Short Version: It’s good, but not great. Its pretty much Pokken Tournament with One Piece characters. It contains all the fan service you are expecting out of a One Piece game, but don’t expect anything super complex in terms of fighting. This is very much a game where you can play intelligently, but it inherently favors style or substance. If you’re interested, go into it knowing that.
Long Version: Just like many anime fans out there, I always think it’s a cool thing to see your favorite anime series have their own game, in which you can play as your favorite characters and see them in action. Most of the time, people are satisfied with just seeing references and pieces of fan service in these games, while others seek for faithfulness of the source material along with a competent gameplay experience. One Piece: Burning Blood seems to want to cater to both, with gameplay that has the potential to be complex, but ultimately falls flat in favor of flashy visuals that appeal to a more casual audience; preferring to watch Luffy go into Fourth Gear instead of actually thinking about what they are doing during a fight.
Set Sail Once Again
For people that don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, let me give you a brief summary. One Piece is an incredibly popular manga and anime series about pirates, one of which is named Monkey D. Luffy, who wishes to become king of the pirates. Him, along with his many friends embarks on a journey to fulfill that goal. In this world, there are things called Devil Fruits. When you eat one of them, you are given super powers such as turning into some natural element, being able to transform into an animal or a variety of other insane powers that you have to see to believe.
I felt the necessity of explaining that, since the game makes no effort in introducing people to the general world and lore of One Piece. Alongside that issue, the game also has a very short story mode that only covers one particular story arc, featuring a measly 4-6 characters out of the many, many others you’ll be able to play as in other modes. This mode, although it boasts some very nice looking cutscenes, feels crummy at best. Every mission is introduced with a small slide show with images from the anime, and then it changes to the 3D rendered cutscenes that end up getting recycled various times throughout the different episodes. When you actually get to the fighting, it’s tends to have a level of difficulty that ranges from incredibly easy to unfairly getting half of your health chopped off with only one well placed hit.
[I originally posted this review on The Buttonsmashers. You can read the rest of the review
by clicking here or just listening to the video version above.]
Game Review – One Piece: Burning Blood
0Short Version: It’s good, but not great. Its pretty much Pokken Tournament with One Piece characters. It contains all the fan service you are expecting out of a One Piece game, but don’t expect anything super complex in terms of fighting. This is very much a game where you can play intelligently, but it inherently favors style or substance. If you’re interested, go into it knowing that.
Long Version: Just like many anime fans out there, I always think it’s a cool thing to see your favorite anime series have their own game, in which you can play as your favorite characters and see them in action. Most of the time, people are satisfied with just seeing references and pieces of fan service in these games, while others seek for faithfulness of the source material along with a competent gameplay experience. One Piece: Burning Blood seems to want to cater to both, with gameplay that has the potential to be complex, but ultimately falls flat in favor of flashy visuals that appeal to a more casual audience; preferring to watch Luffy go into Fourth Gear instead of actually thinking about what they are doing during a fight.
Set Sail Once Again
For people that don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, let me give you a brief summary. One Piece is an incredibly popular manga and anime series about pirates, one of which is named Monkey D. Luffy, who wishes to become king of the pirates. Him, along with his many friends embarks on a journey to fulfill that goal. In this world, there are things called Devil Fruits. When you eat one of them, you are given super powers such as turning into some natural element, being able to transform into an animal or a variety of other insane powers that you have to see to believe.
I felt the necessity of explaining that, since the game makes no effort in introducing people to the general world and lore of One Piece. Alongside that issue, the game also has a very short story mode that only covers one particular story arc, featuring a measly 4-6 characters out of the many, many others you’ll be able to play as in other modes. This mode, although it boasts some very nice looking cutscenes, feels crummy at best. Every mission is introduced with a small slide show with images from the anime, and then it changes to the 3D rendered cutscenes that end up getting recycled various times throughout the different episodes. When you actually get to the fighting, it’s tends to have a level of difficulty that ranges from incredibly easy to unfairly getting half of your health chopped off with only one well placed hit.
[I originally posted this review on The Buttonsmashers. You can read the rest of the review by clicking here or just listening to the video version above.]Game Review – Attack on Titan
Game Review – The King of Fighters XIV