One Piece: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Edition (PS4)

This older entry in the One Piece gaming series by Bandai Namco returns complete, and with bonus perks for those willing to pay up for it. New to the core gaming experience that was once offered at full retail pricing without the bonus add-ons you'll get a graphics upgrade of 1080p resolution along with a complimentary 60 frames per second done up in a variable style. You'll also get 40 pieces of DLC ranging from additional characters to applicable costumes for said characters. The game as a whole is more robust, and enhanced than it was originally. For those of you who didn't get to play through the game during it's initial launch back on the PS3, and PS Vita know that it has a lot to offer in the guise of two separate modes made available from the start. Those modes being the 'Story Mode', and "Battle Colliseum". In 'Story Mode' you'll follow Luffy, the straw hat pirates, and Whitebeard as they fight in an epic battle against Akainu, and the marines. You'll participate in side quests, missions, mini-games, and other interesting in-game activities in the Transtown hub area while occasionally going on mission outings of varying difficulty ratings to confront mobs of enemies, and bosses that forward the story through gameplay, and amazingly rendered cutscenes done up in a 3D cell shaded anime style ...

Along with the more tedious grind worthy tasks of Transtown you'll also be building upon the Transtown hub itself by using gathered materials found on mission outings to add onto the local community for the sake of opening up new vendors, and services meant to broaden gameplay options. Initially in 'Story Mode' you will be tasked with learning the ropes, or mechanics of the game via tutorials that pop-up in various first time encounter scenarios. New mechanics, and features pertaining to the brawler style combat, and navigation options, among other things will be explained in full in a hands on kind of way. While you start your Journey alone as Luffy with the tag along partner/guide Pato you will unlock other party members which will further expand upon the brawler mechanics, and character/party options.

Beyond 'Story Mode' you'll find extended gameplay in the "Battle Colliseum" where the goal is to best every combatant thrown at you by Donquixote DoDonFlamingo in the tournament setting for the sake of earning the ultimate grand prize. That prize being any wish granted for the tournament victor. As you play through the initial Battle Colliseum mode you'll begin to unlock other modes of play such as a horde battle, versus battle, and special battle which when won will grant your one to two character party pirate points that are then applied to the 'C' to 'A' pyramid tier which ultimately governs who is the top competitor, and which battles you will be taking on in the ranking sense. Of course rules apply in each battle type with some only allowing single character battles (versus) while others allow for a total of two party members (horde ...). The end goal in each basically amounting to the defeating of your opponents, and the meeting of certain set requirements such as time limits, and set items.

When it comes to character, and party management this game has an item word system that adds various character buffs, and perks meant to help you face the more formidable battles with ease in both the Battle Colliseum, and Story Modes. In the Story Mode, in particular, the item words open up access to previously blocked areas. Needless to say the new item word system is a vital component to gameplay, and will help you as you play through the Story, and the Battle Colliseum.

Backtracking a bit ... The 'Battle Colliseum', and the 'Story Mode' both offer up opportunities to unlock new playable characters, and additional party members. In the Battle Colliseum you can actually choose who you want as the lead character as well as who you want as the assist character once you unlock them. It should be noted that as you play, and win battles in the Battle Colliseum under certain conditions which are disclosed in a special list that you unlock through progression you'll be able to unlock more characters, and items once those conditions are fulfilled. Within Unlimited World Red there are a lot of things to unlock, and discover as you do the more straightforward tasks, and objectives. It is these extra earning opportunities that extend upon replay value, and make the game experience more worthwhile.

The Verdict ...

The visual upgrade in 'ONE PIECE: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Ed.' is noticeable, and the variable 60fps equally as so. As with my initial review (Unlimited World Red) I found this game to be worthy enough to warrant a purchase. My only complaints, if any, are the fact that some mechanics tutorials come into focus a bit late, and that objective explanation in some Transtown situations along with map references could be better explained. I also found the creature capture mini-game to be sped up a little too quickly, and to the point it will no doubt surprise the heck out of gamers attempting to land that perfect creature catch early on. Other than those things I'd say the game is still worthy of a recommendation especially with the visual enhancements, and 40 pieces of DLC. It's a good addition to the ONE PIECE lore, which at the time of initial PS3 launch was an exclusive story arch created by the official manga creator. It was a game with exclusive content, and characters never before introduced thus making it one of the more interesting franchise video game entries.