Review for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4. Game for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation Vita, The release is scheduled: 2020
The moment of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 has finally come, and on time it also arrives our review his version for PS4 console. By now Bandai Namco has become an authority when it comes to tie-ins. This year has already given us two great emotions with the release of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and the announcement of the video game dedicated to our beloved favorites Holly and Benji, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions.
Not content, it gives other emotions, addressing the fans of the bizarre crew led by the incorrigible Monkey D. Luffy. Bandai Namco relies, as always, on the award-winning company Koei Tecmo e Omega Force team, historical developers of the series since the first chapter, released 8 years ago.
The choice to rely on their wise and capable hands is conveyed by the goal and gameplay of the video game. When it comes to musou, in fact, Koei Tecmo and Team W Force are synonymous with quality (Dynasty Warriors docet). Once again, therefore, we will sail the seas of adventure, retracing, to the sound of "combo", the most important moments of the saga conceived by Eichiro Oda.
Get ready and set sail with One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, following the course plotted by our review for PS4 consoles.
A pinch of vitality to the gameplay
Let's start our review of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 by talking to you about the meta and gameplay of the game, key concepts of this long series of video games. The great criticism that has always been advanced against the saga is the inability to know how to renew.
Leaving aside the first chapter, released in 2012 and which represented, at the time, an element of novelty, the following two chapters left something to be desired. Basically, except for small interventions, there has not been much new and original compared to the main title. They were mosou, new generation brawlers, where you can beat everyone who came within range, unleashing special and spectacular shots.
The moves, the characters, the settings and the stories changed which, although faithful to the original plot of the manga, they could no longer surprise and amaze. Honestly, we are a bit fan of the adventures of the straw hat crew, on the other hand, who is who is not. Before being fans, however, we are gamers and our judgment has been burned by these negative videogame experiences.
From the first moments of gameplay, however, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 makes it clear that it has taken only the good that has been done in the past, navigating to a new route.
The developers have created greater dynamism and involvement in the frenetic combat sessions, making part of the scenario destructible. It seems silly but we can assure you that this new feature deserves. Depending on where we are in the story, the members of the crew will receive special boosts of their skills.
For example, on the island of Enies Lobby, Monkey D. Luffy will show off the "second gear", able to temporarily increase the damage dealt. In addition to these improvements on the combat front, in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 there are some interesting RPG contaminations.
They aren't all that much for, but they integrate seamlessly with the game's meta and gameplay. If you remember, in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 coins were introduced and were used to build s and bonds between the characters. Depending on the affinity level of the group created, special moves and abilities were unlocked.
In this new chapter this system is not present and is replaced by a reimagined skill tree in navigation map style. The developers, therefore, introduce in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 the character growth map, Where each island represents a character improvement. Upgrades affect character stats, abilities (special and normal), traits, and play style in general.
Mosou, a genre that screams for help
We want to spend a few words in our review of the PS4 version of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 to tell you about musou, the genre to which the new title of Bandai Namco belongs. The literal translation of the term mosou means "he who has no rivals". The terminology is enough by itself to imagine the meta and the gameplay that comes with it.
These are not, however, the simple "blind blows", emphasized by the combo counter that increases dramatically, but there are very specific rules to respect. The time that passes inexorably, the zones to be liberated, the conditions of defeat and victory, the main and secondary missions and the treasures to discover: these are all things that you will find in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4.
Your performance will be evaluated at the end of the internship with a score in letters where the "S" represents the highest grade obtainable. This vote, however, no longer remains an end in itself and it is here that Koei Tecmo and Team Omega Force elaborate a brilliant idea. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 comes with a RPG-style character growth system.
As the story progresses, the various characters chosen will grow into power, defense, resistance e ability. To operate the various upgrades, coins are used (those that in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 were used to build s) in the "growth areas" where we are lacking. Little by little all members of the crew become stronger and stronger, ready for the ultimate challenge. Kaido is ready to test our willpower and see if we deserve the title of "Pirate King".
Those who have no rivals
Another interesting feature inserted by the developers in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is the presence of a multiplayer component. As far as the mosou genus is one perfect ego contest, where the main goal is to always improve, sharing it with someone else was a great idea.
Obviously it is a choice that everyone can make, that of replacing fellow NPCs with real players, but we can assure you that the fun factor gains significantly.
And so here is that the mosou is projects in a new direction, that of a sharing of common objectives, united under a single common denominator: Those who have no rivals. No longer alone against everyone, but together against all. The "solitary" experience that we have always experienced in the One Piece: Pirate Warrior saga, and which, over time, expired in the repetitive, becomes an old memory.
The videogame adventures of the Monkey D. Luffy crew are projected, therefore, towards a next-gen experience, ready for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. We just need to understand if it will be a port or a new episode of the series. One way or another we will be ready.
Following the directions on the map drawn from our review of the PS4 version of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 we arrived at our destination. When we talk about Bandai Namco we talk about tie-in and fan-service games, video games strongly inspired by anime and manga and very well reproduced. It must be said that, however, they are dedicated to an exclusive market, that of fans of the genre and of the subject matter. The One Piece: Pirate Warrior saga was beginning to give worrying signals given the disappointing releases of the second and third installments of the series. The fourth, inevitably, had to reverse this worrying trend and, in our opinion, has succeeded. This time it is not the usual “copy and paste” of meta and gameplay, seasoned with original narrative injections. The straw hat crew will amuse you with an innovative co-op MMORPG experiment, a mosou with the typical components of an RPG. Your characters, while they enjoy "giving her a good reason", will improve their stats and grow in perfect RPG style. If you want, you can share the game experience with other players like you, proving that you are "those who have no rivals". Have fun crew.
► One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is an Action-Musou-Adventure type game developed by Koei Tecmo and published by Bandai Namco for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation Vita, The release is scheduled: 2020
