Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact

Among Shueisha's mainstays and especially within the weekly serializations of Shonen Jump, Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi remains one of the most beloved battle shonen of the past three decades. Despite this, due to its rocky publication history and the challenges of keeping a broader audience engaged through anime adaptations, the adventures of Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika have never really enjoyed standout video game adaptations, particularly in Europe and America, where their presence has mostly been limited to cameo appearances in crossover titles alongside other manga or anime series. In this sense, Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact continues the franchise’s “underground” tradition in gaming, arriving on modern platforms with a title that wouldn’t have felt out of place on PlayStation 2 or Nintendo GameCube—but which, when held against the expectations of today’s players and the current tag-battle fighting game landscape, feels immediately constrained.

Developed by Bushiroad in collaboration with Eighting, best known for the Naruto: Clash of Ninja series and Bloody Roar: Primal Fury, this new fighter falls squarely into the 3v3 tag-battle genre, embracing all the mechanical conventions that come with it. Right from the outset, it’s clear that Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is modeled after games like Marvel vs. Capcom or the more recent Dragon Ball FighterZ. That said, the game draws from the source material up through the Chimera Ant arc, but its base roster, excluding the four additional fighters included in the first Season Pass, features only 16 characters. Given the game’s old-school fighter sensibilities, reminiscent of classic titles such as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the playable character pool feels extremely limited, especially considering that the manga is well known for its rich cast of memorable combatants.

The decision to include characters with full access to Nen techniques also clashes with the narrative and stylistic consistency of the source material. In fact, within the game’s paltry story mode, which can be completed in under half an hour, players can unleash advanced moves right from the beginning of Gon’s journey. It would have been great to see differentiated move sets for characters who, at that point in the narrative, hadn’t yet mastered Nen, perhaps through alternate versions. This is a common feature in anime-based fighting games and a well-established practice by developers like Dimps, Spike Chunsoft, and CyberConnect2 in their respective titles: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm, and of course Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi. Instead, Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact misses the opportunity to flesh out its cast with alternate versions, reducing the already barebones story mode to a glorified tutorial with minimal setup.

Still, this design choice is consistent with the overall offering. Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is a "hardcore" 3v3 fighter, so old-school in spirit that it evokes the licensed games published by Konami and Bandai (yes, before it became Bandai Namco) between the late '90s and late 2000s. In theory, the game’s depth is clear: it features a five-button combat system, with light, medium, and heavy attacks joined by a Nen button and an Arts button for each character's signature techniques. The Nen button can be combined with physical attacks to apply added effects—like stagger or launching the opponent into the air—or used on its own to block incoming attacks from any direction, at the cost of valuable aura. Meanwhile, the Arts button activates signature abilities like Gon’s Jajanken or Kurapika’s chains. Combat includes two key gauges: the Aura Gauge, linked to each fighter’s super move (or “Aura Arts”), which fills through combos or damage taken; and Overgear, a power-up bar that charges with damage received and can be activated once per match in either offensive or defensive form, helping balance situations when you're left with just one character against multiple opponents. As expected, risk-reward dynamics and the tactical deployment of each character’s abilities are at the core of every fight.

The game also allows for simplified combos via the “Rush Combo” system: by holding a shoulder button and pressing the light, medium, or heavy attack buttons, players can unleash automatic combo chains, even mixing them across moves. This makes it clear that Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact isn’t particularly concerned with balance, allowing players to effortlessly perform long (sometimes absurdly long) juggles and 30-hit combos with ease. Each character has a similarly simple input layout—there are no quarter circles or diagonal inputs—so most of the strategic planning during combat is centered on mechanics usage rather than input execution. These basics are covered in the brief story mode, but unfortunately, there’s no dedicated training mode to explore character-specific mechanics, combo routes, or frame data, as is now standard in most modern fighting games. The same goes for tag mechanics, which allow players to switch characters mid-battle, either for assists, to extend combos and juggles, or to call in a teammate’s super move while the opponent is left exposed.

These mechanics will feel familiar to genre veterans, and the fact that Nen x Impact integrates them so faithfully offers a promising foundation—clearly distancing itself from the increasingly unpopular "anime arena fighters" or kusoge of the PS2 era. However, it only takes a few matches to notice how Bushiroad’s game, despite this technically sound framework, ends up staging chaotic, wildly unbalanced battles (I’m looking at you, Leorio!), filled with overlong combos and clashing design choices that ultimately undermine both the system's potential and the overall enjoyment—especially online, where the poor netcode only makes things worse. Due to the roster's extreme imbalance, matches often end in mere seconds, and the game modes that try to add variety to the formula—besides online ranked and custom matches—do little to help. There’s a barebones arcade mode, time attack, survival, and… not much else. Each completed battle unlocks elements to customize your online player card, but beyond that, there are no meaningful extras—no animated cutscenes, no alternate costumes, and certainly no unlockable characters. Just icons, titles, and collectible cards inspired by the Greed Island arc. The red thread that runs through the entire package is obvious: low budget, and thin content.

This becomes even more apparent when examining the game's visual presentation. Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is visually uninspired, with flat cel-shaded character models and a total lack of flair. The game’s visual identity is clearly based on Madhouse’s 2011 anime adaptation, borrowing its vivid color palette, voice cast, and character designs. But beyond surface-level similarities in characters and backgrounds, the game makes no real effort to replicate or pay homage to iconic scenes from the series during its special moves. And forget about that happening in story mode: it’s too short, and completely devoid of animated sequences. In short, fan service is practically nonexistent.

Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact is not the game longtime fans deserved after years of waiting and loyal dedication to Togashi’s manga. On paper, it’s a classic-style 3v3 fighter based on one of Shonen Jump’s most iconic series, but in practice, it’s a low-budget title that barely manages to stay upright, despite having a solid—if not innovative—combat system as its foundation. Sparse content, glaring balance issues, and technical production values that pale in comparison to its modern-day competitors all contribute to a final assessment that, unfortunately, falls short.