My Hero One’s Justice 2

In the final weeks of 2018, I had the opportunity to review My Hero One’s Justice, the first fighting game from the popular manga and anime Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia. Now, 17 months later, I bring to you my review for its sequel, My Hero One’s Justice 2, once again developed by the Japanese studio Byking Inc and published by BANDAI NAMCO.

The first game was a hit, scoring 71 in Metacritic (and 80% in our review). It was clearly a title aiming the fans of the anime/manga, who through an easy-to-learn combat system, enjoyed fierce clashes between their favorite characters. As the saying states, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And Byking did so with the game but added some extra seasoning to the formula trying to make things more interesting. Let’s now check what they bring to the table in this sequence.

Please keep in mind that what we liked or what we didn’t like in the first game (review here: https://www.lifeisxbox.eu/2018/11/13/my-hero-ones-justice-review/ ) won’t be repeated here – unless it’s relevant in this new game. That said, let’s go ahead. The battle for justice continues!

What we liked!

• Sound: Once again, the audio of My Hero One’s Justice 2 received a lot of attention from the developers. The combination of great music, sound effects and outstanding voice work (with the original voices of the anime) create the perfect atmosphere for your bouts.
• Visuals: The colorful and impressive visuals of the anime are perfectly recreated in this game, with special attention to the visual effects of your special attacks (or gifts). The arenas where the fights take place have received a huge increase in the number of its destructible elements, even including floor transition now. A-mazing job, Byking!
• More characters: My only complaint about the first game was about the reduced number of characters. In an anime/manga were about everyone has special powers that make them so unique, the initial 21 characters felt very disappointing. Now in this sequence, I’m happy to tell you that Byking has almost DOUBLED the number of initial characters available in the game – with some unlockable characters for you to look for.
• Mission mode: The mission mode received a welcome (and challenging) revamp: it now revolves around recruiting members to form a team of heroes (or villains… it’s up to you) and completing missions to level up your characters. They also have an affinity level that you must pay attention to: if this affinity reaches zero, the character will leave your team and you will need to recruit him again. Modifiers can be equipped to your team, increasing their attack or defense, for instance, and collected between battles in the mission map. This mode is still simple, but much more interesting than before.
• Positive gameplay changes: There were a few adjustments in My Hero One’s Justice 2 gameplay when compared to the first game that deserves mentioning. Not everybody will agree with me regarding those changes, but I felt them mostly welcome. Mostly! First of all, the vertical element (when you launch your enemy in one of the walls and the fight continues on the wall) is less frequent now and, when it happens, it doesn’t take like forever to go back to the ground. Another interesting element is that your sidekicks can now be summoned to the battle using their special attacks (at the cost of one special bar). It’s hard to connect it, but it can help turn the tides of a battle.

Somewhere between

The story mode: The story mode of the game starts right after the end of the first game, following the Provisional Licensing Exam and Sir Nighteye arcs of the anime (can’t tell you what seasons because I haven’t yet watched the last seasons of the anime). Like in the first game, the story is told using a mix of manga and videos with battles in between. I didn’t have this problem during the first game, but now the videos felt a little longer, making me want to skip them. Especially when I needed to do a mission for the second time to get a higher rank. And don’t worry about its length because both stories, for heroes and villains, are still available.

What we disliked

• Negative gameplay changes: We talked about the good changes regarding the gameplay of the game. Now it’s time to talk about the negative changes. The first one you will notice is how long it takes to fill your special bar – especially when you’re winning the fight. I believe the developers tried to balance the fight, making the player who’s at disadvantage have their special attacks at disposal first. But I constantly finished a battle before having access to my special attacks – and as some story missions require you to finish the battle with a Plus Ultra (special attack), it quickly became a problem). Another aspect I noticed a negative change is regarding your attacks that require using the left analog + a gift button: it’s incomprehensible how hard it is for the game to recognize the correct attack. So annoying!
• Season pass: Yes, we will have more characters in My Hero One’s Justice 2. Five new characters to be more precise. But they will only be available through an already announced season pass. And I cannot emphasize how much I dislike it. It feels like the game has been ripped off and now they want to sell me these spare parts instead of delivering a full package. This would only be acceptable if these new characters will only be exhibited in upcoming seasons not available during the development of the game. But I doubt this is the case.

Score: 82%
Yes, My Hero One’s Justice 2 is a game for fans of the anime/manga. Nevertheless, a very fun game for players who enjoy a good arena fighter. Everything that worked in the first game is back here in this sequel, with a highlight to the increase in the number of playable characters, my main complaint about the first game. If you haven’t tried it back in the day and are willing to have a go with this new title, go ahead! There’s a lot of content here to keep you interested for a while.