The shonen manga One Piece is not necessarily the oldest or longest running franchise in Japan’s animated history, but it certainly has gained quite a following in America over the past nine years. The developers at Spike Chunsoft, creators of other popular Japanese/US adaptations such as Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and the fighting game J-Stars Victory VS have recently released another fighter based on the One Piece series — One Piece: Burning Blood.
The game has actually had a staggered release schedule, having been released on PlayStation 4 first, then followed by the Xbox One, and it should finally be seeing a release on PC sometime this month. This type of schedule isn’t too shocking, considering the PlayStation 4 version has been available in Japan since last April. All other adjustments were merely variations to ensure system compatibility.
What is odd is the vague release for PC. The game’s Steam page still has no official date, perhaps due to uncertainty in regards to the game’s PC performance.
The game has thus far been met with mixed results in the US, but offers up a fun party game for the fans of the One Piece series. It also includes the largest roster of One Piece characters in a console fighting game, with 40 playable characters from the cast. The game also includes one of the largest tag team options I’ve ever seen in a fighting game, allowing up to 18 fighters in a single match.
The game continues to receive downloadable content in Japan in the form of costumes, and it is likely we will receive the same over here. Some of the updates are a bit…uh….salacious to say the least.
But hey, maybe that’s exactly what the fans are looking for.
