One Piece: Unlimited Adventure

Subject: One Piece: Unlimited Adventure Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:09 am

Metachronos overall score = 7.6 / 10

Positive One Piece: Unlimited Adventure Good_undeniable_charm_s

- Simple but enjoyable combat system
- A long, charming adventure featuring eight favorite characters
- Clips from the anime series are scattered throughout

Negative
- ton of backtracking and repetition leads to monotony
- Lots of level grinding
- Unimpressive environmental visuals

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure tackles two challenges, and it does so reasonably well. First and foremost, it offers a good amount of fan service by way of its flashback-oriented storytelling. Second, it's a somewhat-entertaining action-oriented adventure in it own right, with a light but amusing combat system and some fun boss battles. It's also quite long, though that's partially due to a lot of dull backtracking. This is a good game, to be sure, but a bit of monotony moves in early on, only to take up permanent residence as the adventure continues. The story doesn't tread new ground, although that ends up working to the game's benefit. Luffy and his pirate pals find a mysterious crystal (amusingly, this generic mysteriousness is the source of several humorous bits of dialogue from the ever-positive Luffy) just prior to crash-landing on an unfamiliar island. As it turns out, that same crystal is the key to freedom, as well as some apparently precious treasure. More importantly, the crystal causes the gang to relive memories, which are represented by frequent clips from the television series. As a tip of the hat to rabid fans, this is a rather effective narrative device, but if you're an American One Piece enthusiast, be warned: Many of these clips are from episodes yet to air in the United States. In other words, expect spoilers galore.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure One-piece-unlimited-adventure--20070420105636265

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is visually unimpressive, though it manages to capture the freewheeling spirit of the popular anime quite well. Character models are nicely done, and some of their attacks result in a flurry of colorful particles and other effects. But as a rule, everything looks pixelated and washed out, and environments are often unimaginative, with a few notable exceptions, such as a beach with a hulking dinosaur skeleton. There are some obvious dips in the frame rate as well, though the game is easy enough that it never affects gameplay to any great extent. Thankfully, the show's cast does a terrific job in bringing the Straw Hats to audible life, and though none of the music or sound effects stand out as particularly exceptional, none of these elements are particularly bothersome either. There's certainly a lot of game here. The adventure could take you 40 or more hours to complete, so if you're a fan of Luffy and company, you'll get your fair share of time to spend with them. Sure, there's a ton of repetition here, but the game's aesthetic is so charming and easygoing that it's hard to fault the gameplay for following suit. Most likely, you'll be able to overlook the game's faults and enjoy One Piece: Unlimited Adventure for what it is: a cute and fun way to join your favorite pirates on their latest escapade.