Made a post highlighting the new adaptation of One Piece earlier this week, though there are more Jump Festa announcements I want to talk about.
Uta dayo! The second character pass for Pirate Warriors 4 of this new batch was revealed in full! We knew that Uta would be added, though Film Red Shanks and Film Red Koby are newly revealed here. They look good.
This Shanks is a speed type(the best type,) compared to the one which was already in the game, which was a power type. Koby is a speed type as well, and Uta's type is technique.
Overall, I like this trio more than the previous, from a gameplay standpoint. This pass is more varied and has two whole new characters, compared to just Yamato from the last characters pass, who is more or less a mini Kaido anyway. Though gear 5 Luffy does look amazing to play as. And this pass includes Uta's songs from the film, which I still regularly listen to. I will be buying the Film Red pass!
For the final pass, that silhouette is clearly Roger, which makes me think Rayleigh has a good chance of getting in, though beyond that it's tough to say. Izo or adult Momonosuke would be good additions for me.
Bonus tonight since we haven’t had a proper Kiku post in a while and a pending draft made me think of this. If you didn’t know, Kiku’s made it into a One Piece game. Her, Kin, & Oden are a DLC pack for Pirate Warriors 4. Really feel her and Kin should have just been base game since it includes early Wano...but whatever. I used Tashigi mostly in PW3 and fittingly, Kiku really plays as a better Tashigi. With ice elemental attacks. And she’s accurately sized so you get the benefit of being comically huge which I enjoy.
It’s fun to play as her, and I’ve long been a fan of these Koei Warriors series games in moderation. Giving them a One Piece spin is a natural touch. Which gets us to the fun part...her lines. These games always have a lot of fun little special lines characters linked in the source material will say to each other. Gives a lot of fun teasers for what if scenarios. DLC character means you don’t get others referencing her directly but it’s cute what she says about some...
My favorite is the “beautiful” aspect. Because that’s part of her reputation, we get some for Cavendish and Hancock. First, y’all are gonna love the sapphic energy radiating off her lines towards Boa. Pretty bland though. Just “you’re as strong as you are beautiful, amazing!” type things. It is hilarious to see petrified Kiku with big heart eyes popping out. Cavendish? “Your pursuit of beauty has led to a failure to pursue strength.”
You obviously get fun ones for the big flashy Okama. Iva’s cute, “The ability to change ones sex, what a marvelous sorcery!” Bon’s is the better one to me though. A little more reserved delivery, uses her confused face icon, “The way that you dress...where does your heart lie?”
There is also one neat trick they pulled for other characters addressing her. Sure, they didn’t re-record a bunch of new lines for base roster faces, but they had a smart little backdoor. The Whitebeard Captains always have a special one or two for Luffy. The ones that don’t name Ace or him they’ll say to Kiku as well! I give an audible daww every time.
You get that and more out of the game + DLC package. I like her big special following up with the cute Bakura “Oh, why did I just do that?” and donning the mask as a transformation ability is so satisfying. She also gets in on a cool little Iai style mechanic a few swordsmen share.