Coming seemingly out of nowhere, My Hero Academia is one of the breakout manga successes of the last ten years. The concept of heroes in training is one that makes for compelling entertainment, but it also has the potential to be a fantastic setting for an RPG. The setting allows developers and players to truly experiment in a world similar to ours but very different at the same time.
The world of My Hero Academia revolves around ‘Quirks,’ which is the name given to the strange powers that characters possess. These quirks can be anything, and the variety on show in the anime and manga is mindboggling. Quirks are not the only intriguing aspect of the world, though; there are also heroes. These heroes are not just part of this world; they’re part of the very bedrock of society. However, while the idea of being a hero is interesting, it is not the most intriguing aspect available to a developer.
The main setting for the show and the manga is U.A. High, essentially a high school for heroes. The idea of a school for heroes could fit in an RPG perfectly. It allows the player to learn about the world, improve their skills in the perfect setting, and allows for a social aspect. For instance, the Persona series is famous for merging a high school and the combat-focused other world. In high school, you cultivate relationships and improve your social abilities, all of which play a part in the game’s combat sections. Imagine a My Hero Academia game where you are a student at U.A. High. You spend your day building relationships with your other heroes in training and practice your skills, then you have the ability to work with the pro-heroes and use your learned skills with your provisional hero license. While out in the field, you may meet your classmates and, if you have worked with them and built up a rapport, you could work together or maybe even impede each other.
This idea of being able to choose your own path is one that also fits into the world of My Hero Academia. The manga’s world clearly distinguishes the heroes and villains at first, but it is evident that things are not as clear-cut as it first appears. Players could be given an option to be a hero, or maybe they become a villain and have to fight the other people from their class. The reasons for turning could be as varied as family history or simply how the public perceives the player. For instance, many thought Bakugo would be a villain due to his personality and explosive quirk. The choice of quirk could have a huge impact on the game, but the variety would allow players to truly customize their students. There have been quirks that are simple but used in interesting ways, to quirks that are hugely powerful but hard to control. Giving the players the option to choose their quirk would be one that would allow both customization and replayability.
The chance for customization is important in any game nowadays, especially when using a player-created character. Both professional and intern heroes design their own costumes and work with support heroes to create new gear that will help to improve their combat ability. This would give players the chance to continue to change their hero as they play and slowly change their hero’s look. This could also link to the relationships that your character made while in school as the support course studies in the same building as the hero course.
Combining all of these things would lead to a game that combined the slice of life with the action that has made manga so popular. The groundwork for an interesting game with an engaging plot is there. It will just take a developer taking a chance for it to be realized. Hopefully, we will one day have the chance to be Heroes too.
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