One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Switch Edition will see release in the platform this fall. Now, that’s unheard of! For all who are gearing up for it, it’s musou game-type action featuring characters from all corners of the One Piece world: heroes, villains, and legends whose popularity has undoubtedly been growing amongst fans of anime and manga.
There was an official announcement via #NintendoDirect and tagged @onepiece_games. It’s crazy to think we are already having Switch 2 games being announced, with the console itself never yet officially unveiled by Nintendo. And yet here we go again, working on another edition of Pirate Warriors 4 on the next-gen system.
Replies have already been setting the hype cycle running. One of them, Ninijatt, quickly came in with, “YO HO HO HE TOOK A BITE O GUM GUM,” referring to Luffy’s famous Gum Gum Fruit powers. That’s the kind of vibe that One Piece fans bring to everything, and it genuinely stretches.
Some really condemn the main spirit, though. The conversation turns into a debate on Nintendo’s patent practices. AbhorrentStars commented, “The patents are reaching. Had to have paid someone off. I can’t believe it otherwise.” He then added, “Kinda sad, you pool all these games together on this console. Hoard your own games. And turn around and needlessly sue competitors instead of striving to do better then them.”
This is probably a nod at one of the recent patent, or even legal, cases Nintendo has been involved in. Then another user took it to another level: JRev stated; “Its funny how much brand damage you guys have done with patent trolling. Never buying another Nintendo product. Patent creature summoning are you kidding me? How about not releasing slop.”
The phrase “patent creature summoning” most likely alludes to these recent patent filings that have stirred up some wrath among the public. User True referred to Warcraft 1994, reacting with, “So now that you successfully sneaked summoning into a patent, I wonder if your horrible lawyers will sue companies. Like Warcraft I, from 1994, which has summoning animals and controlling them. Must have stolen it from the future, ey?! #boycottnintendo.”
Amidst the mess concerning the patents, some equally excited One Piece fans still remain. Justlena wrote, “i really need the Nintendo Switch 2 so I can play this game,” which is probably exactly how a whole lot of people feel right now. If a game like this is already being announced for it, then Switch 2 is shaping up to be a pretty cool system.
And it brings up rather practical questions as well. LensmetaX asks, “That’s exciting, but will the switch 2 games work with the original?,” a big question that Nintendo has yet to answer. I just feel that if it ever comes up, backwards compatibility will become a big fuss.
Some users are already putting down their cash. One user, mandee, said, “Okay, I’ll pick this up. I wish we could see Burning Blood come to Switch/Switch 2 though.” So now it’s clear there is a bit of interest regarding porting of more One Piece games to Nintendo’s next-gen console.
Pirate Warriors 4, of the 2020 first release, carried out the Whole Cake Island Arc and the Wano Country Arc from the manga, which at that time were among the most recent storylines. The game also saw new mechanics like aerial combos by characters, and destructible environments for added interaction, thus rendering fights more engaging than some of the other previous titles in the series.
In case you have not yet played any of the Pirate Warriors games, these are essentially Dynasty Warriors-Simulated gameplay with the One Piece characters mixed in. You get to control various characters from the series and fight hundreds upon hundreds of enemies at designated times using flashy special moves and combos. So when you want to feel absurdly powerful, walk through hordes of enemies at will alongside your anime boys and girls.
The Switch 2 Edition is likely to have the best graphics and performance over the regular Switch Edition; with improvements in frame rates and resolution of textures and all. It is a standard affair for games that get a better edition with a new console launch.
Pricing is yet to be revealed, although user Budo asked, “So it free right?” And you’d have to say no to that. Almost never is it the case. These precious editions rarely go out for free, though sometimes there are upgrade paths for those who own the game on older systems.
The spring puts the launch window right where everyone is expecting the Switch 2. The system is pretty late from the official announcement, but rumours have been swirling for some months of a late 2024 release. Making it all even more logical is that games like One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 will be ready for launch-window release.
Interesting days for this third-party now having a lineup for the new system already. Since One Piece games have traditionally performed well on Nintendo platforms, that’s definitely a smart call from Bandai Namco. The series has a loyal fanbase who will probably want to play this on more recent hardware.
The tweet announcement has been rocked by fans and patent critics going berserk. But one thing’s sure, Switch 2 is out in the wild, and games are already molded for it. Whether you are going to cherish playing as Luffy on fresh hardware or worried about Nintendo’s business practices is just a harbinger.
Fall is pretty close, so this will mean the announcements of all Switch 2 and games to be available for launch won’t be far behind. Meanwhile, One Piece geeks have a big thing to look forward to, while the rest of the world has even more food for thought as regards Nintendo’s next move in the console space.
