There we are then, we finally managed to reunite with Luffy and his crew, ready to set sail for this new adventure thanks to One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, a title that will make you relive the most beautiful moments of the iconic journey created by the master Oda. The genre musou it is something particularly delicate, especially here in the West, being mainly a style designed for the Japanese market. However, there are enthusiasts who do not disdain this type of product, and our review is mainly dedicated to them. If you don't chew the musou, you will probably also find the latest work on the plate Omega Force it won't do for you, but if you know what we are talking about you have found bread for your teeth. The game aims not only to expand the narrative arc compared to the previous chapter, but it does so with a lot of care and respect for players who expected something other than the prequel. Not only this, since it is clear the desire that the software house had in not wanting to "confirm" some canonical aspects of the genre of belonging, modifying them and trying to rejuvenate a general formula that is now too static and repetitive even for direct competitors.
Become King of the Pirates
As mentioned at the beginning, the focus is dedicated to the arrival of the crew of Straw hat a Wano and after a short tutorial that will put you face to face with Kaido e Big mom, you will be catapulted to the dawn of the manga, when our band of pirates was still at the beginning of their careers. There is one thing to say though: the pace of the adventure and the narrative is now more pushed and focused. The developers know very well that the fans know perfectly well the origins of the group and the related encounters, not to mention that we are talking about scenarios already addressed in the previous chapter. Precisely for this reason we support the choice of dividing everything into narrative arcs, skipping the most “useless” parts and focusing attention on the most beautiful and dramatic moments of the series. You will therefore start from Alabasta, Via Marineford and so on. The moments full of pathos will come to you like a punch in the stomach, as the team has managed to recreate, in a rather precise way, the scenes seen both in the anime and in the manga. As for the plot, therefore, we really have nothing to say, linear and precise. The developers have allowed themselves to take some "poetic license" in favor of more chaotic moments or for needs due to some cuts, but nothing that modifies Oda's work, therefore treated with the due sacredness it deserves.
As you continue you will unlock characters and scenarios, to be used in other locations (but we will talk about this later). The first big news that immediately catches the eye, in fact, is how now there is no longer free choice of the character to use in some levels. We explain better: if in the previous chapter, if you wanted, you could decide to use only and exclusively Luffy, now before each mission it will be the game itself that will provide you with a roster to draw from. This breaks the monotony of the genre so much, making you try characters that, otherwise, you would never have taken. Imagine how nice to be able to check White beard during the Marineford battle, it all depends on your personal tastes. This time, moreover, you will not be forced to replay a specific mission with a certain character to unlock particular skills, this aspect has been completely simplified and made more affordable to minimize the sense of repetition and always keep the desire to fight active. to the player.
The production not only offers the classic story, but also puts on the plate two modes that fans know very well, even if one has been significantly modified. The first is the free adventure, through which you can face missions already completed with a character of your choice, and the second replaces the dream diary of the last chapter and takes the new name of logbook. The latter is simply a collection of fictional missions, which propose scenarios at the limit of the truth. Here your technique and skill can be really pushed to the limit, as it will be the fastest and most fun way to quickly level up.
Although the idea of the logbook is very nice, we still don't feel like it is 100% convincing. In fact, these clashes leave a lot of time they find, an excellent entertainment without a doubt, but that in the long run they risk to tire. The free mode itself isn't particularly engaging; the feeling is that the team should have pushed more in this respect while in fact they were, perhaps for fear of exaggerating, with the handbrake on. What is certain is that the only adventure struggles to hold up the entire production, offering other modalities besides the usual ones would have been better but instead it was decided only to modify them to make them more simplistic.
Cask on cask
The basic musou offers players the possibility to destroy hordes and hordes of enemies with a single shot, but in this One Piece: Pirate Warrior 4 it just seems not enough. The characters differ mainly in three types: powerful, technical and fast. Each of these "classes" has different specifics and peculiarities, which drastically change the way you play or approach the mission. What I want to emphasize, however, is how the approach to combat now is not just that of using the hands, but finally we begin to glimpse a minimum, we also say almost basic, of technicality. We hope that in the future this aspect will not only be maintained but also expanded, so that the genre can finally evolve. That said, special moves and more are tied to the development of the various characters, who now share a part of the skill tree. This is divided into three segments: one is common for all characters while the other two are specific to the single. Spend Berry and decide which one to develop will be up to you, but the result on screen will still be disruptive.
The growth of the roster, in fact, is perceived as you advance, therefore capable of giving a high degree of satisfaction to the player who will feel satisfied by the efforts made. The careful choice of the moves by the team and how they are applied does nothing but give new stimuli. The special abilities have also been revisited: now you decide which ones to use up to a maximum of four. From this point of view the game is a great tribute to the saga and its narrative arcs, you will see the effects of the development ofKhaki in all its glory, like the growth of all the other supporting actors. What enhances the fighting is also the destructibility of the environment and, if even in this case one could push harder, seeing a building collapse after using the Gom Gom Bazuka manages to give great satisfaction. The maps have been changed compared to the previous chapter, showing that the team is also committed in terms of level design. Some scenarios have been faithfully reproduced this time around, which we are sure will please especially longtime fans.
Crew on boarding!
On a technical level, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is a huge step forward compared to its predecessor, which appeared too lean and subdued from this point of view. The team also worked well on the proportions, making sure to faithfully represent the dimensions of the characters created by Oda. To see Donflamingo or who will have a different effect on him now, punching them will surely give you much more satisfaction. Here, however, we come to a crucial point, which is the difficulty. The title is programmed to do so, even at Normal, you do not encounter particular impediments. In fact, if you pay attention to the development of the crew you will have no problems finishing the title. Some fights will inevitably be more challenging than others, it's up to you to raise the bar of attention. We conclude by talking about the REAL boss fights: in some cases, during the clashes with these great enemies, you will have small platform elements to interact with. Small stuff, of course, but that is still able to give something different to a formula that is already, trite and withdrawn. Some opponents will inevitably galvanize you more than others, maybe a better balance of these moments would have been more welcome.
In conclusion we can say that One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 has been able to give hours of fun and lightheartedness. We must say that it was really nice to find ourselves again entangled in the most excited moments of Oda's work and, now, the time has come to count the days that separate us at the release of the new manga issue. The team tried to enlarge the classic mosou formula, partly succeeding and partly failing. The feeling is that they should have pushed more under the new aspects they have included, rather than simply offering them in a milder version. However, the title as a whole was significantly more convincing than its predecessor, a must buy for fans of the genre and of One Piece.
