Best One Piece Games

One Piece has been a manga since 1997, and it is still going strong. Additionally, the anime series, which started in 1999, has skipped a thousand episodes and, again, is still going strong. Even if it took longer to cross over to Western countries than the other “big” battle shonen properties, One Piece is arguably untouchable when it comes to worldwide appeal, with only Dragon Ball exceeding it.

Due to its delayed push, many games based on One Piece were never localized in North America. Furthermore, the franchise has not always had the greatest track record when it comes to these sorts of adaptations, with most projects being very mediocre. Still, there are some gems that fans should check out. Let’s take a look at the best One Piece games.

Updated September 7, 2024 by Mark Sammut: At this point, a new console One Piece game does not seem to be on the horizon, which is a shame as Odyssey was a big leap in the right direction. To help fill the void while waiting for something new to be announced, two more games have been added as recommendations. They are fairly polarizing, but they have their charm.

7 One Piece: World Seeker

Great Setting, Good Story, Below-Average Combat

OK, One Piece: World Seeker is not particularly good; in fact, it might be the franchise’s most disappointing game since, on paper, it sounds great. For years, people had been craving an open-world project that essentially delivers a traditional One Piece arc in game form. World Seeker does just that, telling a unique story set on a prison island. While nothing too amazing, the writing is decent, the characters are mostly true to themselves, and the setting is genuinely impressive. Even the main villain, Isaac, has his charm, and he would not look out of place in a filler arc in the anime.

Sadly, World Seeker falls somewhat apart in the gameplay department. Luffy is the only playable character, which makes sense since traversal is directly tied to his Devil Fruit ability. Unfortunately, his combat options are way too shallow to remain interesting for 15+ hours, and this lack of depth is heightened by underwhelming enemy AI that does not provide much of a challenge. Prison Island is a bit too big for its own good, especially since most of it is just hills and fairly empty fields.

For all its flaws, World Seeker can still be entertaining, especially for die-hard fans. The story is worth consuming, and Luffy is fun to control when he is not fighting marines.

6 One Piece Treasure Cruise

An Endless Timesink That Can Consume Your Life

Gacha mobile games are a dime-a-dozen, especially ones based on anime licenses. Most major shonen series have at least a single adaptation that fits the bill, and they tend to be fine ways to waste a few minutes per day. That said, One Piece Treasure Cruise is arguably better than average, delivering a surprisingly fun turn-based combat system that can be reasonably challenging and requires frequent interaction by players due to its input-based bonuses. The story mode runs through the manga’s main arcs and is updated fairly regularly, ensuring there is always new content on the horizon.

Still, Treasure Cruise‘s appeal is its HUGE roster of characters, with pretty much every One Piece figure having different tiers/forms that cover their changes throughout the story. Players will gradually build a six-member crew featuring some of the most powerful names in this universe; however, the process is slow. Like most gacha games, Treasure Cruise starts fairly forgiving but gradually slows down to a crawl, requiring players to grind for pretty much any progress.

5 One Piece: Grand Adventure

A Really Fun Arena Brawler With A Lot Of Content

Due to mostly skipping Western nations, Grand Battle had very limited reach during its rather lengthy run. The subseries was active for more than a decade, releasing seven games between 2001 and 2014; unfortunately, only three of those left Japan, and only two of them debuted in North America. Still, GameCube and PS2 owners at least got to experience Grand Battle! and Grand Adventure, both of which are enjoyable arena fighters that take some ideas from classics like Power Stone. While the former is decent, it is rendered utterly obsolete by its successor, which has way more content and characters.

Grand Adventure‘s combat is just the right type of chaotic, dropping players into arenas filled with (strong or weak) enemies and weapons. Even if not extremely deep, the gameplay is fast, flashy, and stylish, complementing the source material. This type of game lends itself well to multiplayer, but Grand Adventure does not fall short in the single-player department either. The main mode allows players to build a crew and go on a mini-adventure, fighting battles and recruiting new pirates along the way. Like, it does not have a particularly grand story, but it is fun for a few hours.

4 One Piece: Unlimited World Red

Fun Town Expansion System, Respectable Character Roster, Decent Story, And Average Combat

One of the more readily available One Piece games, Unlimited World Red is on the cusp of greatness, but mostly settles for being just pretty good. Telling an original story that is not far removed from the quality of the One Piece movies, the campaign finds the Straw Hats helping out a unique town while also engaging with a powerful pirate from yesteryear. Also, the crew has to go up against some of their strongest past foes, although they are not quite themselves.

Unlimited World Red knocks its presentation out of the park, looking great on most systems. While very linear, the stages are generally impressive and varied, with their backgrounds being consistently gorgeous; conversely, Transtown, the main hub, is quite open and allows for a fair amount of exploration. The combat feels like a mash of beat ’em up and Musou mechanics, albeit arguably slower than both. Although far from terrible, the battle system gets repetitive rather quickly, especially since encounters with fodder enemies tend to overstay their welcome. That said, the boss fights are consistently great and superior to the ones found in most of the Pirate Warriors games.

3 One Piece GBA

A Simple But Enjoyable Beat ‘Em Up

Simply called One Piece, this beat ’em up is a perfectly good option on Nintendo’s handheld GBA system. Dimps is a reliable developer, and this somewhat forgotten project represents the developer’s talent for crafting solid licensed games that capture the charm of the source material while providing accessible gameplay. Just to be clear, One Piece does not excel in any one area, and its combat will probably not keep non-fans engaged for too long due to its low difficulty and style-over-substance approach.

However, the 2005 title is decent across the board. A vibrant color palette and little animation touches (like Luffy holding his straw hat when he runs) add personality to the otherwise simple visuals, and the game nails its character designs and Luffy’s special attacks. The campaign is also reasonably robust for a GBA release.

2 One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4

The Musou Formula Done Near Perfection, But Still An Acquired Taste

The latest installment in the Musou series, Pirate Warriors 4 is basically a love letter to the franchise, offering die-hard fans a massive roster of characters along with telling a unique version of Wano Arc, which was ongoing at the time of the game’s development. While nothing too amazing, the story is at least a fun departure from the status quo, making this entry a better overall pick than, for example, Pirate Warriors 3.

Ultimately, this game (and series) is not for everyone. The Musou formula tends to be very divisive, either granting players a cathartic power fantasy with accessible hack and slash combat or a repetitive slog with shallow gameplay. Still, Pirate Warriors 4 is a fantastic example of this formula that is packed with content, even going beyond the massive roster of characters that are just waiting to be unlocked. For what it is trying to be, this title is great.

1 One Piece Odyssey

The Most Ambitious One Piece Game

The most recent One Piece game, Odyssey is a turn-based JRPG that frames some of the manga’s most prominent arcs through a new storyline. The Straw Hats wind up on a mystery island that strips them of most of their abilities, forcing the crew to revisit their most challenging memories to regain their skills. While largely retreading familiar ground, Odyssey does change a few things about the sagas, so they should present a handful of surprises for long-time fans.

One Piece Odyssey is arguably the franchise’s most ambitious game to date, and it comes the closest to capturing the source material’s sense of adventure. The turn-based combat works fairly well since it emphasizes the crew’s positioning on the battlefield, encouraging players to move them around to ensure they are targeting the right enemies for them. That said, outside of boss encounters, the campaign is a bit too easy for its own good, which winds up taking away from what is fundamentally a solid battle system.

On paper, One Piece Odyssey is the most accessible game in the franchise, but it is still ultimately difficult to recommend to JRPG fans who are not interested in the manga or anime. The story is not only long but moves at a fairly slow pace, which can cause boredom to set in after a while.