Summary
Nobody can deny thatOne Piecehas a unique art style that mainly focuses on goofy character designs, bizarre superhuman abilities, and fascinating locations. Fortunately for fans of the series, this eccentric art style has been perfectly replicatedin other forms of media, like anime, movies, orvideo games.
Since the late 90s, there have been numerousOne Piecegames that were launched on both home consoles and handheld devices. Some of these titles have successfully managed to replicate Eiichiro Oda’s signature art style thanks to their high-quality presentation, which is especially true for the most recent releases. But what are theOne Piecevideo games with the most impressive graphics?
7Burning Blood
A Stylized 3D Arena Fighter
Most action shōnen franchises have been adapted into a 3D arena fighting game, andOne Pieceis obviously no exception. Fortunately,One Piece: Burning Bloodis often considered to be one of the best in the genre, and this is in part thanks to its impeccable presentation.
It’s clear that the developers at Spike Chunsoft went for a unique comic book-like style since the high-octane battles ofBurning Blooduse suitable elements, like onomatopoeia for attacks, dynamic backgrounds that change colors, and even a particular type of shading. Combine all of that with some really detailed HD models of iconic characters, and this game still looks fantastic, even 8 years after its initial release.
6Great Pirate Colosseum
Arc System Works Never Disappoints
There is also a fair share of 2D fighting games in this franchise, and, in 2016, Arc System Works and Bandai Namco releasedGreat Pirate Colosseumexclusively in Japan. And,as one would expect from the developers of incredibly looking fighters likeDragon Ball FighterZorGuilty Gear: Strive,this game looks 100% the part.
It’s quite mind-blowing to remember that theGreat Pirate Colosseumwas developed for the Nintendo 3DS, yet it has huge character sprites with extreme amounts of detail, fluid animations, and a fast-paced but complex combat system. It really feels like the player is in control of a battle in an episode of theOne Pieceanime. If one day Arc System Works decides to make a sequel for home consoles that is of the same quality asDragon Ball FighterZ, it would most likely result in the best-lookingOne Piecegame ever made.
World Seekeris anopen-worldOne Piecegame that may not have lived up to the expectations for various reasons, but at least it succeeded in creating a coherent and good-looking overworld for players to explore.
Prison Island looks colorful and full of life, mostly thanks to its inhabitants: NPCs with peculiar designs that fit right in theOne Pieceworld. The combat may be repetitive, but it still looks very good, with a lot of special effects that make each fight feel incredible. Presentation-wise,World Seekerhas all the elements of a solid anime adaptation, and it can be seamlessly enjoyed by those who can ignore its glaring issues.
ThePirate Warriorsseries is without a doubt the most successful subseries of video games in theOne Piecefranchise, so it’s only reasonable that the most recent entry is the one that looks the best. However,Pirate Warriors 4is particularly interesting, because all previousPirate Warriorsgames featured character models with weird HD textures that looked good for the time but haven’t aged all that well.
Fortunately,Pirate Warriors 4went for a more cartoony art style that is almost one-to-one to Toei Animation’s anime. This is especially true during some of its cutscenes, which replicate memorable scenes from the show with a surprising level of fidelity, only that they are in 3D instead of 2D. When it comes to the gameplay, this game is also optimized quite well, especially on PlayStation 4, where players can use the satisfying combat system to beat down entire armies full of enemies with little-to-no drops in frame rate.
ILCA is an up-and-coming development studio that has tackled iconic IPs, and their foray into theOne Piecefranchise has left a very good impression on audiences. After all,Odysseyis not only the most recent game in the series to have been developed for home consoles, but it was also the first one to be released on a system of the newest generation, the PlayStation 5.
As a result,Odysseylooks absolutely beautiful, with some of the most detailed character models of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates that were ever created. The menus are incredibly stylish, the new characters and enemy NPCs (which were all designed by Eiichiro Oda himself) look great, and even the environments are quite faithful to the anime, especially classic locations like Arabasta, Enies Lobby, or Dressrosa.If Toei Animation ever decides to make aOne Piecefeature film with 3D animation, it should look similar to this video game.
2Fighting Path
Mobile Games Are Also Raising The Bar Nowadays
Mobile gaming has come a long way in recent years, especially in the Asian market, and this can be seen in some of the most recentOne Piecetitles developed for mobile devices. One of them isFighting Path,a 3D action RPG that is exclusive to China, and, to the surprise of most fans, it looks completely amazing.
Unlike other 3D mobile entries in the series,Fighting Pathdoesn’t have washed-out colors or blocky character models, and it instead features a vibrant cartoony art style and faithful character models. It also displays some really solid cutscenes that look straight from the original anime and the gameplay runs remarkably well, although this depends on the smartphone that is played on. Because of all this, it’s a real shame that Western players can’t experienceFighting Pathin an official way.
1Ambition
An Unreleased Game That Has Already Impressed The Fanbase
One Piece Ambitionstill hasn’t technically come out, but some people have already got to try out its closed beta, and the released footage became viral because of how absolutely incredible it looks. Despite being in 3D, this fighting game’s impeccable art style makes it seem like the player is controlling Luffy and his friends in an actual episode of the anime.
It’s evident that the developers ofOne Piece Ambitionhave a lot of respect and appreciation for both Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation since they went out of their way to make this game look as good as possible, with its intricate animations, its vibrant colors and its energetic combat system.Fans have been begging for a 2D fighter that could be theOne Pieceequivalent ofDragon Ball: FighterZfor years, andOne Piece Ambitionhas the potential to be exactly that. However, it is currently unknown if Tencent Games plans on releasing it outside of China.
