It’s time to return to U.A Academy, as our young Superheroes in training are back in My Hero: One’s Justice 2 – based on Mangaka Kōhei Horikoshi’s hit series. With the TV Anime currently airing its 4th season, the game release is well timed. So, how does this sequel compare to its predecessor?
The Story starts off right after the ending of My Hero: One’s Justice, after no.1 ranked hero, and “Symbol of Peace” All Might defeats All for One, and he is forced into retirement, as his body can no longer withstand the power of his quirk, One for All. This leads to our heroes having to step up – with titular character Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, having to speed things up with regards to getting to grips with his borrowed powers from All Might, as the aforementioned swears to his mother, that he will mentor Midoriya, and protect him with his own life. His mother agrees to let him stay at U.A Academy, and so here things start to play out. The game is covering the events of the current 4th anime season.
Just like the first title, My Hero: One’s Justice 2 is an arena fighter, so battles take place in a confined area, where you and your opponent are free to move anywhere within the entire stage. With the story moving forward, there are new stages and of course, more characters. Another big difference this time is the ability to assemble a team of up to 3 fighters (this isn’t always the case through story mode, as some fights are one vs. one) and take on missions in the new revamped mode, this time you can scout heroes to your office, and when assembled, you can go and take on missions, upon successfully completing missions you will be awarded money and your popularity will increase, opening the door for you to recruit more heroes.
Among other improvements, there are new Plus Ultra attacks, where just the same as the first, you have to build up your power meter in order to execute. Depending on the damage these attacks deal, the more of your meter it requires you to fill (meter fills up gradually after dealing, or taking damage) so some take one of your stock; others take two, or even more.
The story is told through still pictures taken directly from the anime, so no cut-scenes here, which was also the case in the first game. This is a little disappointing as it doesn’t have the same impact as seeing them play out with actual animation, but if you prefer the manga then it might not make much difference to you. On completion of the story, the villain’s side of events are made available for you to enjoy.
There is also the return of the standard Arcade mode, which allows you to choose your characters and you will face pre-determined opponents with character interactions only available to this mode. Finally, character customisation returns, this time, with more than twice the amount of outfits and accessories – you can even change the hand accessories, faces and voices, pretty neat, huh?
Sadly, if you are a fun of the Funimation dub/Simuldub like me, following the first title, this also has only the original Japanese dialogue with subtitles. This is a disappointment, especially as you need to read the subtitles whilst battling, to truly get the entire experience, which can result in you missing some dialogue in the heat of the action. The music is what you’d expect, and much like the first, it’s all produced for the game, and not taken from the anime. This is possibly one of the things that I really dislike about these games, as I believe the music from the OST should be included; it makes such a huge difference to your gaming experience and adds further legitimacy.
To sum things up, My Hero: One’s Justice 2 will give you a fun time and is faithful to its source material, however it is quite simple, and to be honest, it’s difficult to lose any battle. The story mode scratches the itch to play the anime, but its lack of animated scenes again feels disappointing. Although there are improvements to the other modes such as further customisation and being able to scout heroes to your office, you get the feeling that for in order for this series to flourish, they need to add some sort of a hub for the next title. Why not add U.A Academy and allow you to freely explore that between missions? It doesn’t have to be open world, but at least give us something more than fight after fight – ALA the Naruto Ninja Storm series.