keep me occupied now until then, so that’s always good. Although I worry about how many more Editions we’ll get, I’ll stick with them to see where they go next.

With the initial letdown I experienced with this one, I don’t think I’ll be in as big a rush to get the 2026 Edition. Of course I’ll eventually buy it… I’m invested now and have done seven posts so far with one (maybe two if I do one covering JD+) in the works, so I’ll get the next release. But if it’s also lacking the story mode, I won’t feel like I’ve missed out by waiting a few months for the price to drop. (They typically drop the price after the holiday season.)

Still, let’s not end this on a negative. I was just let down after anticipating this release for months, and that was just sad to me. After accepting that story mode was left out and the DLC Song Packs are probably going to expand in the future, I was able to settle in and enjoy my playthrough for this post. I did end up having a lot of fun with this Edition and there are some great new routines. (As you can tell by my very long “fun songs” section.) I played through it probably faster than any previous release, partly because I was eager to see all the new dances, and partly because I needed to get this post out before the end of the month. I enjoyed the lore-related routines and all the returning faces and settings. I can’t help but feel that if they included a real continuation to the story mode or even a couple more bits of lore, that would have bumped this up to be one of my favorite editions. Still, there are more fun dances on this one than the previous releases had, so it was very enjoyable for that reason.

Just Dance 2025 ultimately ended up a mixed bag and what would have been just another annual content addition to blur into the slurry of the expanding hub game turned into a marathon-play rollercoaster of emotion and opinions. It got me fired up, it got me critical. It made me laugh, it made me frown. I didn’t expect to feel feelings during my daily workouts, dammit. So for all that, I’ll remember it… maybe not entirely fondly, but I’ll remember it.

A cow partying with aliens during an alien cow invasion. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Thank you so much for joining me in my third Just Dance post of the year! I know I’ve been calling 2024 the ”Year of Toku” but it’s also the Year of Just Dance. As mentioned throughout this post, I’m still working on the Lore post and hope to have that completed by next year. (Depending on if we get the next story playlist as DLC or in the 2026 Edition.) And then maybe a JD+ post? Still on the fence about that one. Anyway, I really am grateful to have you all read my stuff and I appreciate you all. I’ll be back soon with more content leading up to the holidays!

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