One Piece: Burning Blood
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One Piece: Burning Blood Media
Critic Reviews for One Piece: Burning Blood
One Piece: Burning Blood is an unremarkable adaptation of one of the franchise's most popular story arcs, and may not even appeal to diehard One Piece fans.
One Piece: Burning Blood understands what makes the pirate life so compelling in the source material, and is fairly successful in channelling that roguish spirit into its chaotic fights. That flashy, firm commitment to action will feel welcoming to One Piece's biggest fans, but confusing to everyone else. It's great to have something made just for fans, though even Luffy's biggest supporters will be let down by the brief, limited campaign. At its best, this wild and crazy fighter makes for a fun distraction for folks who've been dying for more One Piece games to get localized.
One Piece: Burning Blood is one of those middle of the road games that makes game reviewers weep. The fun of praising or decimating a title stolen away without so much as a cheeky card. The game itself does work as an introduction to the series, giving the briefest of glimpses as to why it's so popular, and piling on the fan service with countless playable and support characters. Neither good nor bad, it exists. That will be enough for many fans.
One Piece: Burning Blood is a game for the fans who are able to appreciate the vaults of lore and huge roster of characters. It may look pretty, but It's just far too harsh on newcomers — prioritising style over substance with a combat system that feels grossly unfair.
One Piece: Burning Blood is far from perfection, expecially if you are a fighting games lover. Much better if you like Rufy and company. In this case, you will find one of the best representation of One Piece's characters in a videogame.
Review in Italian | Read full review
One Piece: Burning Blood is a great example of a licensed videogame, and it gets so much right, bringing the characters of One Piece to life in spectacular fashion. It's a shame that the limited and unwelcoming narrative scope and unnecessary difficulty spikes take away from what is otherwise a great arena brawler.
While I do remember shouting, without irony, "I despise this game" during the crazy difficulty swings, looking as critically as possible it's not a terrible way of spending a few hours. (Though for reference, I haven't used that many taboo words in short, angry bursts since I learned the words being used.) If you're a fan of the show or manga, you'll surely find something to like in Burning Blood. If you're only a casual fan or have a friend who is, after some adjustments to the battle system, you should have some fun as well. Just remember that the story is an exercise in abuse: it'll give you a win before pushing your face in the dirt, and not always in the fun, big-kid-who-doesn't-know-their-own-strength kind of way.
While the combat and variety of game modes can be a lot of fun, along with beautiful cel-shaded cutscenes that recreate the fan favorite Paramount War arc, jumping into a story that takes place more than halfway into the nearly 750 episode anime series makes One Piece: Burning Blood one that might be best left to just the most hardcore fans.
