One Piece: Unlimited World Red

 Wii U
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 48
  3. Negative: 8 out of 48
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  1. ricklongo
    Sep 9, 2014
    7
    The One Piece series is one of the most popular manga and anime franchises of all time, and Unlimited World Red capitalizes on that with an eclectic mixture of exploration, brawling, city-building and storytelling easter eggs.

    An island city serves as the main gameplay hub. Here you get to walk around, talk to citizens and (most importantly) help develop the town. As you collect    The One Piece series is one of the most popular manga and anime franchises of all time, and Unlimited World Red capitalizes on that with an eclectic mixture of exploration, brawling, city-building and storytelling easter eggs.

    An island city serves as the main gameplay hub. Here you get to walk around, talk to citizens and (most importantly) help develop the town. As you collect materials on the various missions, you get to build new stores to expand the services available in the city, which in turn provide you with new materials and gameplay advantages. It's a fun little time sink that will entertain you and give you an incentive to revisit missions, but it is hampered a bit by the inexcusable lack of a map display on the gamepad (meaning you'll be pausing the game a lot to even know where everything is located).

    The missions themselves vary in size and fun factor, but they're always brawling-heavy action segments based on previous One Piece storylines, with famous enemies as stage-end bosses. It's a shame that they're not seamlessly connected to the main hub, instead taking the form of self-contained stages. Before each of them, you choose three characters out of the Straw Hat crew; the existence of character-specific spots on each stage adds a bit of backtrack value. There's a lot of button-mashing involved, but also an interesting combo system where you get stronger if you're able to hit enemies with specific combinations.

    The overarching plot should be understandable for the uninitiated (or to the barely initiated, like myself), but it's pretty clear that fans of the series are the ones who will take the most out of the experience. Overall, it's nothing to write home about, but the general writing does feature quite a few humorous remarks. The graphics aren't the crispest ever, but still offer a pleasant cel-shaded aesthetic.

    The game does suffer from some poor design choices, resulting on an overabundance of forgettable content. For example: there are loads of mini-games, specific gameplay mechanics and side missions, but half of them are a drag to see through. For completionists who like to see everything a game has to offer, be aware that this will severely clog your gameplay time with boring sections; I'd definitely advise you to stick with city exploration and ingredient hunts to scratch that side-content itch.

    Unlimited World Red is a competent game. It's likely it won't wow many people (except for die-hard fans of the series, maybe), but it offers a pleasant way to get your brawling adventure fix.

    Rating: 7.0    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

33
#33 Best Wii U Game of 2014
35
#35 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2014
16
#16 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Worth Playing
    Sep 17, 2014
    70
    One Piece: Unlimited World Red is good. Although the combat is quite messy when facing waves of normal enemies, the excitement of the boss fights more than makes up for it.
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  2. Official Nintendo Magazine UK
    Aug 8, 2014
    65
    A robust package that oozes colour and charm, but lacks the variety necessary to maintain excitement and appeal beyond its dedicated fan base. [Sept 2014, p.88]
  3. GamingTrend
    Aug 1, 2014
    75
    It’s more than a step in the right direction, it’s a big jump forward and can be engaging and fun for the right people, but it’s still not the well-polished and considerate creation the franchise needs to really make an impression on the videogame market.
    Read full review
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