One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition Suits The Nintendo Switch

Koei Tecmo’s Musou games tend to be these accessible adventures you can enjoy with a friend. Context is not always important. All someone really needs to know is button-mashing will allow you to beat hundreds of enemies and clear objectives. Fire Emblem Warriors has already shown how well the series can transition to the Nintendo Switch, and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition is yet another example of how well this genre works on the console.

To start, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is not exactly new. The game has been available on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PC since 2015. The Nintendo Switch version is the penultimate iteration. People get the full game, as well as all eight DLC missions and the extra character costumes. Content-wise, it is the equivalent of the Gold Edition you might pick up through Steam, a bundle that is still going for over $50 about three years after its release.

What matters here is that One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition is a good entry point to One Piece as a whole. This is not a game like Fire Emblem Warriors or Dragon Quest Heroes I & II, where people really need some familiarity with the property to appreciate the characters and their ensuing adventures. This game picks up right from the beginning of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. We see Luffy get his iconic hat from Red-Haired Shanks. We watch him recruit the members of his crew, like Zoro and Nami. The story covers everything from Romance Dawn to the Dressarosa, meaning 21 arcs worth of activities are there. While they may not offer the same detail as watching the anime or reading the manga, it is enough to help get people established. The game introduces everyone to every important element, making it easy for everyone to understand.

The Nintendo Switch version of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition also runs remarkably well. This is not like the PlayStation Vita versions of Musou games, where people see the trade-offs that needed to be made in the name of a portable version. There is little to no lag in the game. I only noticed any sort of slowdown was when playing two-player in multiplayer and both players used their special in a crowded area. Otherwise, there is a respectable number of enemies, things look good and the game plays smoothly docked and undocked.

The best part is single unit cooperative multiplayer. This was added after the Japanese version launched, but is immediately available for One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition’s worldwide release. Each person only needs a single Joy-con to play the game. This is usually rather comfortable, though people with larger hands trying to pull off specific combos may experience some trouble. But in a pinch, it makes it easy to play the game with someone else. Especially if one or both users tends to rely on button-mashing instead of specific combos. It is great to know it is possible to play anywhere easily, without carrying extra peripherals.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition works well on the Nintendo Switch for many reasons. It is a welcoming Musou that has no barriers to entry, since its missions do a good job of introducing the characters and setting up the story. It runs well on the system whether it is docked or undocked. Maybe most importantly, its Joy-con compatibility means you can play it everywhere with anyone. It is probably the most accessible version of the game.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 Deluxe Edition is available for the Nintendo Switch.