Dynasty Warriors games are well known for following a strict gameplay formula. However, in recent tie-in titles like Hyrule Warriors and Dragon Quest Heroes, more and more innovation has been brought in to augment the core gameplay in interesting ways. This is not so for One Piece Pirate Warriors 3, however.
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There are no adventure stages—like in the original Pirate Warriors game—to mix up the game play, nor are there any of the other major additions to the Dynasty Warriors formula like the tower defense-style monster summoning system of Dragon Quest Heroes. As far as the general gameplay goes, Pirate Warriors 3 might as well have been made in 2001.
During this time, every enemy defeated drops bonus cash (which can be used to level up characters), and you can end the summoning at any time by performing a devastating team-up super attack. Moreover, if you summon a different partner each chance you get to summon, all previously summoned characters will also be summoned—as well as lend their own special attacks to the team-up special attack.
While Pirate Warriors 2 had its own original plot, Pirate Warriors 3, like the first game, follows the plot of the manga—starting at Luffy’s first adventure and moving all the way up to the current Dressrosa arc. The game is chock-full of per-rendered and animated manga cutscenes with fully-voiced character conversations to flesh out the story of each level. There are also several extra optional objectives in each level that reward you for following the source material’s story in your Pirate Warriors battle.
However, once you beat the mission in story mode, you are able to play with any character you have unlocked in the game’s “Free Mode.” Of course, to unlock most of the characters, you need to play the game’s “Dream Mode”—a mode that contains no plot and is little more than a series of battles. It’s a bit of busywork, in all honesty.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 is an incredibly run-of-the-mill Dynasty Warriors game with little in the way of innovation. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The combat itself plays well and, if you’re looking to experience yet another retelling of the One Piece story, this game may be for you. Just don’t expect anything more than that.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 was released in Japan on March 26, 2015, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. It is scheduled for a Western release in August 2015.
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