OPTC, sixth anniversary of a best seller
A "six" here, a museum artwork over there and lots of confetti to celebrate the sixth anniversary of One Piece Treasure Cruise. Six birthdays, each time celebrated bigger than the first - this year the celebrations reach very high peaks. But the real question is: has a mobile game really been that successful? Bandai Namco Entertainment also loves boasting gods popular recognition in terms of downloads. Just on May 13th, the Japanese version of the app celebrated, for example, the best seller milestone on the iOS stores. In short, the game undoubtedly has a certain volume of users from east to west, which does not seem to miss too much, and which has created around it communities from all over the world. A bit like Pokémon GO, but without the GO component.
At this point some necessary premises must be made. First of all, it is good to remember that what is discussed here is relative to the Japanese version application. The UK, French and Korean servers are always around a year behind - they opened around a year later. Second: all this is a very personal opinion. OPTC is a best seller but it remains a very demanding game with particular mechanics, so take this review as a sort of pre-purchase guide.
To learn more:
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, review of a story Some time ago I complained how the video games of the Pirate Warriors series forced the One Piece saga a little, each limiting the story to certain narrative arcs. The problem does not arise: One Piece Treasure Cruise tells all story arcs, from the birth of the straw hat pirate to the Whole Cake Island saga. In order not to achieve what has just been covered by the cartoon, the publisher has greatly delayed the releases of new areas of the story. In OPTC the best moments of the Eiichiro Oda saga come to life, accompanied by mechanics that are not very intricate at the base.
The basic ones, huh.
Treasure Cruise 10.0, a symbol of a constantly evolving best seller
I emphasize this because in these six years the game has evolved visibly, growing out of all proportion. Even with the slightest hint of “we no longer know which fish to take”, this evolution shows no sign of stopping. New mechanics, increasingly exaggerated characters, new game modes - all of this can be found, for example, condensed in the very latest OPTC 10.0 update.
The part dedicated to history, as you may have understood, is only one modality among many. From the beginning to today the game counts now a gargantuan series of events and characters: the total of the latter approximates to 3000, including those for the upgrades (not too many in proportion). Here then there is an impressive attention to detail, and I am not referring only to stunning artwork (the ones in the cover image are only the most recent). Upgrades and evolutions have appeared in the original One Piece series, from the crew of Bagy to the single penguin or crab. Some characters also feature exclusive and unique mechanics - like a Luffy who can switch between Gear or a Brook who can come back to life from a game over. Still, some special attacks whose damage / heal recall particular dates (for example in some New Year characters, which heal 2020 HP).
I could discuss One Piece Treasure Cruise for hours, the space of a review would not be enough for me. One thing is certain, and I'm about to get there: all these details are paid for in some way, even with hard cash.
Bandai has never put so much effort into it, and neither have I.
In a perspective of "defending the hard work of the developer", I never criticize anything heavily. But Treasure Cruise occasionally makes me lose sight of my good-natured mission. This unstoppable evolution, the titanic amount of events and characters in continuous enrichment, end up being a tsunami. As mentioned, the game is a spade of jaw-dropping characters - exclusive, of course, to the gacha section of the game. In-game currency is thankfully not too difficult to find, and veteran players know when to spend it. To recognize then a certain and welcome generosity with the new generation - the English version, for example, helps a lot in obtaining characters who can speed up the opening bars.
But then comes the brick wall of the gacha games: the “post-game”.
The content that offers the best free characters (that is, obtainable without in-game currency) are also the hardest to complete - and still need a good deal of farming and in-game currency to make them usable. After all this time, some upgrades were initially optional and not required they became necessary like bread to complete certain contents - which, perhaps, does not help much. There are all kinds of events and modalities, including “blitz fights” involve the community for two days in a row. To make the most of each - guess what? - you need in-game currency, and lots of it. Not to mention PvP, a recent addition, which is the most Pay-to-Play I've ever seen in a game.
If OPTC has come to be a best seller, as well as the spearhead of Bandai Namco mobile, there must be a reason. Perhaps it is also (really?) For this reason that the side of the scale with the wording "Pay me" is getting heavier and heavier. You can certainly continue the game safely without spending money, but it will be more tiring and will require a lot more patience - as well as the acceptance of the fact that you will never get the best out of anything. I really mean it: may.
It will be masochistic, maybe it's pure madness, but despite everything One Piece Treasure Cruise has something, who on the sixth anniversary entered with a straight leg. After the Pirate Warriors I always kept them on the shelf, cleaning them from time to time because I love them anyway. However, I rarely happened to pick them up again. With OPTC it's different, apart from the 10.0 update. It will be that by being a mobile game is meant to last, but that's it: abandon it completely fails well. Frustration gacha games give just a lot, and a 5 year old account has already collected a lot - which is likely to generate conspiracy in unfavorable RNG cases. But it is precisely this: RNG unfavorable, because by now you already have so much that catching the new 5 characters is a possibility in many.
One Piece Treaesure Cruise, love and hate beyond the sixth anniversary
One Piece Treasure Cruise is therefore a beautiful and frustrating experience, even with the update to 10.0 and the lavish sixth anniversary events. Creepy artwork and admirable animations, along with the voice acting of some characters, make the game lively and colorful. Keeping up with the variety it offers, however, undeniably requires some commitment. No, no gun will be aimed at your head to force you to pay or spend in-game currency. You can play completely for free from start to finish, but I can't stress enough how frustrating the experience will be. There are also events that require specific units to complete. (Do I have to repeat myself? It's frustrating.)
OPTC, however, has rallied around itself a community more or less compact, which while indulging in some defeatism from time to time will always be an excellent company. An important help in this regard comes from the fact that many of the community events are cooperative, and test the effort of all players together. Ask any of them: it will be clear to you that it is important to take Bandai gacha in small doses, working hard but not spending a lifetime on it. It is the risk of all gachas, in reality: paying is a possibility, but no one is forced. One thing is certain: if the most committed are rewarded, the casual players they are not ignored - and this is an important detail.
Verdict 8/10 The memes describe it so well that I can only invite you to contact me to share. Comment A surprising attention to detail that cannot fail to be emphasized, as well as a constant effort required of the player to keep up. But all in all a much more than enjoyable experience. Pros and cons ✓ Attention to detail✓ Always fresh, beginner-friendly
✓ Events upon events ... x ... on events on events
x More and more tiring even for veterans
x It takes commitment and planning
