One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows

Being the titular One-Punch Man is fun, but the rest of A Hero Nobody Knows' repetitious fighting/action game hybrid is lackluster.

To that end, it's more charitable to see One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows as more of a Hero Association RPG than a fully qualified fighting game. You won't be seeing it on the main stage at EVO anytime soon, but you can at least have a fun few hours raising your own hero.

In One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, becoming a hero for fun isn't all it's cracked up to be. Saitama is a hilariously game breaking gimmick that pays off in single-player, but online he only leads to frustration. Elsewhere,the main story mode has plenty to do, but there's not much variety. Fans will mostly enjoy the writing and the fighting, but newcomers might be left wanting.

It's a strong introduction to the One Punch Man mythos and when this fighting game gets down to the actual fighting, it's actually pretty fun. And there are enough different ideas at work to make it stand out from other anime and fighting games. It's a novel effort, but nothing else beyond that.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is more ambitious than it needed to be, to its own detriment. While the main missions and combat are very enjoyable, forced, lacklustre side content spoils the pacing and makes the game tedious to play. Still very fun for the right fan, but not without a sale.

For those that simply want to experience One Punch Man as a part of the narrative, there's no better alternative than A Hero Nobody Knows, even if it would fall apart were it not for One Punch Man's recognizable heroes reminding players what universe they're in.

One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows is unfortunately not the hero this city deserves… or needs. While it does a good job of capturing the aesthetic and charm of the One Punch Man universe via its cast of recognisable characters and suitably ludicrous character customisation, it doesn't quite hold its own as a video game. Instead, it stumbles in its presentation, content and, crucially, it's combat. With more of a focused vision on what it wanted to be it might have been able to set itself apart, but this is sadly not the case here.

Join the association of heroes, which saves the world from monsters and crime

Not worth your time, not worth your money.

One-Punch Man fans have a lot to be excited about with this game and should definitely check it out! Even though the game is not centered around Saitama, it does closely follow the first few major story arcs in the manga, which makes this nerd very happy. The game is also simple enough for a young child to follow and enjoy (if the parent is okay with violence and chaos, that is). All in all, I give this game a 75 out of 100 for its easy to grasp combat system, endless player customization, and the beautiful visuals.