One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is a One Piece video game released for the Sony PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Microsoft Windows. The game was announced in Shonen Jump magazine as a sequel to One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2, with Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei teaming up once again to publish it along with developer Omega Force, a subsidiary of Tecmo Koei. The game takes place from the East Blue Saga until the Dressrosa Arc, with an original ending.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the first two installments. A new feature is the Kizuna Rush, which summons another character alongside the player in battle to perform a combination attack. Up to four players can be summoned at once this way, with the finishing attacks becoming more powerful as more characters join.

During battle, one of the NPC support characters (known as Crew in the game) may become a Hero, which causes the Kizuna Gauge of the support character who is a hero to fill up more easily. Maxing out this support character's Kizuna Level and filling their Kizuna Gauge, will unleash their Hero Power. Each character (Playable & Support) have their own Hero Powers which produce different effects, such as causing a barrage (such as Fujitora causing a barrage of meteors, Sakazuki unleashing a barrage magma, or Garp throwing a barrage of Cannonballs) that deals out damage to every enemy on a stage, restoring health of allied units (Chopper & Sanji's hero power), reducing the enemy units attack power by intimidating them (Zoro and Luffy's Hero Power), or inspiring allied units increasing their combat effectiveness and attack strength. However tough enemies can also unleash their Hero Power which causes a stunned Gauge to appear over their head and when the gauge reaches 0 the enemy will be stunned causing their Hero Power to end.

Some characters like Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji can use a special state called an Overdrive which allow them to use their signature power-up states like Gear Second, Diable Jambe, or Sogeking when Kizuna Rush is activated. However these Overdrives are not automatically available and require specific Coins to unlock them. Also for most of the Logia users in the game, their Logia state acts as their Overdrive and unlike characters Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji these Overdrives do not need to be unlocked using Coins.

The main story mode, "Legend Log" mode features special cutscenes called "Treasure Events" which can be triggered under certain conditions (e.g. using a certain character, completing specific tasks, defeating a specific enemy, etc.).

In addition to the main story mode, there is also a "Dream Log" mode, in which characters and items are revealed and unlocked as the player progresses through the mode's semi-randomized battles.

The game features a "Legend Diary" that functions as an overall progress indicator. Achieving S-Ranks on levels, defeating bosses with Special Kizuna Attacks and fulfilling other miscellaneous objectives gradually fills out the grid and rewards the player with coins that can be used to upgrade each character's stats, to unlock their second special attack, or unlock their overdrives (if they have one). The game also features "Skill Posters" for each character that allow the player to unlock various equipable skills by fulfilling certain conditions.

Playable Characters
Many characters have a number of costumes to choose from. In the case of the Straw Hat Pirates and Blackbeard, their pre- and post-timeskip costumes have different movesets and special attacks. The remaining characters with bolded groups have a different character image and portrait depending on whether they are from pre- or post-timeskip, but no moveset changes. Costumes in italics are DLC.

NPCs & Cameos

 * Kuina
 * Zeff
 * Nefertari Vivi
 * Kureha
 * Hiluluk
 * Klabautermann/Going Merry
 * Montblanc Cricket
 * Hattori
 * Iceburg
 * Zambai/Franky Family
 * Spandam
 * Gol D. Roger
 * Silvers Rayleigh
 * Inazuma
 * Sengoku
 * Smiley

Locations

 * Shells Town
 * Orange Town
 * Syrup Village
 * Baratie
 * Arlong Park
 * Loguetown
 * Drum Island
 * Alabasta
 * Jaya
 * Skypiea
 * Water 7
 * Enies Lobby
 * Thriller Bark
 * Sabaody Archipelago
 * Impel Down
 * Marineford
 * Fishman Island
 * Punk Hazard
 * Dressrosa

Story Arcs

 * Romance Dawn Arc
 * Orange Town Arc
 * Syrup Village Arc
 * Baratie Arc
 * Arlong Park Arc
 * Loguetown Arc
 * Drum Island Arc
 * Alabasta Arc
 * Jaya Arc
 * Skypiea Arc
 * Water 7 Arc
 * Enies Lobby Arc
 * Post-Enies Lobby Arc
 * Thriller Bark Arc
 * Sabaody Archipelago Arc
 * Impel Down Arc
 * Marineford Arc
 * Return to Sabaody Arc
 * Fishman Island Arc
 * Punk Hazard Arc
 * Dressrosa Arc

Plot Alterations & Storyline Differences
Though the game is largely based on the canon storyline (from the East Blue Saga to Dressrosa Arc), parts of the plot are altered (such as certain characters being absent or represented by generic NPCs) or play out differently than they did in the canon storyline (for gameplay reasons).
 * Some characters like Ripper, Boodle, Franky Family, Thriller Bark Victim's Association, Brook's Managers, and the Impostor Straw Hat Pirates are represented by generic NPCs in cutscenes and story scenarios. However, Zambai's NPC design does resemble him somewhat and the Franky Family NPCs feature the Franky Family's signature star design on their armor.
 * Helmeppo is absent from the Romance Dawn Arc and the Post-Enies Lobby Arc.
 * Nami briefly appears during the Romance Dawn Arc as part of a Treasure Event. This is possibly a reference to her early cameo appearances during Romance Dawn Arc in anime, as she is not introduced until the Orange Town Arc in the manga.
 * Alvida joins forces with Buggy much earlier during the Orange Town Arc, when in the original story the two did not join forces with Buggy until Buggy's Crew: After the Battle! cover mini-series which takes place after the Orange Town Arc. One reason may be due to the absence of Mohji and Cabaji in the game.
 * During the Syrup Village Arc, Klahadore (Kuro's disguise) meets with a generic Pirate Captain to talk about Kuro's planned attack on Syrup Village which is overheard by Usopp and Luffy, revealing to them that Klahadore is actually Captain Kuro who plans to steal Kaya's fortune. In the original storyline, Kuro meet with his former first mate Jango (who became Captain of the Black Cat Pirates after Kuro faked his death). This change is likely due to Jango's absence in game.
 * During the Syrup Village Arc, Villagers appears as allied units fighting the Black Cat Pirates. In the original storyline, the only Syrup Villagers aware of the attack by Kuro and his crew are Usopp Pirates, Kaya, and Merry (Merry was injured by Kuro early on and was unable to assist in the fight with Kuro and his crew). This was likely added to fit the Pirate Warriors gameplay formula and due to the absence of Tamanegi, Ninjin, Piiman, and Kaya.
 * Also When Kuro starts attacking his crew, a few of them defect and ally themselves with the Straw Hats hoping they can defeat Kuro allowing them to survive.
 * During the Alabasta Arc Sanji and Zoro have special cutscenes showing the climax of their fights with Mr. 2 Bon Clay and Mr. 1, that appear only if they are selected as a playable character and defeat them.
 * At the end of the Alabasta Arc, Carue does not appear when Vivi and Straw Hats part ways.
 * During the Jaya Arc, several members of the Straw Hat crew participate Luffy's quest to recover the gold Bellamy stole from Montblanc Cricket, while in the canon storyline, Luffy did it alone.
 * The Straw Hats fight with the Blackbeard Pirates, Jesus Burgess, and Marshall D. Teach (though they appear with ??? in dialog boxes) during the Jaya Arc, which did not actually occur in the canon storyline.
 * During the Enies Lobby Arc, the Straw Hats lower the bridge leading to the Tower of Justice instead of leaving it to the Franky Family and use the drawbridge to access the Tower of Justice, instead of Rocket Man.
 * Zoro and Sanji have special cutscenes showing the climax of their fights with Kaku and Jabra, that appear only if they are selected as the player's character and defeat them.
 * During the Thriller Bark Arc, Perona appears in her Post-Timeskip appearance instead of her original Pre-Timeskip appearance, despite it technically being in the game (though this may be due to her Thriller Bark outfit being DLC).
 * During the Impel Down Arc, Level 5.5 Newkama Land appears as base that must be captured from the Jailers. In the canon storyline, the Jailers are unaware of the existence of Level 5.5 and during the Impel Down Arc it was under the control of Ivankov and the Newkama.
 * At the beginning of the Return to Sabaody Arc, Sabo can be seen visiting Ace and Whitebeard's graves. While Sabo does this in the manga, the actually action is not seen. The scene itself is a reference to its depiction in the 3D2Y special and Episode of Sabo of the anime.
 * During the Return to Sabaody Arc, Perona briefly appears as an enemy trying to take Chopper (due to his cuteness) and Usopp appears to stop her. After she is defeated she becomes an Support Character and assists the Straw Hats for the remainder of the scenario. In the canon story, Perona only helps the Straw Hats escape the Marines and does not appear as an enemy of the Straw Hats at any point during said Arc.

Trivia

 * Aside from notable translation differences from most media as with many One Piece adaptations, there are a major number of notable typos in the game's English text.
 * Tashigi during the Alabasta stage is referred to as a "he" during one battlefield message.
 * Monet during Punk Hazard is referred to as a "guy" by scripted dialogue from a G-5 Commander NPC.
 * The Arlong Pirates are mistakenly referred to as the Sun Pirates at various points in the game and New Fishman Pirates are mistakenly referred to as the New Sun Pirates at one point.
 * Tashigi's taunt will cause her to lift up her glasses, which causes the screen brightness to dim somewhat (this is apparently an intentional part of the game's design and not a bug/glitch). This screen dimming is reference to Tashigi's poor eyesight and serves as an in-game representation of it. The screen dimming was probably chosen to represent her poor eyesight instead of having the screen blurring (a more realistic representation of poor eyesight), as the dimming would not hinder gameplay too much. If her taunt is used a second time she will put her glasses back on which will restore the screen brightness to normal.
 * If a player prefer to play with her glasses lifted, one way to compensate for the dimming (which can make it hard to see clearly on certain stages) is to increase the brightness level on the television (or computer monitor for PC users) being used.
 * This game covers several arcs absent from the original One Piece: Pirate Warriors, such as the Romance Dawn Arc, Syrup Village Arc, Loguetown Arc, Jaya Arc, Skypiea Arc, Post-Enies Lobby Arc, and Thriller Bark Arc. Several new arcs are also introduced such as Fishman Island Arc, Punk Hazard Arc, and Dressrosa Arc.
 * Cutscenes (all or parts of them) from One Piece: Pirate Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 are reused (such as cutscenes from One Piece: Pirate Warriors) and/or altered (such as the climax of Luffy's fights with Enel and Gekko Moriah from One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2).
 * Several characters that where unplayable (Support and Enemy characters) in the previous Pirate Warriors titles, are now playable, including Rob Lucci, Gekko Moriah, Magellan, and Emporio Ivankov.
 * Shanks, Sabo, Tashigi (Pre-Timeskip & Post-Timeskip), Donquixote Doflamingo, Fujitora, and Caesar Clown all appear as new playable characters.
 * Alvida (Sube Sube no Mi), Coby (Master Chief Petty Officer), Morgan, Kuro, Daz Bones, Bellamy (Pre-Timeskip & Post-Timeskip), Jesus Burgess (Pre-Timeskip & Post-Timeskip), Wiper, Hody Jones, Monet, and Vergo appear as both new enemies and support characters.
 * In the game's opening, a scene with young Luffy, Sabo, and Ace each holding up a cup of Sake is shown, which is a reference to how they became brothers.
 * In the game's opening, several story cutscenes (such as Luffy receiving his Straw Hat from Shanks) are briefly shown in panels on the pages of a manga (as the pages go from right-to-left), until it is cut up by Kuro's Cat Claws.
 * At the end of the opening, adult Luffy, Sabo, and Ace each unleash their signature fire-based punches: Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Red Hawk, while Ace & Sabo each use Hiken.
 * The scene of Gol D. Roger's execution in Loguetown is briefly appears in the Dawn of Adventure cutscene from the Romance Dawn Arc. In the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, a still frame from that scene appears when Silvers Rayleigh is explaining the true details of Roger capture and execution to the Straw Hats. A still frame depicting a young Gol D. Roger wearing the Straw Hat Luffy currently wears appears when Rayleigh remembers the time when he first met Roger.
 * This game includes Giant enemies most of which are scaled up versions of enemy captains. There are Giant Pirate Captains, Giant Zombie Captains, Giant Fishmen Captains, and Giant Marine Captains.
 * Oars appears during the Thriller Bark Arc story scenario as a giant boss and is the largest enemy character in the game.
 * Most of the locations are larger than they were in One Piece: Pirate Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 and the maps of several of the locations featured in those games have a completely new layout. However, certain areas that acted as boss battle arenas in the first Pirate Warriors game are a bit more compressed as usual, and some of them prevent the player from leaving the room once entered unless the boss is defeated.
 * This game covers several arcs absent from the original One Piece: Pirate Warriors, such as the Romance Dawn Arc, Syrup Village Arc, Loguetown Arc, Jaya Arc, Skypiea Arc, Post-Enies Lobby Arc, and Thriller Bark Arc. Several new arcs are also introduced such as Fishman Island Arc, Punk Hazard Arc, and Dressrosa Arc.
 * Cutscenes (all or parts of them) from One Piece: Pirate Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 are reused (such as cutscenes from One Piece: Pirate Warriors) and/or altered (such as the climax of Luffy's fights with Enel and Gekko Moriah from One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2).
 * Despite not appearing as playable or support characters, Nefertari Vivi, Spandam, and Silvers Rayleigh have 3D models that appear in cutscenes and story scenarios.
 * During the Jaya Arc, the book Liar Noland appears as part of a Treasure Event cutscene. It also appears in a cutscene during the Skypiea Arc.
 * During the Skypiea Arc, scene of Wiper knocking down the beanstalk with his Reject Dial to assist Luffy in defeating Enel appears during the scenario's climax cutscene. Aside from this and Luffy being in his Pre-Timeskip appearance, rest of the cutscene plays out exactly as the climax cutscene from the first story scenario of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 (which contained elements of the Skypiea Arc).
 * If Luffy is chosen as a playable character during the Water 7 Arc story scenario, then he will battle Usopp over the fate of the Going Merry. However, if any other character is selected, then at the start the cutscene of Luffy defeating Usopp will automatically play instead (In Luffy's case the player must defeat Usopp first for that very result).
 * Pre-Timeskip Nami's Wedding Dress from the Thriller Bark Arc appears as a DLC costume.
 * Though Perona has Thriller Bark Pre-Timeskip costume/skin, she plays exactly the same as her Post-Timeskip incarnation. Her character portrait also does not change, unlike many alternate costume transitions from Pre-Timeskip and Post-Timeskip changes.
 * During the Thriller Bark Arc, Robin's refusal to participate in Franky's Pirate Docking 6 maneuver appears as part of a Treasure Event cutscene (their is even a still frame of Franky, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji preforming it sans Robin).
 * The Marineford Arc is broken up into two story scenarios, Summit Battle (which covers with the start of the War, Luffy and Impel Down escapees arrival, and the fight with Aokiji) and The War's Conclusion (which covers with Ace's rescue from the execution platform, Ace's fights with Aokiji and Akainu, Ace's death at the hands of Akainu, Whitebeard's death at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard obtaining the Gura Gura no Mi, and ending Coby's protest & Shanks arrival).
 * During the The War's Conclusion scenario of the Marineford Arc, if Luffy is selected than the scenario will end after Akainu's defeat and Ace's death (due to Luffy collapsing from grief over Ace's death and his injuries). If Whitebeard is selected, then it will end after Blackbeard (Yami Yami no Mi) is defeated and Whitebeard declares One Piece exists and dies standing. If any other character besides Luffy or Whitebeard is selected, the scenario will end after Blackbeard (Yami Yami no Mi & Gura Gura no Mi) is defeated and ends with Coby protesting to end the fighting and Shanks timely arrival saving him from Akainu.