Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Been there, done that"

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is actually a game. No its not just another flashy character fights character along the lines of say the previous One Piece Grand Battle Series its actually a decent adventure game. That being said its not a great adventure either. Many critics praise the voice acting which I will too considering One Piece was once dubbed by 4Kids before going over to Funimation who are dubbing it now and dubbed the games english voices too and they did a pretty darn good job. Sure, the story isn't really all that memorable considering the manga is all about good story telling but I can except that. I mean its Luffy and his gang's first adventure game so I'll give them some slack. Its not as if I bought it for the story I wanted to know what the adventure was going to be. To be honest...its not that thrilling. The good thing about this game is you can use multiple characters with multiple abilities and use them in battles to kick major butt. The drive gauge is spectacular and you'll like the ways in which you can raise your characters status, health, move strength, etc. In fact the character's are pretty well rounded and each have their own use. The quest however, is monotonous though. For instance in order to fight a cool boss battle you need to go on a fetch quest. This can be as simple as having enough orb power or having to get 3 sticks and a giant leaf. Its really boring. I strongly suggest you use no items ad keep everything!!! For instance you need to cut 10 long vines to make a bridge...this is really frustrating because not many places have long vines and the chances of you getting all ten within a short matter of time are very slim. The good thing about this though is once you use it chances are you won't need it again. Even in optional boss battles you have to fetch a certain item and then fight them. No progression should be this tedious. You often find yourself backtracking for items, fighting the same enemies all over again, and then come back to move on. The enemies are pretty generic as I said...you often find yourself fighting the same navy platoon over and over just to get your experience up. Now I know what you're thinking why such a good score if you hate the adventure so much? The thing is I don't. Sure the story isn't great, but its not bad. The fetch questing may be monotonous but once you do something you don't have to go fetch it again. To fight generic enemies may be a pain at times but, the variety of moves and the number of boss fights more than make up for it. The character status is immersive enough, and the small things are also fun. You can go fishing, catch insects, break boulders with a giant pickaxe, etc. Each environment is visually appealing from the snowy mountaintop to the sandy beach. For what its worth its a good adventure. Another good thing is it also has a 2 player option. This was good because not only did I get a adventure game I got a game I could play with my One Piece Grand Battle friends too. Sure its a simple multiplayer experience in which you choose who you want to fight with and where for a simple match but it's still a pretty good time. I might have been ther and done that with other games which is true. But, One Piece makes for a generically fun time waster. If you like fetch quests mixed with fighting One Piece is a good buy for you.