Reivew: One Piece: Unlimited World Red - Setting Sail for a Big World

One Piece: Unlimited World Red - Setting Sail for a Big World!

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy

Pros:

• Even on handhelds no frame rate drops were present
• Controls are very easy to learn for return players and newcomers
• Players not knowledgeable of One Piece can easily play the title and not feel confused
• Downside of the Wii U version is the 15.5 GB Download - External HD is recommended
• Graphics are amazingly done and stick close to an anime style show
• Online Battle Coliseum is fun, but sadly requires ad-hoc mode
• New Game+ is there and lets players keep all progress aside from chapter completion

Cons:

• For players wanting to platinum, a single-play through will not cut it.
• Game only comes in Japanese voice overs, subtitle reading is a must.
• Cut-scenes to people who just want to play are extremely long

Final Verdict: 7 out of 10

Final Thoughts: As a person who is well versed in the world of anime, I’ve never had the knack to pick up One Piece, until now. Unlimited World Red set up a scenario where I could pick up the title and play. Thankfully, I learned a bit about Luffy and his Straw Hat gang just by playing the title and realized; there’s a lot to enjoy with it. For anyone who wants to have some fun, this title is one of those thanks to large maps, plenty of zones to explore, and rather fun DLC that is available for consumers to purchase.

What little I knew of One Piece was this for sure. The game was about pirates, a rubbery one by the name of Monkey D. Luffy, and his notorious band of silly pirates that tag along with him. I knew the series referenced famous pirates, but namely; Blackbeard. The part I wasn’t expecting was the amount of humor Bandai Namco keeps around with the series that has kept me entertained for hours on end so far. I don’t mean just a few hours, we’re talking almost twenty-three hours of laughs, and that’s not even having come close to platinuming the title! In One Piece Unlimited World Red, we are given a chance to see a Pirate by the name of Red. He’s what I would consider a true pain in the rear as we get to see him and his companion Pato join the cast of characters created by Eiichiro Oda. 

Within the first twenty minutes, players will get to experience the beat-em-up brawler type element the game has laced deep within the RPG leveling up that sits inside of the game. Luckily this is something that is done quite well and won’t have players flicking through menus in order to distribute stats. Instead players get to dig through “crafted words” and “item words”. Thesecrafted words and item words can be leveled up by the ‘Poet’. Through leveling up words through the poet; players will get to use more powerful traits regarding their health, attack, defense, and abilities. This is something I noticed that became more and more evident through later missions as enemies began to hit harder, attack in larger groups, and overall become more difficult to take down. 

When it comes to battling there is something rather interesting to be said about it as players will become acquainted with jumping, attacking, and setting up combos in order to perform breakers and rushes. These breakers and rushes, once used to performing, will make players more efficient against enemies with shields or ones that are just hard to knock down in general. Thankfully there is an ability set players can use by filling up the SP bar, which will all them to perform abilities such as Luffy’s ‘Gum Gum Ironfist” and knock enemies across the map like rag dolls. Others such as Nani will use her staff and embu it with lightning and smack enemies who are in her attacks path. Players can also use up all their energy SP in order to combine the total power of their entire group in an attempt to dispatch hordes of enemies or a single boss. These are just a few examples of what is possible as they play each of the members that are available within Monkey D. Luffy’s Straw-hat Pirate Gang. 

Outside of combat; there is a lot to do. Players can take their time, explore a rather large open world, and even take on side quests to earn a bit more coin within the title. They can also take on the possibility of farming the materials they will need to upgrade their portside village. By doing this, players will have access to larger shops, more powerful items to obtain, and even the possibility of better custom words to use. This is something players should consider greatly during each play through or their only one. 

When expanding the village there is an option that becomes available; minigames. These mini-games vary from collecting balloons around the port before time runs out, matching up tiles for who is a pirate and who isn't, to simply doing a blindfold plank walk off the side of a boat. These types of mini-games can give players a bit of amusement outside of their main objectives or side objectives for quite some time. The rewards do vary based on medals earned and can be rare resources players may or may not need in order to expand the port. Don’t forget that character words can be hidden within each map and can only be found there.

When it comes to how massive this game was, I had to get my hands on both the PS Vita and 3DS versions since we knew how the Wii U and PS3 versions would perform. The handheld versions performed right up there with their console counterparts. Each of these versions performed flawlessly with no frame rate hiccups, graphic changes, or even draw-in’s occurring. This means the game performs on handheld just like it does on console, and will not disappoint players, in the least. However, thanks to consoles having bigger controllers, it made it a bit easier to play, for long periods of time. If you can manage the handheld versions for more than a few hours at a time, this game is right up your alley, and the PS Vita version does allow for cross-saving so that players can access their saved files at any given time. The downside of the 3DS version of this title is immaculate, but unfortunate, it does not take advantage of the stereoscopic 3D like one would think. 

For those wondering, One Piece Unlimited World Red is definitely worth every dime spent as it features the original Japanese voice cast, original anime-like graphics, and almost endless gameplay. Thanks to even the co-op based Battle Coliseum that can be done via local only multiplayer, this game is very, very far from short, and will give players hundreds of hours, of gameplay, as long as they have friends with the title nearby.