Power through villainous destructive attacks and protect cities as Perfect World Games brings the action into mobile devices with One Punch Man: World. The universe of over-the-top heroes and villains by web mangaka One is certainly fascinating and Perfect World Games thought so to and attempts to recreate it with One Punch Man: World. 

The game adapts the world of One Punch Man and shoves it into mobile devices, sprinkling in a hack-and-slash combat system, some side explorations, and gacha shenanigans. We got a chance to tighten our utility belts and have a Serious Test with the game through the Closed Beta. So, wear your capes, read on, and find out our first impressions of One Punch Man: World. 

Hero for Fun 

Ever want to follow in the footsteps of Saitama and become a hero for fun? One Punch Man: World wastes no time and throws you right into the action. From the first moment you enter the game, it is clear that the developers care a lot about being faithful to the source material, right down to how they captured the anime’s aesthetics. 

Indeed, you might be thinking that you were watching the first season of the anime by studio Madhouse, considering how well the developers have recreated the character art style and various sequences.

The beginning immediately throws you head on as Saitama against the Subterranean People, playing sequence to sequence on how the battle progresses and ends. Combat is on the simpler side as the game is only being developed for mobile devices and PCs, however, it does still offer some level of complexity.

Now and again though, the game would initiate quick time events to play out the sequence from the anime. While you may not be defeating enemies in one punch, for obvious gameplay reasons, I do appreciate the impactful hits and visceral blood splatter as Saitama defeats his enemies.

Speed, Precision, & Oversized Kendama

Even though Saitama is the main protagonist of the series, One Punch Man: World is not about his story but rather about the other heroes and the universe itself.  While the game starts out with you punching your way as Saitama, it quickly cuts away after the Vaccine Man encounter and puts you into the shoes of Lightning Max.

This is when the more intricate aspect of the combat system starts to show itself. Each character in the game has their own unique quirks that represent their individuality. Aside from the regular punches and kicks, each hero has access to 3 different abilities, an ultimate, and character-specific mechanics.

Lightning Max, for example, has a unique mechanic where he can gain stacks of Gunpowder to enhance his abilities and even change how they function. Since he is a speedster, these stacks also further bolster his evasive capabilities and allow him to go lightning-fast on the field, zipping in and out.

As mentioned, every character has a unique trait. Golden Ball can charge up his slingshot for a powerful blow while at the same time enhancing his next shot. Meanwhile, Smile Man can refresh his skills by catching the ball of his giant Kendama.

While it is cool how each character has their own individuality, the game, however, does a terrible job conveying that aspect of gameplay. A criticism I would have is how the character trial was inaccessible in the early parts of the game until a specific progression was made, forcing you to figure out the more intricate part of the character without a safe environment.

Justice Avenger League of Four 

Some basic combat mechanics are also not given clear instructions on how they function, such as the Link Attack. Supposedly the Link Attack has something to do with chaining up attacks with the team but aside from a fancy UI pop-up, no details were written.

Speaking of teams, One Punch Man: World allows you to form a squad of 4 characters. That said, there is no character swapping mid-action. The first character in the squad serves as the hero you control while the others are there to fight alongside you and provide support.

There is also a character type system and enemies will have weaknesses against specific types. Before starting any mission, this info will be shown at the bottom of the screen. However, like the other unclear guidance, no rock-paper-scissors weakness chart has been shown.

The World of OPM

There is a reason that the word “World” is in the title. Aside from various playable heroes, parts of the One Punch Man universe are also explorable.

The majority of the game will have you spent running around the pristine floors of the Hero Association Headquarters, serving as the main player hub of sorts. Here, you progress through the story, talking to various staff members, as well as selecting and starting missions.

During mission sequences, characters were pretty expressive, especially Saitama. However, talking to NPCs around the HQ does render the characters to look flat like walking cardboard due to their unexpressive dialogue animation and the lack of voice acting.

Another explorable zone is City A, a part of the alphabetically ordered urban environment of the One Punch Man world. While the place is rather pretty with the colorful neon signs and distinct shops, it does seem unfitting to the world. Despite how much the narrative revolves around villains throwing tantrums and wreaking havoc, City A still looks well-maintained and feels almost too safe.

For the most part, the visuals look great. However, because of how well done many parts of the world are, it is hard not to notice the weirdly out-of-place low-resolution textures used for the interior parallax mappings. It is a minor nitpick but it can take you out of the world after seeing the difference in quality.

Recruiting Heroes

Given that this is a mobile title, it is no surprise that it is going into the gacha route. Not only heroes are playable, but there will also be recruitable villains such as Speed-o’-Sound Sonic for players to thrash monsters around with.

The gacha mechanic follows the conventional pity system where every 10 pulls guarantees an SR or higher rarity characters. While every 90 pulls guarantee an SSR and if you did not get a featured SSR character, the very next one will be guaranteed.

Aside from heroes and villains, players can also obtain equipment known as Character Impression Arms. These trinkets essentially serve as the game’s weapon system and will grant characters various boosts.

Putting more emphasis on the action gameplay, Impression Arms can grant active abilities such as buffs to specific characters. Judging from how the user interface is laid out, the Impression Arms are likely going to be character-specific and there will be up to 3 to collect for each character.

S-Class Heroes Yet?

Embracing its world of oddball heroes and eccentric villains, One Punch Man: World offers you soothing yet chaotic fun as you mindlessly tap away the screen. Not to mention, the impactful hits, glorious particle effects sparkling around the screen, and naughty goons exploding into blood like water balloons.

One is a creative mangaka and has written some oddly fascinating quirky characters. It is quite cool seeing some of his background heroes featured more prominently as they often get overshadowed by Saitama and other larger-than-life S-Class heroes.

What is awesome is to also see how diverse each character fights and how they utilize their own unique toolset to takedown some humanoid topless crab or other equally weird monsters. For example, Lightning Max becomes faster and faster as he attacks and eventually, he just starts zooming.

Fights are not all simple one-note sequences either as even in the earlier battles, enemies are already quite diverse, especially when it comes to bosses. The Subterranean King himself fights like a raid boss with many wide swipes and even a rare yet deadly grapple attack.

That said, it would have been nice if character trials were accessible early on and various information was clearer. Some of the user interface design choices are odd and misleading too, such as using the word “Quit” instead of “Continue” on victory screens. However, after a few runs, you will eventually get used to it.

All in all, One Punch Man: World is worth checking out if you are a fan of One’s work, or simply want to be a Hero for Fun. It offers a diverse cast of oddballs for you to go ham on other oddballs, and hits are visceral enough for a quick rush of fun.

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One Punch Man: World

Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows

One Punch Man: World is an 3D action game that recreates the world of the globally popular anime series One-Punch Man and offers a hardcore action experience for all players.