E3 2015: ‘One Piece Pirate Warriors 3’ Continues To Prove That ‘Dynasty Warriors’ Makes Everything Awesome.

Look, if you’ve played any of the One Piece Pirate Warriors games, you don’t need me to tell you what to expect. Even if you haven’t, but played anything from Hyrule Warriors to Dynasty Warriors, this upcoming game based on the insanely popular manga series is going to be more of the same. With that said, this is far from a bad thing, since it’s been proven time and time again that the wackiness of Luffy, his crew, and his enemies lends itself quite well to destroying hundreds of enemies at a time. Promising to be a bigger, more realized version of the entire One Piece experience, our hands-on time showed that it’s on a path to do just that.

As you would expect from any type of Warriors game, this 3D beat em up will have you choosing from one of the many characters introduced across the hundreds of episodes One Piece has aired. Covering everything from when Luffy first set sail from Fushia Village to the latest story arc in Dressrosa, and told through a 3D comic book/cell shaded hybrid visual style, it’s safe to say that you’re going to be playing this for a VERY long time.

Naturally, all of this story content is amplified by the huge amount of people, (and reindeer,) you’ll be able to take down entire armies with. From the main crew consisting of Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, Nami and the like, all the way through Shanks and Ace, and new characters like Sabo, Donquixote, Doflamingo and Fujitora, you’ll never have a time where you feel like the game is too short on characters. If one isn’t enough, you can even take a partner with you into battle, triggering screen clearing special and double team attacks when the right conditions have been met. Did you expect anything different from an anime title?

As you progress, the main goal is to travel across the map and capture bases, which usually involved beating down waves of enemies until a boss shows up. Objectives change as the game progresses, with the hopes of keeping the repetitiveness to a minimum. Even then, if you’re a One Piece fan, (and seriously, what are the chances you’d be reading this if you weren’t,) then it’ll be its own reward to see your favorite characters on screen, using their insane abilities to do what they do best. And based on the episode count, it’s definitely fighting, not actually finding treasure.

If you’re not a fan of these kinds of games, it’s not likely that Pirate Warriors 3 will change your mind. However, if you love the anime, love beat em ups, or love games with a ton of content, then this latest One Piece title is shaping up to be worth setting sail for. Make sure to stay tuned as more details emerge, and be sure to check back for all your gaming coverage!

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is set for a Summer release on the PS3, PS4 and Steam.