My Hero One's Justice Review

The fighting game genre is one of the oldest in gaming, and they come in various forms. Whether it’s the 2D classics like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, or the 3D showstoppers of the Ultimate Ninja Storm series or ARMS, one thing has always been a constant among them; beat the hell out of your opponent. And My Hero One’s Justice is My Hero Academia’s own take on the genre, bringing with it an assortment of quirky guys and gals to bash, immolate, freeze, slice, kick, tongue-lash (literally), and more in frantic, furious 3D excellence.

Round 1! Ready? CLASH!!

My Hero Academia (or Boku no Hero Academia to those that have sung the intro sequences fervently since THE DAY) is an anime/manga series that offers a rather inventive spin on the superhero shounen genre. On this Earth, about 80% of the population exhibits unique abilities known as ‘Quirks’. Some are rather mundane, like drawing objects close to you or converting moisture in the air into a water jet from your fingertips. Others, however, practically violate the laws of nature, like controlling the elements, expanding to gigantic size, or having human-level intellect (if you think that doesn’t sound all that impressive, imagine a mouse with the ability to think, reason, communicate verbally, and operate construction equipment). Having debuted in July of 2014, the manga has been extremely well-received and as of December 2018, has over 20 million copies in print. The story follows young Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, one of the rare people without a Quirk--called ‘Quirkless’--and his dreams to be a hero by joining the prestigious hero academy, U.A. High School. In spite of having apparently zero chance to be a hero due to his lack of abilities, his ambition, analytical skill, fanboyism, and heart win over the greatest hero of the age, the legendary All-Might, who reveals that Izuku can have a Quirk of his own, the inheritable One For All, the only known Quirk that can be passed down and drastically augments his physical abilities. Thus begins Izuku’s quest to become a hero.

Fighting games tend to go bare-bones in regards to story, in favor of the focus being on having as much action stuffed into it as possible. Whether it succeeds is hit-or-miss depending on the player and how much they value a narrative between their pummeling, but One’s Justice is an odd case. For starters rather than following the source material directly, it starts from season one and progresses along through season three. Bit of a weird direction, but much of season one is covered through flashbacks and references. The actual story is done through a combination of cutscenes and word bubbles with character faces, navigated through a map-like board. In addition to the Hero Side, there are several side scenarios, including an expansive ‘What If’ segment showing things from the perspective of the villains.

Gotta start somewhere.

Truthfully, the manga/anime does a better job of telling the story, and if you’re caught up, you’ll likely blaze through everything except the what-if scenarios to get back to the brawling.

From the start, you’ll have 20 characters to play as (well, 19 technically, but I’ll explain that later), featuring students of U.A. High, the teachers that support them, and the villains that oppose them. Each character has their own unique playstyles that the player has to make full use of to secure victory. Combat is simple to learn and easy to master, and with time and practice, you’ll be able to pull off long, flashy combo strings that can eat away at the opponent’s health bar like it’s nothing. All characters are able to jump, dash, lock-on dash, and guard, all mainstays of fighting games throughout the years. Also featured in-game is the Sidekick (assist) mechanic, where two characters can be chosen to help you out in a pinch in battle, doing things like taking hits for you or incapacitating the opponent so you can bring the pain. But beyond the basics, it’s learning how each character plays and how their moves work that’ll give you victory.

“It’s simple.” [It actually is, with practice]

All characters have their Quirks delegated to three separate button inputs, and while the game offers a brief (but effective) tutorial to get you used to the action, it’s mostly up to the player to discover what they can and can’t do as far as stringing together moves to form devastating combos. It takes some trial and effort, but the rewards? Excellent. Characters also have two of their own super moves (here called Plus Ultras), many of which you’ll likely recognize from the anime/manga.

What’s on the menu? Legs.

As you progress through the game, enemies will gradually get tougher, but by about halfway through, you’ll likely have such a good grasp on the character roster you won’t need to exercise crazy combo strings. The story mode AI isn’t all that smart, but don’t let basic coding catch you off-guard.

Attacking goes beyond just spamming Quirks, however (Dabi mains, take note). Within the game is an attack triangle that determines how successful one degree of attack is to another. There’s your normal attacks, which are fast, low in damage, and can often string together, your unblockable attacks, which are strong enough to break through the opponent’s guard and allow you to follow-up with some punishing strikes, and counter attacks, which tend to be slower, but are uninterruptible and can quickly turn a skirmish on its head. Think of it like Pokémon, just...MUCH smaller: normal attacks outspeed unblockable attacks, unblockables attacks shatter the stalwartness of counter attacks, and counter attacks tank and strike back against normal attacks (but they don’t stop you from taking damage, so watch that health bar). Read the opponent, bait them, pick your moments to play it safe or go all in. Being able to shoot fire from your hands is no substitute for being savvy.

I mentioned before the roster having 20 characters. Also odd to fighting games, all 19 are available from the start, except All For One, who must be unlocked via completing story mode. Regrettably, this puts a bit of a damper on the reward center for me. Sure, it means you can jump into the fray with your favorite earlier, but it doesn’t feel as though you’ve really earned it. That might just be the RPG fanatic in me, though. However, the game devs promised DLC for the game, and so far we have three; Shoot Style Deku, who is free, and Endeavor and Inasa, both paid, the third of which is the most recent. At the time of this writing, there’s been no news on other characters, but we’ve got eyes/ears open and grins wide to provide all the info we can.

CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER

A key feature to the game lies in its Mission Mode. When the story is done, the mission boards are where you go to really test your skills. You’ll face tough AI, often in situations where the deck is stacked against you (the opponent having increased attack/defense or you having your own lowered), have to win with certain conditions (finishing with a Plus Ultra, for example), and a rather brutal wrinkle; HP lost in previous battles carries over, meaning you’ll have to switch out characters often, and/or recover health with items gained as you traverse the different mission boards. It’s fun and challenging, but at times it will feel like the game is actively working to make your life hell.

Like Mario Party, but with more rage.

One’s Justice doesn’t shy away from the cosmetic side of things, either, offering players hundreds of accessories to outfit their desired characters with, along with changing the background and style of their entry, with words to denote their badassery (or cuteness, coolness, whichever). Some are unlocked by completing parts of the story or other challenges, some can be bought outright with earned in-game currency (no microtransactions).

It’s my ass-kicking outfit.

Finally, the online. As I own it only for Switch, I’ll address the issues in regards to that platform first. Thoughts about Switch going to paid online after a year-and-a-half of being free are still hot buttons for a lot of players, but if you bit the bullet, you’ll find online is...a bit of a mess, really. If it’s not people spamming the same two moves over and over, it’s dealing with the oft-spotty connection issues, which either results in a disconnect, or lag so intense you can physically see the hitboxes. Occasionally there are online challenges that offer rewards for playing certain characters, but by and large you’ll run into the same frustrations most other fighting games have; horrible lag, spammers, and sudden disconnects. You’d think by now Nintendo would have dedicated servers instead of peer-to-peer, in this day and age, but that’s another article for another day. However, there seem to be little to no issues in regards to gameplay across PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and indeed, the playerbase is more diverse on those systems (some of the best ranked players can be found on PS4).

Your worst online nightmares.

Oh, one other thing of note; the game features full voice-acting by the original cast of the series, in Japanese, with no subtitles. Currently there’s no English option, but the VAs do excellent work, and it’s not like you’ll have time to read subs while trying to avoid a KO.

I came into One’s Justice as a fan of the show and manga. That, and I absolutely relished the chance to beat the living hell out of Bakugo with Deku. I’m no stranger to 3D fighters, and One’s Justice, for all its repetitiveness in the story and small roster, I consider a worthy purchase. I’ve whiled away plenty of hours as Denki in the arcade, and occasionally go back to the story for laughs or a better score in a mission. Gameplay is smooth, polished, frantic, and fun...while offline/local gameplay. If you decide to go online, be prepared to see a lot of fire trails and counter-spam. If your connection holds out, that is. If you’re a fan of My Hero Academia, I still highly recommend this game, and if you’re not, this one might change your mind, if the tiniest bit. After all, what game doesn’t have its quirks?