It isn’t complex or ground-breaking, but My Hero: One’s Justice is a ton of over-the-top anime fighting fun. The abundance of single-player content and unlockables will keep players busy for quite some time, and the incredibly accurate visual style and fun gameplay make One’s Justice worth checking out.
My Hero: One’s Justice
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $59.99
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review
With four years of weekly serialization and three (soon to be four) anime seasons under its belt, it’s hard to believe that My Hero Academia is just now getting its first console game. As one of the best modern battle shonen series, My Hero was just begging for some kind of fighting game, and One’s Justice seeks to fill that niche. It does a good job in that regard, as One’s Justice is a lot of simple and flashy fun.
The story mode of One’s Justice is a retelling of the events from the Internship Arc to the end of the All-For-One arc. There’s a hero and villain side to the story, and completing both unlocks the Sports Festival arc (which takes place before the Internship arc, so it seems weird that you unlock it at the end). The story is presented through still frames in comic format with voice-acted narration describing the events as they unfold. There are a few fully animated cutscenes for the major moments in the story, but the abundance of still-frame sequences are still a bit of a bummer. The three story modes take quite a while to finish, but they unlock a ton of customization items for each character, making it well worth playing.
The other major singleplayer modes are Mission mode and Arcade. Arcade is just what it sounds like, as you pick a character and work your way through a set amount of battles. Mission mode is similar, but with special conditions to spice things up. There are quite a few Mission mode maps, which all unlock even more customization items, so there’s no shortage of content for those who may not be interested in online play.
“It’s a heroic feeling to blast yourself towards foes after punching them head-first into a wall, especially when everything between you and the foe is completely decimated as you fight.“
The gameplay of One’s Justice is as arcade-y as it gets, with almost every attack sending enemies flying as comic-book sound effects burst on-screen. You and your opponent each play as one character with two “sidekicks”, or assists, more accurately. Stages are large for the most part, and all based on iconic locations from the anime. Combat is pretty fast-paced for the most part, as a lot of each match is consumed by dashing and mashing in some quick combos.
From there, you use basic attacks and super attacks to knock your opponent out, and that’s it. It isn’t complex or particularly layered, but this simple accessibility serves more as a strength than a weakness. It’s easy to pick up One’s Justice and play it with friends or CPU players, and more importantly, it’s fun. I do wish you could hit enemies on the ground though, as the invincibility period for downed foes feels longer than it should. Waiting on your opponent to get up can mess with the flow of a match, though it isn’t a dealbreaker by any means.
“Dressing each character up in the coolest (or in my case, dumbest/goofiest) way possible is a lot of fun and gives you plenty of incentive to play each mode to unlock more items.“
I like how important mobility is in One’s Justice, as dashing and jumping around at a fast pace is essential to winning. It’s a heroic feeling to blast yourself towards foes after punching them head-first into a wall, especially when everything between you and the foe is completely decimated as you fight. The explosive damage that the stages take as each fight goes is incredibly hype-inducing, like the almost-good parts of a Zack Snyder superhero film.
One of the most surprising additions to One’s Justice is the character customization feature, which lets you dress up each character however you choose. Cat ears, sunglasses, and a Mineta helmet are just a few of the almost countless eccentric accessories that each character can wear, with a few pieces coming from arcs that the game/anime haven’t covered yet (Shiketsu High hat, Overhaul plague mask, etc.). Dressing each character up in the coolest (or in my case, dumbest/goofiest) way possible is a lot of fun and gives you plenty of incentive to play each mode to unlock more items.
The visual style of One’s Justice is essentially perfect when it comes to adapting Kohei Horikoshi’s artstyle to 3D. In the same way that Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is the perfect recreation of Fist of the North Star’s artstyle, One’s Justice looks identical to its source material in the best way. There are a lot of small fanservice details to further sell this dedication, from Deku’s sleeve and fingers being damaged after using his super attack to All-For-One’s mask breaking as he takes damage, exposing his nasty scarred face. The voice work seals the deal in the fanservice department, as it comes straight from the exceptional Japanese dub of the anime.
The Final Word
It’s not a very technical or layered fighter, but My Hero: One’s Justice is so fun that it doesn’t really matter. There’s a ton of content to unlock, accessible but fun combat, and enough fanservice to make any Hero Academia fan shudder. If you love the series, or just want a fun and easy arena fighter, One’s Justice is for you. Now how about some playable Mineta DLC?
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
