For a series as massive as My Hero Academia, its track record in games has always felt slightly understated. Not bad, not disappointing, just… safe. The previous One’s Justice titles were enjoyable arena fighters that did their job, but they never quite felt like the definitive game this universe could support. After spending hands-on time with My Hero Academia: All’s Justice, it finally feels like Bandai Namco is aiming higher.
Enter the story
The highlight of my hands-on session was without a doubt Story Mode. I played a section centered on Bakugo facing All For One, and it immediately set the tone for what this campaign is trying to do. This is not a lightly framed retelling or a slideshow of key moments. The story is delivered through a mix of playable battles, moving-image cutscenes, and fully rendered in-engine cinematics that lean heavily into dramatic framing.
What stood out most was how well the game uses camera work and pacing. Fights regularly slow down, zoom in, or shift perspective to emphasize emotional beats rather than just spectacle. It reminded me of how Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot handles its most important moments, but with a slightly heavier focus on tension. Even in a limited slice of the campaign, the confrontation carried real weight. It felt clear that the developers understand how important these scenes are to fans who’ve followed the series for years. If the full Story Mode maintains this level of presentation, it could easily become one of the strongest reasons to play All’s Justice, even for players who don’t normally gravitate toward arena fighters.
Better structure
At its core, All’s Justice remains a 3D arena fighter, but one that feels more layered than before. Battles take place in wide, open environments designed for constant movement. The 3v3 team structure allows you to swap characters mid-fight, which adds a tactical layer that goes beyond simply picking your favorite hero.
The combat itself is approachable without being shallow. Basic attacks, Quirk abilities, guarding, dodging, and counters are easy to grasp, but timing and decision-making matter more than button-mashing. Overcommitting leaves you exposed. Playing too passively gives your opponent room to build momentum. The game lives in that push and pull, and it feels better balanced than earlier entries.
What I appreciated is that All’s Justice doesn’t pretend to be a hardcore competitive fighter. It doesn’t demand frame-perfect execution or deep system mastery to be fun. Instead, it rewards awareness, positioning, and knowing when to switch characters to keep pressure up. That makes it far more inviting without sacrificing depth.
The Power System
Two mechanics stood out during my time with the game: Rising and Plus Ultra attacks. Rising allows characters to power up mid-battle, unlocking stronger options and changing how they behave. With Bakugo, this meant faster movement and more aggressive pressure, pushing me to play riskier but more decisively.
Plus Ultra attacks are the big, anime-faithful finishers fans expect, but they’re not free win buttons. Timing is everything. Trigger one too early, and you waste potential. Hold it too long, and you might not survive long enough to use it. In tougher CPU matches, these decisions genuinely decided the outcome of fights, which made them feel meaningful rather than purely cinematic.
That balance between flash and function is something the series struggled with before, and it feels far more refined here.
More modes
Outside of Story Mode, I also spent time with Team-Up Missions and Hero’s Diary, both of which help flesh out the overall package. Team-Up Missions lean more into traversal and objectives, letting you move through open city spaces using character-specific Quirks. Deku swinging across the city using his abilities felt surprisingly satisfying, even if it doesn’t quite reach the fluidity of a dedicated traversal-focused game.
Hero’s Diary is smaller in scale and lower in stakes, focusing on character interactions and short missions. It’s not going to be the main draw, but it adds texture. Seeing Class 1-A interact outside of world-ending conflicts gives the game a lighter, more grounded rhythm that complements the high-drama Story Mode nicely.
Bandai Namco has already confirmed a roster of around 70 playable characters, making this the largest lineup the series has seen in game form. From what I played, variety feels like the keyword here. Heroes, villains, and supporting characters all bring distinct playstyles, encouraging experimentation rather than settling on one main.
Full voice acting in both English and Japanese is another welcome inclusion. The performances I heard were solid, and having the choice between languages is always appreciated. The music also deserves praise. Familiar tracks from the anime elevate key moments, and hearing a remixed version of You Say Run during gameplay hit exactly as hard as it should.
Early impressions
After my hands-on time with My Hero Academia: All’s Justice, I walked away optimistic. This feels like the most ambitious My Hero Academia game to date, not just because of its roster size or story scope, but because it finally feels confident in how it presents itself. It understands its audience, respects the source material, and isn’t afraid to lean into spectacle when it matters. There are still questions, of course. Balance across such a large cast, the pacing of the full Story Mode, and the long-term appeal of side modes will all matter. But based on what I’ve played, this feels like the game fans have been waiting for.
