One Punch man: A Hero Nobody Knows | First Impressions (Review)

This first impression is based on the story mode, not online multiplayer.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows just released at the end of February 2020. The last fighter that I played was the RPG Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and I enjoyed that game for the most part. Probably due to the nostalgia of playing through all of the beloved sagas in the Z franchise.

When it comes to One Punch Man, though, I followed the anime closely and appreciated Saitama for the nonchalant unassuming hero that he is, I wasn’t sure that those feelings would translate to the video game.

Character customization

The character customization options are a little generic in the beginning, but they do offer the ability to change up your hero to a point. There are a variety of color options, but a limited number of options for gear. The good news is, as you gain experience points, you’re able to unlock cosmetic items to spruce up your character as you play. So even though you start out looking plain, you won’t remain that way, and if you have a good imagination, you can probably create an outlandish, cool superhero with some decent looking power moves.

Story Elements

I remember jumping into Dragon Ball Z: Xenoverse for the first time and loading into the hub where you’d receive your missions to progress through the game.

That’s what’s happening here, but you’re in the One Punch Man universe. You start as a D-rank hero getting coached along by Lecture Man to help you get acquainted with navigating the game. From there, you go through the missions laid out for you. You’ll go into battle and meet familiar characters from the manga/anime as you play through the storyline of season one.

At times, your created character feels like a bystander to the action. You’ll start a fight, and then Saitama will come to the rescue because, after all, it is his story.

Combat

This Bandai Namco fighter game is friendly to people who aren’t interesting in memorizing combos, as always. You can certainly get by with a button-mashing session. However, I don’t see this as a con, because for most people who are playing to experience Saitama and the other heroes, memorizing combos isn’t top on the list. But usually, Bandai Namco games aren’t too punishing when it comes to battle controls anyway.

My first impressions are simple. You’ll enjoy the game if you’ve come to relive the season one story of One Punch Man even if you’re only a player character that buys time until Saitama or any of the other series heroes arrive.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows released February 27, 2020.