My Hero One’s Justice 2 is a fighting game based on the popular My Hero Academia manga and anime series, and a sequel to 2018’s My Hero One’s Justice (you can read our review of that here). Published by Bandai Namco, the game takes a lot of inspiration from the publisher’s other anime fighters such as the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series. While definitely worth a visit for hardcore fans, the game falls short on offering a substantial experience for the genre.

My Hero One’s Justice 2’s story continues the plot from the first game and covers the Provisional Hero License Exam and Shie Hassaikai arcs from the manga/anime. Given the target audience, the game assumes you’re already familiar with My Hero Academia so newcomers may be left clueless as to what’s happening. The story is told through motion comic/manga panels between fights with spoken dialogue, which feels uninspiring and lazy compared to other fighting games with full 3D animated cutscenes. The first half of Story mode focuses on the Hero characters’ perspective while the second half showcases the villains’ perspective, overall offering a sizable campaign. Most chapters also feature bonus objectives, such as finishing a fight with a PlusUltra attack or ending a fight with a certain health percentage remaining. By completing these you will be awarded with optional customisation options for characters such as costume pieces and voice dialogue options.

The game is a standard anime fighter to come from Bandai Namco. Players fight in 3D arenas in one vs. one battles. The main fighters are also accompanied by sidekicks, who you can call upon to offer support or team up with to unleash powerful combos. The controls are accessible for players of all skill levels – you can perform normal attacks, basic attacks and special attacks; combining them to unleash various combo moves which look spectacular on-screen. There’s also a special PlusUltra meter which fills up whenever you attack or take damage and can be used to unleash one of three powerful PlusUltra attacks. As most characters have similar movesets/controls you can easily jump from character to character and instantly kick butt in fights. It’s unfortunately very easy to get into the rhythm of just bashing away at the controller to unleash random combos. There is some refinement on offer; you do have the ability to block/defend and dash to close the distance between you and your opponent when needed. However, this can largely be ignored except for when there is an occasional difficulty spike in the campaign or if you partake in the game’s multiplayer options.

Aside from the Story campaign the other major single-player mode is Mission. Here players are in charge of their very own Hero Agency and must keep areas protected. You recruit a team of heroes by completing missions and collecting Hero coins. Characters will level up and grow stronger as you complete missions, but you must also be careful as damage carries over between fights.

My Hero One’s Justice 2 also features the other usual modes as well. Free Battle lets you customise your own battles including selecting rules, the combatants and if you fight with all human players. This mode also supports 2 vs. 2 multiplayer where a friend can team up with you as a sidekick character. Network allows you to battle it out online against other players, Arcade is a more traditional single-player experience and Training lets you toggle various settings to set up the perfect situation and practice your moves. Last but not least is Customize. As mentioned, you can unlock various cosmetic items for characters by completing secondary objectives in the story mode and this is where you can apply them. You can also purchase additional cosmetic items using in-game Hero coins.

The cel-shaded graphics really make the game pop and are true to the anime. There are also lots of smoke effects and pulses of energy on display which really add drama to the battle unfolding on-screen. There is unfortunately no English dub available, which may disappoint some fans. The music is appropriately energetic and sets the tone perfectly for a good fight, though most tracks are not memorable.

While the content within My Hero One’s Justice 2 isn’t bad, there just isn’t a lot in this entry which makes it stand out from the countless other anime fighters. Similar combat systems have appeared in other games, the Story mode is lacklustre and the rest of the content is all standard flare. On the plus side, the visuals are great and there are over 40 playable characters, which is roughly double that of the previous game. This title offers genuine fan service for those who are up to date with the manga/anime, but otherwise you need not apply.

Rocket Chainsaw reviewed My Hero One’s Justice 2 on a PS4 base console. The game is also available on Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.