Making its debut on the PlayStation 4 for the first time, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 takes advantage of the hardware from the get-go. The opening demo we saw at Bandai Namco’s Global Gamers Day showed how smoothly the anime translated into action. Much along the same lines as Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, but a bit more playful, the cel shaded textures of the players involved look a helluva lot more crisp and clean in comparison to last generation’s look. The animation is smooth, concise with the fighting and jaw dropping, yet playful, at times. One of the more proud boasts during the demo was how there can be 200 onscreen enemies at one time without a hitch in the game’s getup. It was impressive to see in motion.
On top of this, and something that usually is an afterthought to most Dynasty Warriors titles, the environments built for the battles weren’t lifeless placeholders. The level we saw was based in a very detailed mountain area that contained a lovely waterfall. The area had nice textured hills, so it felt like…you know…an environment. It did have that One Piece cartoony style to it, as did the enemies who resided in the area. There’s nothing quite like seeing an enemy mock you by slapping their own ass.
I digress, the environments look like there was a lot of love and effort put into making the third game in the series into something more than DW. It’s certainly a good looking game to debut the series on the PS4.
On the actual gameplay side of the equation, you do get that same button-mashing feel that comes with all DW games. Multi-button functionality that results in over-the-top action is ever present in One Piece Pirate Warriors 3. One neat addition to this particular release is the inclusion of a four player special attack combination. Seeing 200+ enemies die at once as a result of this attack is something to behold. Easy-to-pull-off combos are what makes this Dynasty Warriors engine run well. For example, my six-year old son loves the DW series because there is a lot of instant action and the controls are simple. It’s truly built for everyone and that DW gameplay legacy comes firmly embedded with One Piece Pirate Warriors 3.
Other points of interest with this title:
– There are 37 characters in this game, though you can’t play them all through the story mode (that would be a lot of stories). You can play them in a mode called Dream Log. The DL mode contains 82 missions, though they are shorter than what you would find in story mode.
– There is PS4/PS3 offline/online co-op in the game. Splitscreen drives offline.
– The PC version of this game has only offline co-op, though the developers said that online is currently being explored.
– The game contains a new shading system for the PS4 version, which helps to maintain the authenticity of the anime. It does a great job of doing just that in the game.
Having said all this, I tried this myself in a quick 10-15 minute demo (that’s how long it lasted). It was right on par with every DW game, but obviously more playful and loose because of how the anime is portrayed. One big thing, at least for me, is that the upgrade in visuals, added personalities from the show and how everything was treated on the PS4 seemed less stiff from other Dynasty Warriors experiences.
We’ll see how this works out in the Fall when it arrives, though. Until then, just have some hope for it.