[h3]Unlimited World Red is tedious & flawed yet remains one of the best One Piece titles on the market.[/h3]
[i]Disclaimer: 100% completion & 93 Hours of Playtime via PS5 & Gamepad.[/i]
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[*]The flow of combat for a majority of characters is smooth with the exception of characters like Nico Robin & Ussop who lack utility, invulnerability frames, damage output & viable abilities that don't involve the same attack loop.
[*]Moment to moment Action is swift without hanging introductions although dialogue & cut scenes interrupt the flow when occurring frequently (early game).
[*]You play in third person with a free camera although the Field of View is vertically tight. It only swaps to awkward first person controls when using Ussop, so fans of the character take note.
[*]Swapping between active party members during levels is instant rather than requiring a menu interface but only 3 characters can be active at a time, selectable prior to level start.
[*][b]Boss fights range from awesome & effective (Crocodile, Akainu, Buggy & Lucci) to borderline infuriatingly challenging & broken (Blackbeard, Wapol, Enel & the Lightning Dragon).[/b]
[*]The UI is clear & succinct although resources lack acquisition data. A third party guide or manual documentation is required in late game.
[*]Despite monotonous mid-late game resource grinds, the associated Fishing & Bug Mini-Games offer a break from combat and can be relaxing
[*]Difficulty depends on location & player level with Straw Hats upgrading via playtime, cooked meals or via "Words" that act as stat boosts & abilities.
[*]Cooking and Words are impactful but their acquisition is excruciatingly tedious the longer you play due to the repeated areas, length of levels & enemy encounters.
[*]Nearly every Major Arc up to Dressrosa is playable including Fishman Island, Punk Hazard, Baratie etc. & while linear, their exploration is surprisingly open & reflective of the source material.
[*]The story repeats the now common One Piece flashback arc trope and despite having emotional moments remained lacklustre.
[*]Outside of the story mode is The Colosseum, A ladder climb that faces you against famous One Piece characters in single or duo encounters with fights similar to Burning Blood.
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[h3]Odyssey vs Red[/h3]
In comparison to the most recent One Piece RPG (Odyssey), Unlimited World Red has free movement and abilities that don't completely interrupt the gameplay flow to initiate world interactions & activations. Time spent at each location is balanced unlike Odyssey & Alabasta. It has a straightforward UI for most menus.
Difficulty depends on your settings, selected character and their upgrades as unlike Odyssey character stats play a major role in resilience & effectiveness against Haki & Devil fruits, closely matching the source material. That being said Boss Fights range from perfectly balanced to poorly designed with close to impossible counter tech (Teach's Black hole), invulnerability periods (Wapol), inconsistent hitboxes (Eneru), Area of Effect attacks (Eneru/Whitebeard) & more.
[h3]Story, Locations & Maps[/h3]
The story & missions play out the same as most One Piece games in that it replays the most iconic moments from the Source Material but with a little swing to it, in this case with mysterious abductions & nin-nin magic. It’s a story not worth much attention and isn't worth the time just to experience if you're curious. It has some fun scenes between characters & a few key emotional moments but the overall arc is lacking.
[b]Unlimited World Red released prior to Dressrosa & takes place after Punk Hazard with its own story & alternate events.[/b] It features prominent locations & characters including Drum Kingdom, Skypeia & Eneru, Alabasta & Crocodile, Punk Hazard & Aokiji, Fishman Island & Davy, Enies Lobby & Rob Lucci etc; Each location has semi-linear environments housing Action Set Pieces, references to past events, Secrets, Fishing Spots and Bug Catching.
[h3]Burning Blood World Red Edition[/h3]
The Colosseum mode which is something unlocked after some time in the story in my opinion rivals that of One Piece's standalone brawler title "Burning Blood" as it has a large cast of characters seen throughout the story & beyond, all of which playable with their own move sets/abilities respective of their vocation; it all takes place in the Dressrosa Colosseum with a ladder system that you must progress through to gain the aforementioned characters and fight tougher opponents.
The mode also contributes to your save & playthrough in the story mode by providing you with resources, missions and gear as you progress and complete Colosseum related challenges.
[h3]GRIND[/h3]
The game is grind heavy due to mandatory Hub World Upgrades that gate keep story progression alongside character upgrades & health maintenance. A lot of playtime requires you to gather currency and resources by returning to past locations to catch bugs & fish, gather fauna or to fight monsters & the marines to gather wood, metals, meat and other materials. While most early game materials are common, the late game materials require specific circumstances or crafting to acquire leading to an RNG heavy experience & repetitive actions during the mid-late game. That's not mentioning that while the UI displays information clearly, Wildlife & Resource acquisition data sucks and requires you to have a Steam Guide or GamesFAQ thread nearby to locate them outside of manual tracking.
[h3]Side Missions & Tedium[/h3]
Outside of the story & resources, the game features side missions titled Quests. These unlock as you progress and are used to level your characters and revisit locations under set conditions for extra resources or as added challenge e.g. only using chopper in Fishman Island to collect foam; Defeat the Seven Warlords with Luffy, Fight Blackbeard with Ace, Collect 9 types of meat...
These are fun missions that allow you to play as characters from the franchise besides the Straw Hats but, they much like the base game, contain mandatory full level clears to complete & quickly become a frustrating grind. There are 60+ quests of varying difficulty that have you running through Alabasta/Enies Lobby etc. from start to finish fighting the same Marines or interruptions every couple of metres before progressing.
That's not mentioning that Side Missions hold middling to powerful upgrades for the Straw Hats and their acquisition is dependent on RNG, meaning multiple play throughs of the same quest to gain one upgrade. Rinse & Repeat, while following conflicting guides found across the internet & game.
[h3]Conclusion[/h3]
[b]I would recommend Unlimited World Red during sales ($6.83AUD) to those who are fans of the franchise but you should be aware of the grind & tedious aspects of the title.[/b]
If you are weighing your purchase against One Piece Odyssey and prefer fluent action and some difficulty, I suggest picking up Red over the former.
