Hello friends and gamers,
One Piece is arguably one of the top anime shows of all time. With a jaw-dropping 1000+ episodes under its belt, there are plenty of story concepts to go through in a video game series. I was hesitant about playing One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 because, honestly, I have never seen an episode in my life.
Naruto Fan Club
Naruto is my favorite anime and I have sat through all 400+ episodes of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden at least twice. Played every Naruto Ninja Storm game to have graced my console. Casually caught up with the Boruto show. Enjoyed some video game time on Shinobi Striker. But when it comes to any information about One Piece, I had not a single whiff of a clue.
Thank You, Brother
The only reason I actually tried One Piece Pirate Warriors was because of my brother. At first, I believed the video game was an open-world RPG. As fun as those types of games are right now, I have been a little bogged down by all the recent open-world RPGs haha. My brother told me it was not an RPG though, and that it’s a Warriors game. I felt so stupid because the name did not even register in my brain. It even says Pirate Warriors in the game title!
Warriors Video Game Niche
For some background information, “Warriors” video games are a niche all on their own. You may have heard of Hyrule Warriors, Fire Emblem Warriors, Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and Empire Warriors. Ninety-Nine Nights is also an older game and was the first game I played that fits within this genre. Warriors games are what you would label as strict button mashers. They allow you to spam attacks and wreak havoc without having to use your brain. Absolutely addicting to play after long days of work or torturous school studies.
One Man Army
In these types of action games, you play as commanders on a battlefield across the span of multiple skirmishes. Take charge with a one-man-army attitude. Slice and dice through thousands of enemies. Face off against other tough commanders. Level up skills, combos, and stats to become cream of the crop!
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 has a variety of battlefields and objectives across the main story arcs. Some Warriors games become boring or repetitive because the maps are too similar or there are not enough unique moments on each battlefield. So far, almost every single battle in One Piece Pirates Warriors 4 has had unique objectives or distractions that occur.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Characters & Combat
There are more than 20 playable characters to play for the free mode or treasure mode. Combo attack patterns are similar across all characters which mix light attacks with heavy attacks. Although very simple, this layout is consistent with Warriors games. The design team did put effort into making each combo and ability look different across each character. Every character has their own unique abilities and attack range so that was pretty fun to test out.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Animation
Cutscenes were animated extremely well and the whole reason why I am even writing about the video game for One Piece Pirate Warriors 4! Without ever seeing a single episode, I fully understood the narrative by watching only the cutscenes. Pirate Warriors 4 goes into the Arabasta arc, Enies Lobby arc, Marineford Arc, Dressrosa arc, Whole Cake Island Arc, and Wano Country Arc.
The events leading up to a fierce battle with one of the four pirate emperors, Kaido, were really exciting to WATCH AND PLAY. Just from the brief cutscene segments, there was a lot of character development going on behind the scenes. Robin’s loyalty, Usopp’s friendship, Luffy’s loss of will, and Sanji’s dedication. Simply amazing.
One Piece Anime Show
Thus, from the completion of One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, I have committed to a very long journey. Now I have to watch every episode of One Piece. At this time, I have made it into 25 episodes. Shamefully, I do not understand why it took so long to begin. It’s so good!!
Also, I think a lot of screenshots online are taken out of context to make One Piece look ugly. The characters look just as normal as any other characters drawn in anime shows. Anytime I would see a post about One Piece though, I would see the most “ugly” character shots. Stuff like that, sadly, dissuaded me from watching it a long time ago.
Game Gush!
Thanks for tuning into my Game Gush for the One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 video game! It was a load of super fun! Crack some skulls, level up stats, and repeat the process until time to go to bed. No sweating, no cursing, no brain aneurysms, and no worries! Hakuna Matata, baby!
