One Piece is back again with another video game adaptation. The immensely popular manga/anime series just had Romance Dawn wash up on our shores earlier this year, but there’s no rest for pirates! One Piece: Unlimited World Red is the latest game in the Unlimited sub-series of One Piece games and is the first North America has seen since 2008′s Unlimited Adventure for Wii. So let’s set sail, into the Sea of Review!
Unlimited World Red has two single player modes. The Main Story is, unsurprisingly, the main story mode of the game. The campaign’s primary antagonist is Patrick Redfield, a powerful pirate also known as “Red the Aloof” who escaped from pirate prison when the Straw Hat crew attacked the marines at the Battle of Marineford. During the campaign, Redfield projects the crew’s memories onto the world, which leads to the crew fighting many enemies from past arcs of the series. This serves as a way for One Piece fans to relive the battles from the manga, as many manga/anime based games have done before. Up to three of the nine playable Straw Hat crew members (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook) can be chosen for each level, though all nine will have dialogue and cutscene appearances regardless of your party selection.
The combat system is simple, but engaging. Each character’s has two attack buttons (Y/X on 3DS/Wii U, Square/Triangle on PS3/Vita). Repeatedly tapping these buttons in different combinations will change which attacks are used. Tapping Y or X once creates an attack, tapping twice launches another attack, tapping Y and X is another attack, and so on. Jumping before attacking opens up more attack possibilities. There is also an action button which will display during each battle that allows you to dodge, guard or counter incoming attacks. Failure to push the action button when it appears will result in damage taken. The action button is not a catch-all to avoiding damage, however, because some attacks come in too quickly, from too many directions, or are just too powerful to be avoided. For those attacks, it’s important to get out of the way when you see them coming and try not to get locked into an attack combo.
Characters also have special attacks, which take up either one or both SP bars. SP is gained throughout battles by landing attacks on enemies. The special attacks include signature moves that the characters have used in prior manga appearances. There is also a team attack where all three members of the party team up to deal major damage to the targeted foe.
Battling isn’t the only thing that can be done while traversing each world. Breaking boxes, destroying plants and other environmental pieces often yields spoils. These spoils can be brought back to town to craft new items, strengthen current items, and expand the town. You can also catch bugs and animals using the insect net or catch fish with a fishing rod. These two games start up quick button-pressing mini-games where you must push the correct button at the proper time to tire out the animal you’ve just caught. It’s a decent change of pace when the fighting becomes mundane.
There are also passive and active abilities that can be equipped by each character, called “Words”. Custom words are phrases spoken by each of the characters and can passively boost stats such as HP, Attack, and resistances. They also affect success rates in fishing and bug catching. Item words can be used the same way as items in battle, which can boost teammates or heal them. Overuse of words will cause the player to be locked out of them briefly, so you can’t use them constantly.
When you’re not fighting minions and taking down One Piece luminaries, you can explore the overworld as main character Luffy. The straw hat wearing pirate has the ability to stretch his body parts like rubber, which enables him to launch his arms at the rooftops of buildings and various other high places. Using this ability, Luffy can quickly traverse the entire island, rooftop to rooftop. It’s no Assassin’s Creed, but rocketing around the island with Luffy’s rubber arms is fun. Talking to the townsfolk will grant you new additions that can be built in town. You can then build these expansions with the spoils you have collected from your adventures. There are also quests that can be taken in town. These quests often involve collecting various items or defeating a specific opponent.
There is an emphasis on building up your town and crafting your spoils into new items. However, if that’s not something that tickles your fancy, the main campaign might come across as a bore. Each level contains multiple small areas with rather simple level design, with nothing very intriguing to offer. There are some side paths that can be accessed by specific characters and other paths that contain more spoils, but the cramped nature of the levels limits the desire to explore and shepherds you into the next fight. One Piece is a series that romanticizes exploration and new discovery, but Unlimited World Red unfortunately fails to cater to those seeking adventure.
This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – One Piece: Unlimited World Red (3DS) – Review
Read more here: gamrReview
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