In fact they're very different from each other in many ways yet based on the ongoing manga series. One Piece is currently one of the longest mangas in history. Officially going on for over twenty years now. Not many mangas going that long or longer remains to be good. In One Piece's case it is an exception to that.
I already decided since I got all three of them at the same time on Steam on Christmas. I figured to review them from worst to best. Even with that, I still enjoy all three of these One Piece games. Although it should be very obvious what both the best & worst will be. I do respect all three teams that put in a lot of impressive work into each One Piece game.
1. One Piece: Burning Blood
Developed by Spike Chunsoft being their solo One Piece game. Yes the same team behind J-Stars Victory on PlayStation that also has One Piece characters. Burning Blood is a fighting game with the main campaign broken up into four sections. Each one has a few extra levels you could do. However the entire campaign is way too focused on Marineford Arc.
Don't get me wrong Marineford Arc is possibly one of the greatest arcs within manga history. I felt this game could use more of the source material in terms of more story arcs. To sum it up I honestly could've felt left down by it. I had trouble seeing why it was called Burning Blood. After a few hours of playing it quickly became clear.
This game has an unbalanced difficulty. Perfect example is facing several One Piece characters. Usually the first time, one or two of them are too easy. But the final member ends up owning you. After a retry you would be surprised suddenly the first two ends up being much tougher. This game really needed a properly balance.
Some One Piece characters do too much damage or has attacks you can't counter at all. Now how is that fair for a fighting game. Even Tekken games with broken final bosses were more doable than this. They do a great job retelling the story but unfortunately it does make you sick of it. Why you have to sit through a lot of the same cut scenes.
The extra levels aren't anything to write home about either. Easily the best part of the game is the overall artwork. I could argue despite it's flaws that this is one of the best looking One Piece games. Of course looking good & playing good are two different things. You do get a variety of modes but mostly stuff you expect from fighting games.
Believe it or not, it is possible to have 9 on 9 matches. Not a lot of people know about it or how to enable such a feature. You go into Free Battles mode, choose if you want to play against another player or the computer. You can have that many characters not counting support characters at one time.
This sorta acts like a mini tournament because you are only allowed to use three of them at a time. If you or your opponents loses three characters. The game automatically loads up their next teams until there is a winner. This feature alone is worth checking out. You do have to beat the game first in order to get Free Battles mode.
Now I do have one major issue with this game. Unlike the other two One Piece games I got on Christmas. This didn't have a controller support with some of the worst keyboard controls I have ever seen. Thankfully there is a very easy method of fixing this problem. There's a couple of videos on YouTube to help you out.
Overall despite it's flaws this wasn't a bad One Piece fighting game. Of course I'm a huge fan of it, I did expect a lot more out of it. Yet I played so many fighting games over the years. I can tell you this is far from the worst & best of them. This game had some major issues to deal with. Speaking of those you also can do challenges to unlock more characters.
I could be wrong but I believe purchasing Gold Pack gives you more missions. Along with dlc versions of several characters. The big high light of this being the video game debut of Gear Fourth Luffy. I would say the dlcs in general are more entertaining than most content already in the game. I would say unless you are a fan of One Piece or fighting games. It is up to you if you want to check it out.
2. One Piece: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Edition
Developed by Ganbarion that also made a few One Piece games. In fact they're also the same company behind the new One Piece game coming out this year. One Piece World Seeker is officially on my anime games list for now. Although this is an remastered version of the game. I briefly have been around the original version from an friend.
I felt game play wise this felt the closest to the source material. Allow me to explain you do fight enemies at several points. The humor you expect from the series is present here both during game play & cut scenes. The artwork including coloring is very similar to the anime version. A lot of key moments from the manga are referenced during the campaign.
You can explore a town similar to some story arcs from the manga. The Strawhat Pirates do get separated but comes back together not too long after. All the Strawhate Pirates fights very accurately to their manga counterparts. This game I knew was going to be well worth the purchase. This plays more like an adventure since to it's source material.
Along with the campaign, you could do many side quests for great stuff. You also could play the Colosseum that will challenge your gaming skills. Around the main hub town is several mini games. Each one is a good variety that's easy to learn. Believe it or not, you can go fishing & capture animals.
Both of these are respectively their own mini games that can help in many ways. I highly recommend getting both the bug net & fishing rod upgraded as much as possible. Trust me it will help you out a lot in the near future. I could discuss a big selling point to this version of the game. It says right on the picture on Steam more than fifty dlcs included.
However since they are already included in the game itself. Unless you stayed on top of the original version's dlcs & know exactly what they are. You will be confused what exactly counts as dlcs in this game. Speaking of confusing there are some technical issues. Mostly notable in getting animals, I had to retry several times due to not properly showing the buttons to press.
I should talk about the bosses, they have a few health bars you must take out in order to win. Thankfully you don't have to fight two of them at once in the campaign. I can't say that for the other main mode. At some points later in the campaign you do have to fight bosses after each other. For example not too long after defeating fake Jimbei.
You will fight two fake marine admirals with a twist. The first of these you play as fake Ace being one of my favorite parts of it. The last battle of that level you go back to being Luffy but thankfully you are fighting with fake Ace. Let's be honest this game will bring back a lot of nostalgia. I felt in time getting what you need will get easier.
The controls are easy to learn with nothing to confuse you in any way. The animation itself is very impressive to me. They packed so much content into this One Piece game it's mind blowing. You will be busy for hours if this plays well on your computer. Sadly not everyone can play this like I can. I don't know exactly why that is or why it isn't ranked higher on Steam.
Overall a solid One Piece game that will keep you busy for hours. Even after beating the main game & Colosseum mode. This will feel like a true love letter to the fans. I am very impressed how much I like this game. Despite the technical issues, I really don't have much to complain about. You do get a lot of characters to play as too.
3. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3
Developed by Omega Force, yes the same team behind Dynasty Warriors & Samurai Warriors series. Also the same team that made a few anime games of similar game playing including Berserk. WOW I am way beyond impressed by this game. They did a very good job with it in general. You will be amaze how damn good this One Piece game actually is.
Similar to Dynasty Warriors series, you play as a member within an army. Your goal is take out the commander of the opposing army. You don't need to rush during the campaign to do that. Treasure moments do unlock some nice stuff. This game covers from the beginning up to Dressrosa arc. Which by itself really blew my mind.
The controls are easier to get use to but compared to the other two One Piece games. You won't have as much moves to work with. However unlike those games, after unlocking moves. You can change them out including your finishers. You can take away bases or territories in each map. Every cut scene is very on point with the source material.
Obviously some changes were made like facing Mr. 3 during Crocodile's level. Most levels has extra bosses you can take on if you choose to. Free Log mode is slightly different from the main game. In this version you can be anyone you have unlocked. Officially I got every character & costume now. This feature by itself adds more replay value to the game.
Oh way it gets even better you also can play Dream Log mode. This huge map is filled with small islands. This is where most hidden characters are unlocked. You could do bounties that makes you speed run a level with the target being the boss. Yes this counts as being a new level I checked. Also defeating them unlocks rare stuff that helps with leveling.
I should mention there is a level cap after level 50. Once you figure out how to break pass it you can level up to 100. Character coins plays a huge part in leveling in many ways. You can repeatedly play as that character or defeat them several times to add up on their coin amount. Islands with characters on them are those you must beat to unlock those characters.
Quick warning you must be on your A game attempting to get Red Hair Shanks. You have been warned, please have fun lol. This game will throw you curve balls regardless which mode you play. Believe it or not, all modes of play has two players. Now isn't that awesome for two One Piece fans to play several levels together.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is truly an amazing game even among licensed anime games. I should mention due to Dressrosa Arc wasn't technically finished yet in the manga. Some parts are canon to what does happen but it quickly becomes non canon. I won't fully spoil why but by now you might have already seen the ending.
This game could be frustrating due to some not clear twists like in the Water 7 level. You must take out the right messenger to stop enemies from coming back with territory their's again. Trust me it took a while to figure this out. Speaking of frustration, the story arc where the Strawhat Pirates gets separated is confusing.
You have to try staying on top of your members with so many tough enemies. If you lose just one before you are suppose to lose your crew. You have to do it all over again that can be annoying. My best advice for anyone trying to beat that particular level. Please get your characters up to level 50 & think as fast as you can.
Abuse the big moves when you need to especially if more than one of your allies you need is about to retreat. My big advice is don't worry about the light marine until his actual boss fight. Get two of the fake Kumas to Law does help make things a little bit easier. I hope my advice helps someone to finally beat that level.
I honestly can't say a word how I truly feel about this game. This is hands down one of my favorite licensed video games ever made. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is very replayable in every regard imaginable. I also honestly can't say anything major wrong with it. Which for me is rare to say about any video game.
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