ONE PIECE: UNLIMITED WORLD RED DELUXE EDITION

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The adventure that follows is full-on shōnen fun, & carries all the action, plot twists, và old friends và foes you’d expect from a piece of the One Piece plotline, but it also comes with a caveat: Unlimited World Red assumes you’re already a tín đồ of the series, & doesn’t vì chưng much to catch newcomers up to lớn speed. While it’s not really much of an issue in terms of the story — sure, you won’t appreciate returning foes or catch every reference, but it’s not difficult to lớn follow — it’s still a shame, because much of the appeal of this decades-long series is in its characters and worldbuilding, và without so much as an introduction khổng lồ the crew that appeal will be largely lost on new players.

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Still, even without any backstory, the gameplay loop is immediately accessible: you’ll begin your adventures in the island’s centre of Transtown — a brightly coloured hub area — & then warp off to self-contained levels from there. You’ll start by rescuing your kidnapped companions, but once you get the gang back together you’ll be able to lớn choose your adventuring party — of up khổng lồ three members at a time — before you head out, và then make your way through each stage in succession.

The levels themselves are relatively straightforward jaunts through extraordinary settings, characterized by groups of baddies to beat up, loot khổng lồ grab, resources to lớn gather, and bosses to challenge. The bosses are real highlights of each stage — while the mob foes that line the route towards them are mostly unmemorable, these end-level enemies come with plenty of personality, cutscene introductions, & satisfying attack patterns that made us excited to lớn face each one.

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Once you bởi vì best a quái nhân you’ll be whisked back lớn Transtown, và you can use the spoils & treasures brought back khổng lồ improve and expand the hub. You’ll build restaurants, pharmacies, taverns and more, & these xuất hiện up everything from thành quả shops to quests, which in turn send you back out into the wild. It’s a classic, compelling game play loop, & Transtown itself an enjoyable hub — there’s plenty to see và do, và Luffy’s impossibly long arms letting you zoom around from point lớn point like a Straw Hat Spider Man is one of our favourite modes of locomotion in recent memory.

Luffy"s lithe limbs aren’t the only unique character point in Unlimited World, & part of what makes the beat-‘em-up chơi game feel both unique và satisfying is how differently each character plays. Luffy’s long-range punches and kicks have a lasso-like feel, while Zorro’s straightforward swordplay is the most reminiscent of standard kích hoạt heroes. Nami fights with a staff, but also has the power to lớn control the weather, which means placing clouds and juggling foes with zoning techniques. Resident not-a-racoon Chopper shapeshifts all over the place, from a rampaging reindeer to lớn an impossibly buff tank, & Robin attacks from the ground by raising human hands out of the soil.


And while these character traits vì chưng lead to appreciably different play styles — we tended khổng lồ run Zorro as a rushdown character while setting up traps & controlling space with Nami, for instance — the controls remain blessedly consistent between them, which means it’s always easy to lớn switch off. ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are used for two different basic attacks across the board, with long-presses resulting in variants, and combinations of the two leading to lớn character-specific combos. You can switch between your three teammates on the fly with a press of the ‘-‘ button, as well as initiate special moves and tag-team partner attacks by holding ‘R’ and tapping a face button — these drain an SP meter, but it recharges quickly enough that you’ll almost always have the nguồn for at least one.

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In fact, ‘having the power’ is the general theme of combat in One Piece; though you’ll often find yourself outnumbered, you’ll almost never feel overpowered. It’s a bit on the easy side in general, with mob enemies slow to lớn act and little match for Luffy & friends’ special moves, and the presence of almost constant counter opportunities — with a quick press of the ‘A’ button in a forgiving time frame — cuts their danger màn chơi down even further. It’s also worth noting that Unlimited World Red has some of the most competent teammate AI we’ve seen in an kích hoạt game — khổng lồ the point where we spent one fight just wandering around enjoying the view, & still came out on top.

Normally that might be a bit of dealbreaker, but the lack of danger (outside the more challenging quái dị fights) doesn’t stop Unlimited World from being a lot of fun. Much of that is due to lớn the vibrant, pop-off-the-screen style & the gorgeous aesthetic — between the visuals, the Japanese voice acting and the excellent orchestral soundtrack, it really does feel like an anime come to lớn life — but it’s also thanks to fast, satisfying combat and a system that seems to lean hard into making the player feel good. You’ll feel lượt thích an overpowered, rampaging pirate king, and that’s as fun as it sounds.


In other areas, the trò chơi falls down on this smooth sense of style, unfortunately; the camera is decent, for instance, but can be a bit unwieldily và too zoomed-in for comfort, and transitions between không tính phí and fixed camera control often led to lớn awkward moments of reorientation. Then there’s the ‘Strong Word’ system, which lets you customize your characters with new moves và stat bonuses tied khổng lồ catch phrases; we love the theme of these boosts being linked lớn incantations, but the fact that they essentially just act lượt thích well-named items feels like a missed opportunity — we would have loved to lớn have seen them pop up on screen (or at least be uttered!) when invoked.

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And finally, while the levels are visually impressive — và much more thematically distinctive than the island setting might lead you to lớn believe at first glance! — the level design itself feels uninspired. Whether it’s desert sands, the insides of a volcano, or an above-water reef, you’ll still trek forward through a series of remarkably same-y open-air corridors & arenas on the way to lớn a boss. There’s also almost always a bit of backtracking involved in each level, and though character-specific abilities make return exploration more interesting, having lớn hike back halfway across the maps just to lớn pick up a newly-minted key and hike back is less fun.


Of course, all this was true in the Wii U và 3DS versions of the game; how does this enhanced Switch version stack up? Pretty similarly, as it turns out. The ‘Deluxe Edition’ moniker refers to the inclusion here of all previously-paid DLC, though we expect that will only mean much to the most fanatic of fans. It consists of a handful of costumes and a series of extra quests, but aside from the excellent ‘15th anniversary’ collection, the outfits aren’t too exciting, and generally kết thúc up being less colourful và appealing than the characters’ default clothes. It’s certainly nice to have, but we also imagine that most players this DLC would make a difference to lớn will have already played the game on a previous platform.

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The trò chơi does run wonderfully on the Switch, however, in beautifully smooth 60 frames-per-second — aside from cutscenes, which are locked at a lower rate — & the hybrid handheld-home-console nature of the system fits the game (almost) perfectly; we loved being able to see the beautiful art and vibrant colours on the big screen, but the relatively quick levels & fast kích hoạt also make for great on-the-go gaming. The one qualm we have specific to lớn the Switch version is that the lack of a second screen is surprisingly keenly felt; we found ourselves diving into the thực đơn to kiểm tra the mini-map frequently for goal markers, while the 3DS version kept us informed without having to lớn pause.

The Switch version makes up for its single screen with its built-in two controllers, however; this version features drop-in co-op with single Joy nhỏ controls, và it’s a killer feature. You can switch the game over into two-player mode at any time in the menu, and then a second player can drop in or out with the press of a button. The screen splits into two smaller widescreen views arranged diagonally, và while it’s a bit small in tabletop mode, on a big enough screen it’s pretty perfect. The controls work surprisingly well mapped onto one Joy bé as well; the only issue is having to lớn shake lớn centre the camera, but we’ll take some occasional camera confusion if it means getting khổng lồ team up with a friend — the action beat-‘em-up chơi game is a perfect fit for co-op.


Conclusion

Not much has changed since its Wii U và 3DS days, but Unlimited World Red is still a swashbuckling good time for anime action aficionados. The handful of extra quests and costumes included in this ‘Deluxe Edition’ probably won’t be enough lớn tempt anyone into double (or triple) dipping, but excellent visuals & drop-in co-op with single Joy nhỏ controls make the Switch version a great place lớn jump in. It’s a shame that there isn’t more of an effort to lớn introduce Oda’s incredible world to lớn players unfamiliar with the manga source material, but if you’re already a Straw Hat supporter this is an easy recommendation.

Good 7/10

Scoring PolicyReview copy provided by Bandai Namco


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Comments (26)


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Wed 27th Sep 2017

MIght double dip just for the co-op, single joy cons feature.


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Wed 27th Sep 2017

Ill double dip too, despite never having watched a single episode of the anime. Every time I think about it, I realize there are thousands of episodes và I shy away, despite quite enjoying the whole zaniness of the series.

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Wed 27th Sep 2017

I feel like all those anime games, you need lớn be a fan hâm mộ of the source material khổng lồ fully enjoy. Hence why I bought Fate/Extella & Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on Switch but have no plan to lớn buy this one, as I never got into One Piece.


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Wed 27th Sep 2017

Didn"t get this on Wii U as i wasn"t a fan of the series yet, but now that I watched most of the anime it"s definitely a must buy for Switch. Love getting a second chance on games I missed out on + them being portable now.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

Watched a comparison video clip of this và the Wii U version and they"ve done a wonderful job with this version, I may have khổng lồ get it,


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I picked this up on 3DS (and Wii U) on various sales, & recently downloaded this from the Japanese eShop due to lớn a 10% introductory discount making it about £30; and I"ll be honest - if you played either version of the original game extensively, the bump up to a glorious 60fps in both handheld and TV modes is super noticeable in a good way. Like, the trò chơi was clearly designed for 30fps locked, but playing it in 60 makes the kích hoạt considerably faster & considerably more fluid to the point that I"d argue, if the price is right lớn you, this justifies a double-dip.

If you"re a fan hâm mộ of One Piece and have somehow avoided this game to date, you owe it to yourself to buy this version; especially due khổng lồ the addition of single-system co-op và the bump in framerate.


Nolan420 I would guess the xbox adverts that you"re seeing are dynamic personalised adverts based on your browsing history. You can opt out of personalised ads in your settings.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I think I"ll have lớn wait for a price cut. Too many high quality games coming out the next few months.

I would like to play it though, it sounds lượt thích silly fun. Not khổng lồ mention, I love One Piece.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I bought this one when it released on the Japanese Eshop (it included english already) I was able lớn get this new and improved version with all dlc for the price of all the DLC I hadn"t bought on the PS3 version. It"s a double dip that I"ve enjoyed so far. But it is mostly the same trò chơi so I can understand why some people might skip it.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I played this on the Vita... Good portable trò chơi - lots of fun. It is just overpriced on the Switch.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

As big One Piece tín đồ i am not confinced by this trò chơi yet, 60 bucks is allot for this game. I enjoyed Pirate warriors 1 till 3 allot, that would be a instant buy for me on the Switch! But with Fire eblem warriors coming soon I dont see that happening anytime soon


SLIGEACH_EIRE stating the obvious doesn"t change the forward trend (it will keep happening), also it"s a PS3 port khổng lồ the PS4, so...


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I"m not a tín đồ of One Piece, although my friends and brother-in-law all swear by it, & I have season one still wrapped up from Christmas, but don"t have the desire, however I love the look of this game, và am curious to play it, just not sure I"m willing to invest in the show.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

I love the cel shaded cartoon visuals shown above. This might be a good pickup on sale for some nice, relaxing beat em up type action. Not a life-changing game but a solid addition to lớn our “AA” or “A” roster of well-programmed games.


Wed 27th Sep 2017

Have this preordered. Then the day after it releases is the SNES classic. đứng top that off with all the games I"m getting on the eshop và I"m going to lớn be very busy.


Thu 28th Sep 2017

One Piece is the never ending, always popular "shonen" boys anime in Japan. This series began before Naruto, Bleach and Fairy Tail, & if the tác giả was serious about only being about 60% done with the story, then it will well outlast it"s biggest direct rivals too.

This game is meant for the fans, I am sure they"ll enjoy it.


Thu 28th Sep 2017

Totally buying this a second time, after trying to enjoy it on the 3DS, faulty C nub just makes it hard khổng lồ enjoy as much. Probably buying this next month though, to many other games coming out this week alone, and i already bought one other anime trò chơi this month so its all good.


Drac_Mazoku Funnily enough I got Fate/Extella & Dragonball XV2 without having experienced anything from their franchises (yes, I have not watched even rồng Ball Z) but Unlimited World Red on the Wii U got me into One Piece!