A Hero Nobody Knows. Bald Cloak and All-All-All – review

Long way to the top

The result was not long in coming: the comic book quickly gained popularity. In 2012, the famous mangaka Yusuke Murata contacted ONE and offered his repainting services so that the history of Saitama could be published first in the online magazine Tonari no Young Jump, and then published in a paper version. The original plot remained untouched, but at last it received a worthy artistic expression.

For comparison: ONE on the left, Yusuke Murata on the right

In 2015, the first season of the anime of the same name was released, and Saitama’s fans only increased. I counted on them Bandai namco, announcing a fighting game about the Bald Cloak: One Punch Man was watched and loved even by people who didn’t particularly like anime, so fans of the character around the world would have been enough for a small (or not so) army. And who will refuse the opportunity to play for his beloved hero?

The game starts … with the creation of the character. What did you want to kill everyone for Saitama with one blow? No, if you please try on the role of a frail newcomer who has just passed the test in the Association of Heroes, got a license and now begins the difficult path of a superhero from the very bottom of the rating. Ahead is a long climb from class C, where all the new recruits fall, to the elite class S. First you have to deal with small hooligans, then with criminals and monsters more seriously. But when you become familiar and get any recognition in the Association, calls will begin on real tasks. Like a showdown with a dangerous monster that can destroy an entire city.

At first, do not even dream of fighting side by side with cool heroes, but you can fully evacuate the locals to avoid casualties. True, monsters do not always agree to patiently stay at a distance while you finish work. Weak heroes cannot compete with them, so when engaging in a battle with bosses, our character is very likely to rake and almost bend … so that at the last moment Saitama comes to the rescue, sending a spectacular strike to the enemy.

The character editor provides many opportunities for customization. Will open even more as you progress: additional clothes and accessories can be bought or received as a gift

The plot scrupulously follows the first season of the anime, with the only difference being that the focus is not on canonical characters, but on the player’s avatar. So the events of the original were neatly filed under the new hero, ironically beating the name: Saitama himself is unknown to the general public in the game’s universe, but now a hero whom no one even knows in our world is participating in his adventures. We have to get cuffs from Vaccinman, Boros and the Sea King, pay a visit to the Headquarters of Evolution and ask for disciples to the Bald Cloak. True, he will not descend to the green recruit (he doesn’t need students according to the canon), but he will push our training to the cyborg Genos, who is also familiar to fans of the original.

The main hero of the occasion usually appears when we are on our last legs

Superhero Weekdays

If fighting monsters is always a fighting game in the 3D arena, the rest of the time we are faced with JRPG. There is a city with several zones that open as you pump. In local shops you can buy clothes, drinks and new animations for the character; NPCs are on duty on the streets, with side quests always on hand. Between story assignments familiar from manga and anime, additional missions await us from our favorite characters (including those that debuted or fully revealed only in the second season). If you wish, you can hunt monsters with Tatsumaki, train with the dangerous old man Bang, or join the Blizzard group: you will receive not only rating points, but also special tricks that are very useful in battle.

As you complete the quests, relations with this or that character will become stronger – progress can be seen in a special section

Yes, in fights the hero will have to use not only a rather large set of basic attacks, but for victories it’s not enough to pump various parameters. In the process of the game, several “combat schools” are opened for us: from the banal beating of enemies with bare hands to the mastery of knives or telekinesis. Each type of battle needs to be pumped separately, and each has its own set of murderous and super-murderous tricks (for example, a raging psionic can drop an entire house on an enemy). These attacks consume points of a special scale and demolish a considerable part of the health scale to enemies. Sometimes you simply cannot win without them, given that fights are limited in time. I did not have time to finish off the monster before the timer reset – lost. And with the usual strokes of some monsters, you can bathe highly long.

We saw this attack in the second season performed by Blizzards

However, in most tasks other characters will come to the aid of our beginner. A team can have up to three heroes, and if you’re lucky, some time after the start, Blizzard or Pruzhinous will come to your rescue … and even S-class heroes like Ardent Zek or Genos. Maybe Saitama himself will drop by, however, closer to the end of the match so that life does not seem to be honey. The strength of the assistants depends not only on the randomness: a special parameter is responsible for it, which can be pumped along with health and the power of the blow. The more points you pour into it, the more likely it is that not small bipods will enter the squad for the next battle, but tough guys who can finish the monster in a few strokes.

Where you still have to fight evil alone, random events like passing giants, meteor shower or bombs falling from the sky will help. They will not only bring drive and a pleasant element of surprise to the battle, they will also injure a problem monster if you lure it directly under the fire cobblestone.

In general, one of the main advantages of A Hero Nobody Knows is that the developers not only thoroughly studied the original, but also imbued with its spirit. The creators pulled most of the tricks and random events straight from the anime. When you perform tasks invented specifically for the game, you understand: yes, in the original, these characters would behave just like that. The world is revealed through side quests, and this is the same One Punch Man world that we fell in love with, its cheerful grotesque madness and unchanging, unobtrusive kindness.

Heroes are ready to sacrifice themselves in order to protect from the monsters of the gopniks whom they fought a couple of minutes ago. Gopniks, touched by such greatness of the soul, voluntarily surrender and go for re-education. Offended rabbits run away from magicians and become villains, people turn into monsters because of an absurd faith in signs, a gangster may turn out to be a desperate person who just needs a chance for a new life … Original content organically fits into the universe created by ONE, allowing you to really feel like it part.

One stalking of Genos and his attempts to understand the teacher, being in his place, what are

At the same time, the game derived another important idea from anime and manga: in the life of a superhero, there is much that the pathos film adaptations of Marvel and DC most often leave behind the scenes. Everything is not limited to battles with formidable monsters in those moments when danger threatens the whole city or to the whole of humanity. So minor feats and errands in the spirit of a “friendly neighbor” (for example, to find a lost travel card or pass on a girl words of love from a timid boyfriend) are no less important for the heroes. And during the break between running around quests or going to the cafe with Saitama, you can go to your apartment, buy new furniture in it and meet guests there. It will not give any bonuses, there is no need for this, but messing around with purchases and permutations is surprisingly nice. Especially if you once spent tens of hours at The Sims.

Guilty pleasure

Unfortunately, all good ideas come with a poor implementation. Graphics, to put it mildly, leaves much to be desired, and first of all, facial animation suffers. There are also enough bugs of the physical engine, which is why in the cut scenes the heroes fall through the asphalt, and their long hair is buried in the back. The city where we spend no less time than on arenas is poorly and simplistically drawn, although there are few locations in it. NPCs mostly stick out in one place, like glued ones, and it hits the dive deeply. Only network mode saves, where you see other players running back and forth through the streets, which creates the illusion of at least some kind of life.

Even the normal voice acting was too lazy: the voices of the heroes are heard only in some cut scenes, and most of the time you will have to do with subtitles. The main character, even in commercials, expresses himself with gestures – he only has a meager set of phrases for the beginning and end of the battle. Background music tracks can also be counted on the fingers. However, they are peppy, unobtrusive and organically fit into the world, creating an atmosphere; the opening song from the JAM Project, which performed the opening of both seasons of the anime, sticks a little worse than the legendary THE HERO.

But the house falling on the enemy looks spectacular without any discounts

Not happy and dull grind, which by the end of the game becomes more and more. First, the plot will have to break through the lengthy training, then – through periods of long boring pumping. Until you gain so many rating points, the next storyline task is simply not activated. Yes, the pumping was even correctly justified here: they say, until your hero is respected among the townspeople, the Association simply will not entrust him with the next important mission, because the enemies with each chapter are getting worse and worse. But three or four hours stupidly beat monotonous monsters and bandits in any case is not too exciting.

Only side quests and missions, where you can chat with your favorite heroes and fight for them, can only make your life beautiful: if the character joined your squad, they will let him switch at any time … as soon as the hero arrives on the battlefield. But there are units of such tasks for each chapter. The battles themselves also leave much to be desired: unresponsive control will make you scream with rage more than once, when for some reason the block put out again doesn’t pass for you.

It is also annoying that the charms of each battle style are not immediately revealed. To feel all the chips, you need to spend a lot of time swinging, and this delays the already artificially tightened gameplay

In general, any more or less demanding player in the course of passing will be constantly crooked. Yes, only while your inner critic wrinkles his nose, the inner fan chokes on childish delight, breaking faces to the enemies for the Storm, giving Saitama a discount coupon or discovering that Genos has looked at you to give a can of soda. In the end, you can always score on the storyline and just go into a special battle mode three by three, and there – collect your dream team from your favorite heroes (or villains) and arrange an epic battle against AI or live players. You can even push Saitama with Saitama – and finally ensure him an equal opponent. And this is guaranteed to dispel boredom not only to the player, who is tired of the monotonous grind, but also to the Bald Cloak, longing for worthy enemies.

Pleased

• The spirit of One Punch Man;
• the opportunity to play for your favorite heroes;
• attention to the original;
• spectacular fights and special receptions.

Afflicted

• graphics;
• poor locations;
• protracted training;
• dull grind;
• not the most responsive management.

How we played

In what: The key is provided by the publisher.

On what: RS

How many: 20 hours

Editors Achievement

“True fan”

Squeal with delight when you find Saitama at home.

Verdict

The project is exclusively for fans of the manga or anime about the Bald Cloak. If you relate to them, you have every chance to have fun. If not, it is better to first read the original – well, or pass by. You will not lose anything.