My Hero One’s Justice 2 Preview – A Solid Anime-Fighter

I don’t expect too much from one-off licensed anime games. While most of them get the presentation right, the execution leaves a lot of room for improvement. However, that just wasn’t the case with the 2018 release My Hero One’s Justice based on the My Hero Academia anime series. The fighting mechanics and story delivery were solid, and the game provides many hours of enjoyment for me.

Well, now it seems the developers are doubling down on the series with My Hero One’s Justice 2. After going hands-on with the game, it was nice to see that they’ve only improved on what was delivered in the first entry, which makes me pretty excited about its release.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 does have a story mode, but during my time with the game, I was only able to play in versus modes. Right away, I can tell that the developers took the base mechanics of the previous title and smoothed everything out.

The animations in the attacks looked great, and the fights were far less floaty than before. I couldn’t have really asked for more, given that that was my essential criticism of the first entry. Executing lengthy combos, calling on support characters for help, and unleashing special moves came naturally throughout the match. The Arenas were also given an upgrade featuring more destructible environments and ways to use them to your advantage.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 has some hardcore fighting game elements such as dodges and counters that can be executed, but the game makes itself accessible to casual fans of the series. The game has a playful balance of offensive and defensive moves, but finding a window of opportunity to attack your opponent is what counts.

During battles, the camera swings and adjusts to characters giving a sense of action. Sadly, the closeness of the camera at times doesn’t play well with the destructible environment, which hurt the visibility of the battles. There’s just so much going on the screen at one time that the fight can be a little tough to follow.

I don’t presume that My Hero One’s Justice 2 is trying to be aimed towards hardcore fighters as the game keeps its mechanics rather straightforward. However, there are some deep offensive and defensive systems offered in the game that will surely come into play during PvP matches. I’m excited to see how the developer delivers the story this time around. With a roster that is significantly larger than its predecessor and few new modes, including a 2v2 mode, this is one licensed anime game that you might want to keep your eye on.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on March 13, 2020.