After a brief passage through the main menu, which offers us to choose between two game modes ("Naval battle against the Navy" and "Let's repel the Kraken"), we find ourselves directly propelled on the deck of the Sunny, the famous ship of Luffy and his comrades. If at the beginning our eyes are directly attracted by the Den Den Mushi which is in front of us, it is only when we start to look around that the magic happens. The Sunny is modeled with care, but it is above all the impression of grandeur given off by the boat that impresses. The "Wow" effect works instantly and you really feel like you're in the One Piece universe. A good impression that is only confirmed when we see Chopper for the first time, as the latter seems "realistic". Same story for the other crew members who are all there. Frankly, it's quite classy to be able to find ourselves next to all these heroes who have made us dream for so many years and we can only remain amazed in front of all these characters.
GOMU GOMU NO VR
Moreover, before getting to the heart of the matter by going to face the Navy or a giant Kraken, you will have the opportunity to discuss privately with Zoro, Sanji, Nami and all the other members of the Hat of Straw. Depending on the game mode chosen, several choices of conversations will be available to you. You can then choose to go to the cabin to talk more calmly with Nami and Robin or on the bridge to spend time with Zoro. If you will have to restart a mode each time in order to be able to take advantage of all the situations offered in the game, in the end, you will be able to chat with everyone. Once again, fans will be in awe of their favorite heroes, the official voice actors of the anime all being present in the cast, even if we can only rail against the location of the subtitles which constantly force us to look down. Suddenly, when a character speaks to us, it is difficult to look him in the face if we want to be able to understand what he is saying. This is not at all practical and we often end up ignoring the words of our interlocutor. Good after, do not expect great revelations, each character telling more or less his life within the crew.
The experience ends in less than half an hour and it will take about ten minutes more to be able to access all the discussions in the game.
Following these little discussions between pirates, serious things will finally be able to begin. As we mentioned a little earlier, two game modes are available to you at the start of the game. Whether you choose the fight against the Navy or the fight against the Kraken, you will have to control a cannon in order to shoot your enemies. From then on, we find ourselves surrounded by several bots, divided into two teams, who are, like you, young pirate recruits. Then follows a small friendly competition during which you will have to repel the attacks of the Navy, by shooting its projectiles, or defeat the Kraken by shooting its tentacles and its head. To aim, nothing complicated, just tilt your Dualshock 4 in the right direction and press Cross to fire a cannonball. In terms of gameplay, it's pretty poor and you quickly end up getting bored during these phases of the game. Fortunately, Luffy and his comrades raise the level somewhat when they deploy all their strength. Only downside, these are the only passages where the player has nothing to do and we have the impression that the sequences with the cannon serve as stopgap. What's more, we regret that certain characters like Brook or Franky remain in the background, even if the show is there. Too bad the whole thing lacks thrills.
AN EXPRESS ADVENTURE
To console ourselves, we can always enjoy a quick fight between Doflamingo and Luffy which would almost make you want to be able to watch all the cult sequences of the anime under the same conditions. Doflamingo imposes and we take advantage of this duel by being in the front row, but we remain somewhat disappointed by the approximate realization of this scene. The character animation is far from perfect and some attacks hit without hitting their victim. The scene being entirely in 3D we quickly realize these small defects which somewhat ruin the immersion and the intensity of the fight. The fan service does the job and it's hard not to appreciate this scene, but a more careful realization could have given this sequence even more breadth. Similarly, reviewing the cult attacks of Luffy and his comrades in these conditions is a pure delight, but we remain unsatisfied. The experience ends in less than half an hour and it will take about ten minutes more to be able to access all the discussions in the game. For 10€, it's a bit meager, especially since the replayability is almost non-existent. Sure, fans will be thrilled to be able to experience One Piece this way, but it's hard not to be somewhat frustrated at the end of the experience.
