One Punch Man: World is looking to be a faithful game adaptation to its source material, one of which was engaging throughout the 30-minute hands-on beta-build.
The folks over at Crunchyroll Games gave us a hands-on demo where we got to play the first chapter of the game, a challenge mission and explore a small section of the open world.
We played on a PC, but they mentioned that it is also playable on mobile (Android and iOS) when the game launches later in 2023.
My first impression of the game was how visually pleasing it was. I have my reservations on how it’d play on mobile because the lighting and animation looked way better than I had first thought it might. We have seen some recent free-to-play games on mobile that have held up nicely compared to their pc counterparts, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I am wrong, and the game looks and plays great on mobile. The cut-scenes also popped with flare that really follows along the line of recent big-publisher f2p titles.
My familiarity with One Punch Man is by watching a single episode, but we were told that many of the voice lines and sequences played out nearly 1:1 as they do from the anime. Upon release, the game will span up to the end of season one, with plans to expand through the seasons after that as the game continues development.
Gameplay
The base gameplay is straightforward on the surface, but with many nuances involved based on character. You have your basic combo attack with repeated left clicks, and cool-down-based skills which mimic moves from the show. What is of note is that Saitama isn’t the only playable character. During the demo, there were about 8 other playable characters. Each character had unique combos and specials which provided for a fresh take when battling. Some characters were more charge focused, while others were all about parrying with their skill-based attacks. Kyong Kim, Senior Director at Crunchyroll Games, explained that they took inspiration from games like Blazblue for their combat. There was a focus on making each character truly unique.
The couple boss battles we played featured three to four different transitions each. They revolved around dodging and weaving around their telegraphed attacks to unleash your own. Each segment ended with a flourish of cut-scenes. They also featured short QTE-based sections that thankfully didn’t detract from the overall gameplay. They fit in since they were short and added to the excitement of the battle. While you only control a singular character, there were instances where you can combo with an ai controlled partner. Again, these attacked provided an adrenaline rush as you played out sequences from the anime.
Story and Modes
As mentioned, the game really tries to be a sort of retelling of the first season. We were told anime fans will be able to point out key sections that mimic the anime. Kyong Kim further explained that, to provide more for fans, they have segments where in the anime you see the finale of a boss but nothing of the battle itself. In the game, you play out that sequence. It was a nice nod to what fans have imagined took place but didn’t get to physically see play out in the show.
We also spent about 10-minutes in a training ground, an open-world mode and a challenge mode. The training mode gave a nice taste of just how differently each character played. In their uniqueness, it did feel more like a fighting game vs a typical model swap. Saitama played drastically differently than Puri Puri-Prisoner. The former being more of a brawler character, while the latter was more counter-attack focused.
The open-world was nicely detailed and seemed to involve a number of points-of-interest. This part was gated, but we did walk into a konbini and an arcade. The latter of which will feature multiple playable arcade games in the full release.
As per the challenge mode, this mode allowed you to battle more-increasingly challenging bosses from the main story. However, where the main story forced you to utilize a certain set of characters, in this mode you get to pick any party of four. Once the game is live, you would be able to raid with friends instead of AI teammates. As with most games, the better you fare and the quicker you finish the battle, the better your rewards become. There were also challenge tiers that you can use to grind better loot.
Environments
All the environments we had the chance to play through were beautifully detailed. In the open world portion, I walked into a small konbini, and it was detailed so deftly that you could walk down aisles to see what you could buy. It was very Yakuza-like in that sense. There was also an arcade we can go into with one playable arcade game during the demo. It was goofy since the game felt like a classic title but was One Punch themed.
Gacha / Currency
As One Punch Man is a f2p title, there will be some gacha-based mechanics. The characters did have tiers, so I imagine, like most every f2p game out there, rarity might be locked behind this mechanic. It still seems a bit early and a lot of that wasn’t in the beta build we played, so it is a bit too early to talk about how the microtransactions are implemented.
Crunchyroll games has been diving deeper and deeper into licensed games. The 30-minute hands-on of the One-Punch Man: World beta-build easily sold me on the potential of the game. All the pieces are there. Assuming they stick the landing across pc and mobile and favorably balance the microtransactions, this could be a hit for new and old fans alike.
One Punch Man: World is set to release later this year on PC, iOS and Android. You can pre-register at the link.
One Punch Man: World is being developed by Perfect World Games subsidiary T3 Studio.