YMMV / One Piece: Pirate Warriors

• Awesome Music: This is a video game made by a company known for making awesome music, based on an anime known for having awesome music. Awesome music's a given.
  • One of the most memorable pieces of music in this series of games, bar none, would have to be "I want to Live!", which served as the stage theme for Enies Lobby in the first game. It had a normal mix that wouldn't sound out of place in the anime, a catchy techno mix (called Wanting to Stay Alive), and a rocking Metal remix (called Leave It to Us), all three of which are incredible. The third game then proceeds to one-up all of that by remixing the first version of the song into something beautiful while still retaining some of the first version's feel.
  • The theme for Gear Second also takes the cake.
• Game-Breaker:
  • Whitebeard in the first game. He seems to have a counter for every situation, such as using Haki to stun a boss character who moves around a lot, his attacks all do a crapload of damage and he has a killer range that could put Usopp to shame. Not to mention his level-2 Special can wipe an entire territory of Mooks. Sure, he's slow as all hell, but that doesn't keep him from annihilating everything in sight. Still, Whitebeard is the World's Strongest Man In-Universe, so it's probably justified. While in the second game, this honor goes to multiple characters:
  • For starters, there's every single Logia user in the game (except Smoker), particularly the Admirals and Enel; all of them have high-damaging level-2 Specials that hit in a huge radius (especially Aokiji/Kuzan's Ice Star, and Enel's Raigou/Kingdom Come), along with easily-spammable moves that also deal big damage from afar or in a huge radius (SSSST/Ice Age for Aokiji/Kuzan, SSST AND SSSST combo for Akainu, SST AND TS AND TTS for Kizaru, and Maximum Voltage SSST/Julungul for Enel; Enel also has SSSST/Mamaragan for Elite Mooks or stronger characters, if you can force them into a corner). Like Whitebeard, this could be justified by the fact that these characters are just that damn powerful In-Universe.
  • However, Enel's case is somewhat averted in the third game due to being overall nerfed, his Mamaragan sends out less lightning bolts while his moves do overall less damage, but are still pretty top notch if used right.
  • Not to leave out Crocodile, though; his SSST (Sables) sucks in nearby Mooks as it moves forward, dealing multiple hits of damage to them and bunching them together for any kind of nastiness you want to do to them. For Elite Mooks or stronger, Crocodile has his SSSST (Sables Pesado), which moves forward like Sables but doesn't suck in enemies, instead flooring any enemy it comes into contact with, dealing BIG damage. Not to mention, of course, Crocodile's Level-2 Special (Ground Death), which hits in a large radius.
  • Then there's Bartholomew Kuma; just like the above Logia users (even though he's a Paramecia), he has an easily-spammable move, though Kuma's can hit from a truly ridiculously long range and pretty much instant-kills lesser Mooks AND can even chunk Elite Mooks (SSST), he has a single-target hard hitting move for Elite Mooks and other characters that can leave them set up for more attacks or even the same combo again (SSSST), his Style Action is Technical-type so all enemies will be slowed down during use, AND he has a Godlike level-2 Special (Ursus Shock, of course). Did I also mention that his level-1 Special heals him (albeit not by a whole lot), and the SSST spam will effortlessly build up lots of Meter so you can throw his Specials with little-to-no consequence?
  • Let's not forget Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk, either; his Gameplay gimmick is that after he does a full SSSSS combo, he builds up a Charge of power and can do the SSSSS combo again but more damaging. He can build up two charges of Power (3 repetitions of SSSSS), and the extra Power also applies to the T Finishers on said S Combo; one of his best Mook-clearing normal combos is [SSSSS x2]SSSST, with the SSST for single targets. He can also charge up lots of Meter for Special attacks as a result, and may God have mercy on his enemies once he enters Style Mode (where one of his best Combo finishers is SST, as it sends projectiles EVERYWHERE in front of him). Lastly, his Unique Action is a single quick slash... That can be canceled into any of his normal Combos and immediately grants a Combo Charge regardless of whether it hits an enemy or not, so you can get to the fully charged Finishers quicker. World's Greatest Swordsman, indeed...
  • A lesser example would be Teach; yes, he's not as overpowered as any of the other Logias in the game in terms of spammable combos (except Smoker), but his Specials suck in enemies like crazy. Add on the Warrior's Wisdom skill, and you can get nearly 100 Kills easy with just his level-1 Special (his level-2 special is even better in this regard).
    • There's also Double-Ability Teach (separate from normal Teach, who only has the Dark-Dark powers; Double-Ability Teach has the Dark-Dark and Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor powers). All that needs to be said about how stupidly strong this guy is, is that one of his Specials is Heaven & Earth Shaker, Whitebeard's above-mentioned Special that can clear out a massive area of Mooks...except for Double-Ability Teach, this Special is his level-1. You read that right; for the same cost as Whitebeard's game-breakingly strong level-2 Special, Double-Ability Teach can do the same Special twice. Not to mention is normal strings have increased power compared to his normal version thanks to the said Tremor-Tremor powers.
  • In Pirate Warriors 3:
    • Shanks! He relies on Shock and Awe most of the time (in his SSST and his level-2 Special), uses Conqueror Haki regularly (with his TS and TTS), which can even one shot Boss mooks and can even slow down time for 1 second (R1) to link his combos together. Both of his supers hit a very large area, and his aforementioned Haki-based moves can even power up his attacks to grant even more range and damage via energy covering his sword. He wasn't Mihawk's rival for nothing. In addition, his R1 works with co-op partners as well. You can simply spam R1 as Shanks and get free slow time for as long as you want for your co-op partner. Together with Fujitora, see below, the game might as well give you the victory screen as soon as you start.
    • Another Pirate Warriors 3 example, is Magellan. Early on he has great AoE, and can be unlocked relatively early. But the best is his SSSST, Poison Hydra, which will ram through loads of enemies in a wide line in front of you. It's pretty much guaranteed to fill a good chunk of the Kizuna gauge. You can get an S rank for pretty much every mission in under 10 minutes.
    • Fujitora in Pirate Warriors 3, full stop. His unique action (which has unlimited uses) is severely overpowered compared to every other character's; he can call down meteors that create an explosion, and they get bigger the longer you charge the button. Well, the 3rd level meteor has enough power to completely fill both your Kizuna Gauge and your special attack gauge, kill an entire territories-worth of Mooks, and one-shots most bosses under level 60. This in turn means you can then spam your Kizuna rush and special attacks endlessly because his unique action just about always gives him a full bar. Equip Fujitora with the "Quick Charge +" skill and you really don't have to use his combos at all. Also, his attacks in general are very fast for his size and they cover a massive range of area, and this is turn covers the one weakness with his unique action; the main problem with his R1 is that there sometimes is a bit of a bug where it doesn't connect properly at all, leaving you open to attacks if you don't act fast. So, with his attack speed and range, you can quickly clear any enemies surrounding you before using it.
    • Ivankov. Nothing else seems to appeal more than his TSSS and TTSSS, since those moves can power up his face to make his Hell Wink EXTREMELY strong. If used as an assist via the Kizuna gauge, always ending your combos in a T attack just to summon him for his Hell Wink will allow you to get easy damage, kills and !s with solid range. Filling up the Kizuna Gauge with him? Trivial.
    • A minor example, but Rob Luuci. He's less of a game breaker in general and more of a "break the boss battles" type of deal. His special attacks are small, high damage attacks, rather than grabs that are less reliable, that can readily break through all of the enemy's stun bar when they are in their Super Mode, knocking them out of it. His normal moveset has a few high damaging combos that need an enemy to be airborne to reach max efficiency. Add on to a few combos that are pretty decent, but not exceptional, at clearing crowds, and he's equipped to handle most situations well, and a few situations exceptionally.
    • This trope is overall played with, since unlike most Musou/Warriors games, this series tends to rely a lot on fast reflexes, since many attacks will be as radical as yours vs. opponents you face. Making use of mechanics such as storing charged attacks and dash cancelling can really allow the player to reach complex heights in this game, and avoid a lot of damage you can easily have inflicted upon you in most fights starting as of the second game. While characters do have cheap bullshit, use it wrong on higher difficulties, and the AI can easily crush you.
    • On PC version, the keyboard controls can become this at the hands of skilled keyboard players, allowing them to easily chain attacks and Kizuna Rush in a quick successions, or move the camera view with both movement and camera buttons while charging special attack on your target at once, most of which are near-impossible to control with a gamepad.
  • Pirate Warriors 4 continues with its new characters.
    • Fittingly for who they are, Big Mom and Kaido are both verging on Purposely Overpowered. Their giant size means their attacks cover a lot of area and both deal absurd amount of damage. Kaido does pure damage output and his combos can bust down pretty much any other character after only a few seconds of sustained hitting on them. Big Mom however can use her Soul-Soul fruit to steal life from her enemies, though it's a pittance of HP restoration individually, hitting an entire territory's worth will heal her back to full HP no matter how close to defeat she is.
    • Charlotte Katakuri, fittingly for Big Mom's strongest son. Like the above two he's giant so his attacks cover a wide area, his combo finishers all do either massive crowd control or insane single target damage. He covers for being a somewhat easy to hit Glass Cannon with his unique skill that has him summon a donut to eat which once leveled up will bring him close to full HP. His Full-Force Burst summons a row of donut orbiters that quadruple his range and hit just as hard as his proper attacks, making it possible to kill elites and other main characters in seconds.
    • Luffy can get access to both Gear 4th forms: it's not at all impossible to spend a majority of the stage in Bounceman and/or Snakeman forms, which turns Luffy into a serious Lightning Bruiser that laughs off most stunning hits.
    • Of all characters, Nami can become this if she's set up properly - that is, if you give her the Zeus Burst special, every attack she does becomes a tandem attack with Zeus. A single swing of her Clima-Tact? Zeus will shoot out lightning. A combo? Zeus is adding some more lightning. A special? All of the damage, plus Zeus adding up more. Having Zeus summoned turns Nami into a walking electrical storm that can clear most bosses without much trouble.
    • For a DLC character, Charlotte Smoothie. On her own she's already powerful, as she has respectable damage, range and AoE, but she can also turn giant, gaining the same size, range, and power as Kaido and Big Mom. And unlike them since she's relatively slender, she doesn't take up the entire screen and you can still see what you're doing.
    • X Drake easily trivializes all but the hardest battles. His damage and AoE are solid, his air combos are excellent (especially for a non-Sky type), his dinosaur form both makes clearing crowds a breeze and does just as solid damage as his human form against bosses, and he has no major weaknesses to speak of.
    • It is extremely hard not to do well with Yamato. Between excellent damage and range on attacks, specials that combine obscene damage with absurd AoE, a Zoan transformation with mobility to match even the characters with the fastest speed, and a freezing effect on certain moves, playing as Yamato significantly reduces the challenge of any battle.
    • Fitting for his nature as a Living Legend and King of the Pirates, Roger is strong beyond belief. Even right out of the gate with very few stat ups he hits like a nuke, all of his combos use Haki to cover excessive amounts of area and come out fast and have impressive reach. When properly levelled up, it becomes very clear why this is the man who conquered the Grand Line, and the developers made sure it showed in his gameplay.
• Low-Tier Letdown:
  • Tony Tony Chopper is just not very impressive in any of the games in the series. Between his attacks having somewhat stubby range while not dealing enough damage to make up the difference, his mobility being nothing special, and his specials being average at best, he ends up being highly underwhelming. To make things worse, his transformations are barely utilized in all of the games.
  • Tashigi suffers from having slow attacks with small hitboxes. She's one of the worst characters in each game for the purpose of clearing battlefields, and her damage isn't anything special, meaning she's not particularly strong at taking down bosses either. Overall, she's a character with no real strengths.
  • In the fourth game, Urouge suffers from being slow in terms of both movement speed and attacks, while not doing enough damage to offset his slow speed. To make things worse, he's not resistant to flinching unless you use skills for it, so his attacks will get interrupted often, and you will take a lot of damage while using him. While the "Cheat Death" skill can turn the damage he takes into a double-edged sword, it's still a balancing act to keep his health above 0.
• Moral Event Horizon: In Pirate Warriors 2, in the normal ending, Teach and Moria use the Fog Dial to make Whitebeard and his crew kill each other, resulting in Whitebeard getting hit by Akainu and the Straw Hats and the Whitebeard Pirates' allies tiring out a berserk Whitebeard. After Whitebeard is weakened enough, Moria kills him by stealing his shadow and Teach twists the knife by stealing his Tremor-Tremor Powers.
• Porting Disaster: Koei Tecmo has always been notorious for their piss poor PC ports of the Warriors series, and Pirate Warriors 3 is easily their worst output. Despite the Steam store showing pictures of the game as if they're on par with the Playstation 4 version, the PC version is actually a port of the Vita version, which is evident by the low quality of the character models and the low framerate in certain moments. Second, the game has several visual glitches during gameplay, such as blurry in-game cutscenes and pixelated character models and occasional pop-in shots in manga cutscenes. Controller support is laughably barebones, which is unacceptable for this kind of game, and it lacks proper button prompts for Xbox controllers. Lastly, this version has a nasty Game-Breaking Bug during the last chapter of the Legend Log, in which one of the cutscenes that plays after beating Doflamingo would crash the game. The common solution to solve this issue is to delete the movie and events folder from the game's main directory.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Sanji is unable to damage female characters (he'll always flinch when he hits them as his normal attacks always get deflected, and they are literally immune to his supers save for only a VERY small amount of damage), so you have to rely on your allies to defeat them when you're using him in a level that features them.
  • Thankfully, Pirate Warriors 3 will actively warn the player if the level they're about to play trips Sanji's weakness. Sanji can also bypass his reduced/deflected damage with a Kizuna Rush due to the AoE nature of Rushes and the added damage of his teammates.
• That One Achievement: A truly patience-trying one in the form of "We're Running Away! We Stole Some Gold!" The player is required to activate every coin skill in the game. It sounds simple, but players of the game will know just how painful coin collection is after a certain point, since coin collection will become a huge Luck-Based Mission after a while, no matter which stages and characters are used. Worse, one of these coin sets consists of coins that only be gotten by playing online with someone in your friends list. The game doesn't exactly have a huge user base as is, and those in your friends list may very well not have the game. Hope you get it before the servers shut down!
• That One Attack: In any game, dealing with any user of Rankyaku will likely make you want to pull your hair out. It'll often be thrown out with a split-second's worth of warning and has a super long range. If it hits you, it will knock you flying. All of the factors mentioned above make it very spammable by the enemy (be it Blueno, Coby or Marine Commanders), so often if you start to get in a good combo on the enemy... Rankyaku! The good part about this is that in the third game, Rankyaku is an excellent Kizuna attack to use. That One Attack is so much nicer when you're the one using it.
• That One Boss:
  • Admiral Kizaru, at least in PW1. His attacks are incredibly fast, he can become invincible and he teleports all over the place. You're very unlikely to keep your Beat score against him and he's so damned smug.
  • Enel also counts in some of the games, since he moves just as fast as Kizaru and has plenty of coverage on all of his moves.
  • Akainu is also annoying. While he's not fast, he has a ton of ranged attacks to spam, and when you activate his guard and logia state along with it, which is done 2 times no matter when he is fought as a boss, he gets even worse about it and he doesn't flinch nearly as much while it's active. This means you'll be spending more time reeling from his attacks or dodging than dealing damage to him when his super mode is active and ranged characters will be even more outmatched due to his pinpoint accuracy against the player. In the first game, in the second phase of his fight, he even can't be harmed directly unless frozen.
  • The biggest example of this in Pirate Warriors 4 is Katakuri. He's a Speed character, which means that his moves come off incredibly fast. The problem is that, unlike the other Speed characters in the game, Katakuri is HUGE and, as a result, has crazy range in several of his moves, so approaching him is an insanely difficult task, especially if you're using one of the slower characters like Jinbe or Bege.
• That One Level:
  • In the third game during the Dream Log battles, is when you end up with the object to have to stop the enemy commander from reaching a certain territory (or else it's defeat for you), gets MASSIVELY annoying when you're trying to kill all the important characters that appears alongside them just for more bonuses, only to have them reach the territory behind you and make you lose the battle (depending on your level, character used and the stage being played). This gets even more infuriating with the fact that even if you intercept the commander, they'll go marching right back on their way if you ignore them just after getting their aggro, since the other character that appears with them may be too far away from them and killing the commander will end the stage. Should I also mention that even if you take their destination/territory for yourself, you'll still lose if you let them reach it?
  • Even MORE infuriating due to even IF you manage to intercept the commander right at the said territory, you somehow end up fighting him/her dangerously close to it. One wrong move and the commander WILL DODGE into the territory past your attack, making you lose the stage regardless. The only way around that is to force them to dodge away from you and away from the territory (especially if you have your back against the entrance they're going to use), have your allies conveniently block them via converging on them just right (otherwise the enemy commander will ignore them, even ignoring the territories you've claimed for yourself along their way), make sure your character has a sure-fire grab attack that cannot be blocked like Lucci's SSSST, Ace's R1 and/or Sabo's SSSST (so you can frequently grab them out of their super-powered states) or use any attack that blasts them back and fairly far away (like a Kizuna Rush Special Attack). You also need to hit them away from the territory since you might accidentally send them flying into it, hence why you need to have your back against the entry the commander is using.

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