My Hero One’s Justice Review

1. Game: My Hero One’s Justice
2. Consoles: Xbox One (reviewed), PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
3. Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
4. Developer: Byking

A My Hero One’s Justice review code was provided by the publisher.

My Hero Academia has taken off in a major way. Fans in both Japan and the United States have taken to the manga/anime’s Quirk-powered heroes and villains. It was only a matter of time before Bandai Namco swooped in to acquire the rights and give it the video game treatment. The development duties for that debut My Hero Academia game have been handed over to Byking, who have chosen to replicate its massive battles within an intense arena fighter. My Hero One’s Justice does an amazing job at properly representing the eye-popping visual splendor the series is known for. However, a few issues keep it from reaching the high tier position attained by comparable titles from the anime/manga arena fighter sub-genre.

My Hero One’s Justice has done one thing perfectly – the overall visual design. The most hardcore fanatics of the show have nothing to worry about – every featured hero and villain retain their standout characteristics and signature battle abilities. Byking’s attention to detail is evident after you spend some time examining all the graphical prowess this cel-shaded fighter possesses. The stages that come included within this fighter should evoke memories of the best moments from the anime, too (for example, the U.A. Arena is as close to the animated version as it’ll ever be.) The hype soundtrack that backs up the anime hasn’t been included, but the songs that do back up battles and separate menu options are decent enough. The Japanese voice actors reprise their roles here, but it’s pretty disappointing to notice the absence of the English dub.

From a gameplay standpoint, My Hero One’s Justice is easy to grasp. Each character has access to a basic combo, two Quirk-powered special moves, assist attacks from two accompanying partners, and two cinematic super moves. The open arenas this game sports gives both combatants enough room to dash around and smash anything/everything in their path. The complexity of the battle system becomes evident when it comes to time to activate unblockable attacks at the right time and create custom combos out of a character’s entire moveset. This isn’t the type of fighter that will be played competitively at major fighting game tourney’s – it’s just a fun brawler that does enough to keep it from being a mindless fighter based on an anime IP. The impactful battles and flashy attacks doled out during them do a lot to make My Hero Academia fans pleased with all the action erupting on their screen.

The main modes that’ll soak up most of your time with the game are the Story and Mission modes. My Hero One’s Justice offers a playable retelling of the events that took place after the U.A. Sports Festival Arc. The Story mode structure mainly consists of sitting through countless text boxes backed by still images, which is a woefully uninspired approach.

There’s a few major cutscenes splattered through this mode, but they come few and far between. A story mode experience akin to the one seen featured in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm games would have done wonders here. Playing through the hero’s portion of the story is passable at best, but the Villains side of the tale quickly grows tiresome when you’re forced to replay each battle from the bad guy’s perspective. An all-new- original storyline would have been much preferred over playing through a host of all-too familiar scenes.

Missions mode is a much better experience. You’ll be tasked with putting a three-person team together and taking on various missions with ever-changing challenges. Here is where you’ll get the chance to level up your favorite heroes/villains as you run into opponents of increased difficulties. It gets quite addicting as you replay past missions that offer double XP and level up your team for even tougher mission types. The Arcade Mode offers your typical ladder-based format when it comes to facing a series of foes. So players have two other decent modes to busy themselves with once they’ve pushed their way through the ho-hum Story presentation.

Getting through each mode is all about acquiring the coinage needed to take advantage of the character customization feature. You can tinker around with every member of the roster’s appearance and craft their additional costumes to your liking. This side activity is surprisingly enthralling – you’ll constantly unlock new pieces of gear from other modes and be implored to purchase new ones with your battle earnings. You’ll find yourself creating all types of custom outfits for your favorite characters and taking them online to confront other players’ wildly designed avatars. The only letdown to come from this portion of the game is the lack of an option that lets you create a new character of your own. Hopefully, that’s something that will come included in the inevitable sequel to this game.

My Hero One’s Justice Takeways

My Hero One’s Justice is a decent first attempt at producing a My Hero Academia fighting game. Its visuals pop off the screen thanks to the hype-inducing battles and art style that sticks close to the source material. Mechanically, the battle system is simple. But it manages to offer a few deeper elements that make each and every character fun to learn and master. This arena fighter is the perfect party game for a living room full of hardcore My Hero Academia fans.

The Story mode structure is implemented in the most tiresome way possible, which makes it a chore to sit through for fans who’ve extensively watched the anime. Thankfully, the Mission and Arcade modes offer better methods towards taking on the AI. As for the character edit feature, there’s a ton of fun to be had from mixing and matching pieces of gear together for your favorite characters. There’s a few good attributes tied to My Hero One’s Justice. It’s pretty evident that this is just a sample of what’s to come from a much improved sequel. This anime-inspired brawler offers stimulating thrills, but is still rough in a few areas.

Our My Hero One’s Justice Review Score: 7 out of 10