One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4

One Piece fans will love this game. Although I have not seen a single episode of One Piece’s anime or read any of the manga, I enjoyed playing it. You don’t need to have a vast knowledge of the One Piece lore to enjoy this game, as the main storyline introduces you to the characters and locations within the One Piece universe. Overall, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it if you enjoy Dynasty Warriors-like games.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is just one of many musou beat'em up, but it is done with competence and will delight One Piece fans.

Pirate Warriors 4 is a game we’ve enjoyed as fans of the franchise, but as a game we feel like it hasn’t improved over its predecessor. If you understand and forgive its shortcomings, you’ll have a great time with it.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 includes plenty of content, a lot of similar content where enjoyment is based on how well people gel with the mindlessly over the top, flashy, fun, combo system that is enhanced through the vast unique character move sets, skill selection and Power Rush mechanics. There are some genuine nice additions to the Warriors combat that gets to shine when characters are levelled up, and I hope these get carried to other entries and built upon. As it stands, this is the best Pirate Warriors to date, once it gets going, but it suffers from the repetitive issues and performance that this series is known for, while taking small, incremental steps to improve with each release.

You could also say that too much of Pirate Warriors 4 is a retread of the three existing games, and as a result fans of One Piece and the previous titles (at this point, who else would even be looking at Pirate Warriors 4) might come away feeling like this doesn't deliver as much new stuff as they'd like. I don't think that's much of an issue, though. The new battlefields, improved combat system, and sheer action that goes on makes it every bit as much fun to run through those battles again, and One Piece has so much character and personality that the antics of Luffy and his crew never seem to get tiring. With that being said... do Gintama next, Koei. We're still waiting.

One Piece fans rejoice, there's a ton here to enjoy. The prospect of getting hands-on as Big Mom, Kaido, and Katakuri then smashing through armies of Samurai on Wano is wonderful. The characters play fantastically, each distinct and diverse, with fantastic realisations of their moves and abilities. The cleaned-up combat system makes for a smoother experience, and many issues have been addressed. That being said, there are some little annoyances that hold it back, such as the key absentees of the roster, and the constantly frustrating camera. For all of its flaws, though, this is a solid Musou title, and a significant step forward beyond Pirate Warriors 3. A must buy for Musou fans. A must buy for One Piece fans. For fans of both an absolute joy.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 struggles to outdo its fantastic predecessor, but it's still great fun to smash through hordes of enemies alongside such a colourful cast of characters. The game's delightful and diverse roster really is its greatest strength, and thanks to an emphasis on building combos, the combat system can be surprisingly rewarding, despite its repetitive nature. The pretty standard story mode will leave non-fans completely lost, but those who enjoy the action will find a near endless supply of it in the title's other offerings.

More of the same, with improved technical aspects and the addition of four player co-op. If you're a fan of the franchise, this game should be right up your alley. If not, you're probably just going to be confused a lot.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 isn’t a groundbreaking game by any means. It is a noticeable step forward for its series as a whole though, and boasts some worthwhile high points and potential that fans of the One Piece series and Musou games alike will be able to appreciate.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is what I look for in a game based on an anime or manga.

With a vast amount of upgrades and a general feeling of rewarding players for their continued commitment, the game is equally clever in not taking advantage of the time players will no doubt invest. It may ultimately result in an iteration that doesn’t claim superiority over its previous forms, but even for those with virtually no care (neither prior nor ever) for the One Piece narrative, the delightful indulgence in the ridiculous is an attractive-enough proposal. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 in the end is another solid argument for, rather than against, the Warriors template of hack-and-slash being lent out to other brands.

Pirate Warriors 4 is the closest game to date to capture the feel of the epic battles from One Piece, although it's dragged down by Omega Force's usual formula and its limitations.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is a great action game with a fun combat and impressive roster, but it's also repetitive and has a poor level design. You will enjoy the game, but is far from the best musou.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is an awful lot of fun, and its conservative design is still a step above what Dynasty Warriors tried to achieve with its last, cursed outing. Those who get a kick out of the mindless action of other musou games should pick this up, particularly if they are already fans of One Piece. It's not a revolution, but a competent and enjoyable hack and slash that will prove more than a worthy distraction.

Pirate Warriors 4 is a rich experience for One Piece's fans, but it doesn't even want to try to come up with something new for the musou genre.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 still offers vast content and loads of fan-service, but overall it feels too similar to the previous games, and suffers from sub-par graphics and technical problems.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 offers the most important arcs of the manga series, along with all the familiar and mandatory features that come with a "musou" game.

Quotation forthcoming.