My Hero One’s Justice 2 Review – Plus Ultra?

Remember back when superheroes had to wear masks to hide their identity? How they put their briefs over their pants? Or how they never get to put “superhero” for their next job application? Well, My Hero Academia fixed all that and more. From the most Plus Ultra of catchphrases to the most robust line up of quirky characters, My Hero One’s Justice 2, a sequel to 2018’s first My Hero game, delivers the expanded comic-based storytelling and over-the-top 3D action fighting game in one complete package.

To the uninitiated, My Hero Academia is a manga series serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump and written by Kohei Horikoshi that is also known for works like Oumagadoki Zoo and Barrage. It soon found its way into anime adaptations and movies aside from spawning the Spinoff series My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Set in a modern-day world where most people develop superpowers called quirks, Izuku Midoriya, a quirkless young boy still dreams of becoming a great hero one day like the legendary All-Might. Soon enough, he will find himself in a situation where he can inherit All Might’s power and pursue his dream.

And My Hero One’s Justice 2 is a continuation of that same story. Starting off after All Might and All for One’s intense ground-pounding fight and up to the colossal battles in the Shie Hassaikai arc, there are a lot of things to love here that fans will surely appreciate. Byking’s attempts at making a comic-strip style of storytelling feels all too fitting despite some scenes I would’ve appreciated to have more than just still images. But if there’s one thing I can fault them for here, is its obnoxious little add-ins like the repetitive fights against the same generic thugs with its only purpose is to waste your time.

As a 3D arena fighter, it provides a nice mix of archetypes across its full character roster such as Red Riot’s in-your-face playstyle or Deku’s Full Cowling that can zone out enemies while also delivering a massive flurry of punches from up close. With a full cast of 40 stunning characters for both heroes and villains, there’s enough variety to keep the game fresh for a couple of hours while also something that feels new for players that stepped up from its predecessor thanks to its added new moves and attacks. The game also now includes a stamina system that is drained by doing actions such as dash cancels, wall runs, quick steps or blocking. Alongside the many changes to its battle system, the game also added Team Plus Ultras aside from being able to use a sidekick’s Plus Ultra to deepen the entire experience of a decent but not an overly intricate fighting game. There are enough layers to keep the game from devolving into a brainless button-mashing affair while still keeping the game fun for just about any skill level.

Aside from the usual story mode, Mission Mode makes a return to give players a bit more reason to keep playing. In this mode, players will be managing their own agency of superheroes that they can recruit and level up giving it an RPG feel that makes levelling up a character stronger by assigning points to different parameters like attack or health aside from equipping up to 5 symbols which are essentially cards that have different types of effects like increasing attack or regaining health when certain conditions are met. It feels more akin to the Heroes and Heralds Mode on Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 which is an interesting approach for rewarding a player’s hard work with some useful tools in a survival mode style of gameplay. There’s also the free battle mode where up to four players can play together for some chaotic fun, an arcade where you can pick a character to fight through a number of battles and an online mode to test your mettle with random strangers or friends online.

However, its over-the-shoulder perspective makes for some very awkward camera angles at times especially with the many destructibles and flashy moves that can break the entire screen into a fireworks display at any point in the match. Paired with an outrageously fast-paced battle flow, it becomes even more awkward that attacks would either miss the target by passing through them or whiffing when initiated too early.

Visually, the game looks really great, both characters and stages have a lot to offer. While I find the destructibles a little too much, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s fun to see stuff break all for the sake of visual flair. Paired with the many but somewhat repetitive character customizations for your characters, it makes playing through the game a bit unique each time you run through the gauntlet of its online and other game modes.

THE VERDICT

Despite being a sequel, My Hero One’s Justice 2 never really felt like it went Plus Ultra. There’s the expanded story aside from a massive line up of characters, the improved gameplay mechanics but aside from that, it’s more of the same which makes it feel more like an expansion over a new game. So is it something that you have to stay away from? No. This is a great game that is both fun and entertaining, it just didn’t have the kind of polish that some games could’ve received on their sequels. But if you’re willing to skip past its shortcomings, there is some fun to be had.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC if interested you can purchase your copy here.

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