If you’re a fan of the anime, then you know what’s going on when you first start One Piece: Burning Blood. You’ve probably invested emotional collateral into the show and will be primed and ready to kick the Marine’s asses to save Luffy’s brother Ace from certain execution from the beginning. Seems legit when it starts and apparently it follows along the story of One Piece’s Paramount War (cool name for a war, wish I knew more about it). From what I gathered, it’s a very intense and emotional war that will certainly keep the interest of fans of the series, while making it intriguing for the rest of us (I was personally emotionally touched a bit when Ace bites it — spoiler alert…too late). The setup was pretty fun, the payoff was amazing/fast-paced and I’m sure that it would have been better had I known what the hell was going on without looking it up online.
Disclaimer: If I’m wrong about anything here, it’s because I’ve never followed the anime other than names. Before you pass judgment on me, just keep in mind that my focus is on the game and its design. I’m far more interested in how the controls work, what gameplay variety is offered and how things look, then I am about the continuity of the anime.
Having said that, let’s get started with gameplay by talking about the modes, which are the life blood of OPBB. Here’s what to expect out of the overall game:
The Paramount War: Multi-chapter tale of the Paramount War storyline that is both intense and full of good things to keep the fighting interesting. It was neat to see an incorporated, yet detailed story full of grounded emotion that existed in a non-game environment (aka the anime), rather than something made up solely for the game. The war covers multiple points via chapters that lead up to big time fights with active surroundings and such. It’s a good mode in the game that keeps the motivation flowing through an interesting storyline.
Pirate Flag Battle: Another form of fighting, but this time more representative of the show and its fans. Go up against other fighters, flag against flag. This is a more team oriented method of play that keeps up with a faction versus faction type scenario. I liked this for the most part, but felt like it was sort of repeating other modes, which we have yet to talk about. You can play this online or offline.
Online Battle: Go up against other online players and see how good (or bad) you are. The latter being my case. Online battles are probably the driving point of this title and people looking for this are going to be quite happy with the final results.
Free Battle: Single or multiplayer battles. Build and fight as you choose.
Wanted Versus: This is the portion of the game that allows you to go 10 rounds with pairs of fighters and bring them to justice. Driven by wanted posters, and through letter-based rankings on how you did in each fight, this portion of the game is short and sweet. Sometimes tough as nails. You basically fight your way through each wanted pair until you reach the end. Nice rewards await those who do well.
What you get in terms of modes isn’t bad, but it does leave one a bit hungrier for something beyond just fighting. That’s not to say that there isn’t enough here to keep it interesting, but it needed just another big offering in modes that allows players to take a true break from button mashing fighting mania. I would have loved to see a true adventure added, but I get why they wanted to stick to the fighting theme. It’s a quick experience that keeps the high sensation value up through the ceiling.
Now, in the technical gameplay category, the fighting and controls are so much more refined than in previous One Piece attempts. Spike Chunsoft made the controls easy enough for the younger fans to get into the game and good enough where not too much repetition can be accounted for by adults. My biggest complaint with the last One Piece game I reviewed, Pirate Warriors 3, had me pulling out my hair in the control department. The game was made so incredibly uninteresting because fighting with the controls was part of the gameplay battle (hint: it shouldn’t be). This time around Spike Chunsoft took a page out of their own J-Stars Victory VS+ title and made everything seamless. Kudos to them for nailing this portion of the fighting, but not very surprising considering their history.
Another big plus for One Piece: Burning Blood is the imaginative and active environments that surround the fighting ring. The level design for this fighting game is impressive, especially the girth of the fighting area, though that depends on the story situation (fighting on a ship makes for limited space). I did visually enjoy jumping into a fight and seeing in the background tons of fighting going on around, see the Paramount War stages for examples. Lots of life and a real sense of being a part of something hectic and war-esque (thus the name, right?).
Complimenting the environments are the cel-shaded characters that look like they jumped straight out of the anime. Plenty of personality, wonderful visual compliments to the show and not much to complain about when it comes to bringing fans into the game through stunning visuals. It feels like you’re controlling the show, which is impressive in this day and age of gaming. If the visuals weren’t enough, the voice overs from Japanese actors/actresses (unsure if they’re the same folks from the show, but Im sure they are) drove home the authenticity of the One Piece license. Visuals and acting were home runs from Spike Chunsoft in this game. They truly brought the goods and those goods made you feel like you’re part of the One Piece universe.
While it’s easy to say that visuals and characters, and even story to an extent, really made this title good, the gameplay seems to have a reoccurring element of ‘just a fighting game’ to it, rather than to make this an epic adventure with fighting a part of it. I honestly wanted a bit more depth to the overall package, as it would have made it a gorgeous purchase. As it stands, the fighting is in nearly every aspect of gameplay and after a while that gets a bit old. The large character list certainly helps keep the value up a bit, but if you’re looking for a deeper gameplay package that offers up fighting, adventure and maybe some role playing game elements, then you might have to keep searching. If you’re looking for a solid fighting experience that drives home that point over and over again, then welcome to something stunning.
It all depends on your expectations. Anyway, onto the summary!
