Review: One Piece Pirate Warriors 3

Hello everyone!

I’ve been away for a while testing a lot of products, both games and devices, that I will present to you soon. However, today I want to tell you my experience with One Piece Pirate Warriors 3.
The licensed games market is simple and extremely complex at the same time. Acquiring the rights to a game, so you get to work very little as developers, perhaps using a formula of gameplay that’s ultra abused, and expect that people go to the stores to buy it and attracted by the sirens of the name of the game. At the same time there are many unknowns to consider nowadays and if you’re not careful it only takes a little to be thrown out of the market. Bandai Namco is the queen of the titles based on licensed intellectual property related to the world of Japanese manga and anime, a market that is unlike that of the tie-in film and television Western, crushed by the weight of the advent of the mobile. It seems to hold blow and not suffer too much due to the passage of time and the accumulation of outputs.
One Piece obviously could not miss the call.

What we can say for sure is that Bandai Namco has decided to take a big step back, abandoning the idea of ​​writing a new story, as did the second chapter, to return to that of the manga. Evidently feedback from fans was peremptory, then the development team has put their hands to the original plot. The presentation is still great, mixing the style of a Japanese comic book pages with short animated scenes. The inevitable sense of deja vu, however, mitigated by the presence of numerous additions of new content but also the commitment to rebuild all environments giving fans a way to see them from a new point of view. The transition from the old to the new generation of consoles guarantees that effect and good bit of room to maneuver on the PlayStation 4, while the other two referenced platforms we can expect a yield comparable to that of the past. It should however be said that the first glance is pleasant thanks to the proximity of patterns, textures and effects to those of the anime but we’re not certain that anything seen is revolutionary. The power of the latest fourth generation hardware made by Sony was used to double the number of enemies on the screen, passing from the first one hundred to two hundred of this third episode. Even the fluidity has grown, gaining well in stability.

In strictly ludic terms, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 decides not to overturn what has been done previously. The gameplay is still a short time to any other musou on the market: the levels are characterized by large maps filled with branches, packed with enemies and dotted with some bosses to defeat to unlock the next area or event that brings us a step further to the conclusion of the challenge. It is a formula used now over and over again so much that at this point you should already know whether the title might arouse your interest. On one hand, with each new announcement of a game tied to this genre born and proliferated from Dynasty Warriors we wonder if it’s worth it to experience something new, especially given the popularity and potential of intellectual property such as One Piece. On the other hand, it is probably useless to complain that much of the fact, that the gameplay does not make great strides forward. This is the musou, give or take.

Anyway Namco Bandai does not intend to abandon any ambition and has worked on some interesting variations on the theme. The selected character will have the possibility to call a mate, choosing from those available through the d-pad, so that will help him in battle. The intervention of the partner depends on an indicator that charges over time, making it more and more effective. The KIZUNA skills are a new type of special attacks that, for example in the case of Luffy, give a certain amount of time to access attacks that are particularly effective. In other cases, slow down time, or reflect the peculiarities of each character entered in the roster of those selected. Combining the presence of companions and these powers, the team is confident of being able to implement interesting combat mechanics, paving the way for potentially infinite combo. Almost three years since the first Pirate Warriors have the impression that Omega Force is trying to collect all the experience made so far, taking the best of work on narrative and one in favor of gameplay to create a sort of ” definitive version”.

CONCLUSIONS
One thing is for sure, any fan of One Piece will play it, just to get emotional like myself, during the key moments of the manga as the farewell to the Going Merry or the war against the Marines with the various major losses.
My vote is still a 7/10 for the quality of the title.
That’s all for today. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @roccocannale for other reviews.

The king is leaving the building.

See ya!