Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Publisher

Bandai Namco

Developer

Byking

Series

My Hero Academia

Genre

Fighting

Players

1-2

File Size (Minimum)

3.75 GB

Release Date (NA)

Oct 26, 2018

Release Date (JP)

Aug 23, 2018

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

GameStop

eShop

PSN Store

Microsoft Store

Steam

My Hero Academia is one of the most popular anime series today. With three seasons under its belt, it’s due for a video game on today’s home consoles, not including the 2016 Nintendo 3DS game, My Hero Academia: Battle for All. My Hero One’s Justice is the first game from the series to not only arrive in western countries but to also appear for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam (for PC). One’s Justice packs a punch with style.

Follow Their Footsteps

The game’s title suggests a focus on heroes, but you can play as the villains, even in the story mode. You’ll need to go through the heroes’ story first before playing on the other side of the fence, though. Completing the hero side also unlocks All Might’s nemesis, All for One. However, including the latest DLC characters of Deku Shoot Style (free to download), Endeavor, and Inasa Yoarashi, that leaves only six villain characters total. Considering that the series is three seasons long, that’s not many. At least add one of the Nomu characters since you have to fight them in the story mode anyway. Hopefully, future DLC will add more villains to fill that void.

Both the hero and villain sides take up 50 percent of the story mode, but not every character is a battle. You may only encounter some of the characters in the video clips that play in-between fights. While fans relive moments from the anime series, newcomers will have a more difficult time following along since neither the hero or villain side alone provides enough narrative details. As a result, it’s important to play both sides to get a full grasp of the story.

It’s also highly recommended to get acquainted with the anime series. Watch up to at least the middle of season 3 since the story mode starts in the middle of season 2.

Plus Ultra in Style

Like many fighting games, the game includes a story mode, a training mode, and local and online matches. However, One’s Justice goes a little deeper, allowing you to create and customize your online game profiles and character outfits. The game pushes you to play every mode, especially the story and mission modes to unlock items. You also have the option to unlock items by purchasing them with the game’s currency. Earning money is quite easy: fight in battles. The higher your score, the more money you receive.

Not only can you unlock wearable items but also additional voice packs. These packs can change the character dialogue during the cutscenes when they’re entering the battlefield and after a victory. You can even unlock text phrases that can be used for a character’s introduction.

Unlocking these items are not necessary, but they incentivize you to keep playing after completing the story mode and doing a few matches. While customizing your character isn’t as detailed compared to the SoulCalibur series, taking some cues from their creation tool, such as coloring items, would be a great addition. Right now, each My Hero One’s Justice character has similar color schemes.

If outfits aren’t your thing, you can unlock art files, poses, cinematic clips, and more. All of these are located in the game’s Gallery section. Many of these can be acquired when you play as each character.

Straight from the Comic

The series My Hero Academia is heavily influenced by comic books in western countries. One’s Justice similarly implements a few comic-styled graphics in the gameplay, especially in the story mode. When landing heavy attacks or a last-minute guard against one, stylized text will animate on the screen as if you were reading a comic panel.

Also, while going through the story mode, most of the layout is designed like a comic book. Heck, the cutscenes between fights are displayed as an animated comic panel. One’s Justice does a great job incorporating these comic elements into the game.

It’s the Little Things That Matter

You cannot compare One’s Justice  to any fighting game. Players can crash into buildings and other elements around, giving it a more realistic feel. (Objects on the field can be a bit cumbersome and can deflect your special attacks when not positioned correctly, though.) Moreover, in between battles, you never see the screen reset. You pick up right where you left off to start the next round. The damage you did to the field is still there until the match is over. While this may be a small thing, this seamless transition between fights is one of the best things a lot of fighting games don’t do.

Not only can you alter the battlefield, the characters you play as can have their uniform altered, too. Costume accessories can fly off when getting knocked around by an opponent. Fortunately, it’s nothing like the Senran Kagura series where you can be stripped down to just your underwear. Still even if it’s only a torn shirt sleeve or goggles flying off, you don’t see these details much in fighting games.

Speaking of the character models, they are vibrant and closely resemble their anime series counterparts. Small details such as some of the character faces and black lines in the hair are little hard to see, though. That said, it’s more noticeable on the Nintendo Switch than the other consoles.

When you battle, aside from some conditions in the story and mission modes, you can choose two sidekicks to aid you in battle. Their moves will help you out when you’re in bind. As you attack, their power gauge will fill. Once filled, you can bring one or both out at the same time to fend off your opponent. You cannot switch characters, though; your first fighter is your main one.

Many times in battle, the fight can go quite extreme. One second, you are on the floor, and the next thing you know, you and your opponent are battling on the side of a skyscraper. It feels unnatural, but this is a superhero and villain game—anything goes!

As for battle stages, you’ll find quite a few that are similar to each other, but there are also enclosed areas where you can fall off the edge. These types of battle stages are similar to those found in the SoulCalibur series. If you or your opponent get knocked off, that character loses.

Perfect Plus Ultra!

My Hero One’s Justice is a flashy game, but you may notice that each fighter shares the same moveset. Fortunately, each fighter has their own unique fighting style to make up for it. For example, All Might has heavy and powerful combo attacks, but at the same time, he’s a slower character. Tsuyu Asui (also known as Froppy), on the other hand, can use long-range attacks with some decent combos. Basically, despite the similar control movements, there’s still plenty of diversity in the characters’ playstyles.

There are flashier moves that require you to build your “Plus Ultra” gauge. When unleashing these powerful moves, the fight will cut to the character to animate the attack. As if you were watching the actual anime. Landing the special attack makes it more entertaining. Whether you are the one giving the pounding or the one taking it.

Even better, if your and your two sidekicks’ gauges are full, they’ll partake in your “Plus Ultra” move to help you finish off your opponent. Just make sure you are the right distance away and catch your opponent off guard; otherwise, you’ll miss and your gauge is depleted.

Online States of Smash!

Online matches are straightforward and there isn’t much of a way to distinguish battles between newcomers and veterans. You can create rooms and battle unranked matches, but you’ll never know who will show up to wipe you across the floor. It’s best to brush up your counter and combo moves; you’ll need it.

Switch vs PS4

In comparing the two consoles, colors are more vibrant on the PlayStation 4, the textures look accurate, and the animation is much fluid there as well. Players will experience more frame rate drops on the Nintendo Switch version. There’s also a couple times the frame rate was showing signs of hiccups on the PS4 toward the end of the story mode’s comic cutscenes. Minor problems also occurred during the animated character introductions in the online matches. However this could be more related to internet connection stability than any console’s power.

Loading times are at least twice as long on the Nintendo Switch compared to the PlayStation 4 when using the physical copies of the games. After choosing teams and stage in the local stage till the start of the battle introduction, about 40 seconds of loading on the Switch. PlayStation 4 was about half that timeframe.

When it comes down to it, you’re either buying it for the ability to play anywhere versus a cleaner looking game with trophies and achievements. You can’t really go wrong either way.

A Hero’s Final Thoughts

My Hero One’s Justice is a fun, flashy game despite some minor flaws, and every My Hero Academia fan should play it. Finishing your opponent with a Plus Ultra never felt so good.

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by Bandai Namco for this review.