We’re back.
Despite everything, we’re still back for more of these, and i will immediatly say i’m disappointed my boy Kaku didn’t make it, despite him being (kinda) prominent in the Egghead arc this DLC pack is representing, and the Egghead/CP0 version of Rob Lucci being the one fighter of the pack we knew was coming months ago.
But we kinda knew already due to educated guesses and japanese One Piece character popolarity poll results strongly suggesting so, so i’m not THAT surprised.
This pack also releases alongside the current gen versions of the game (being free upgrades for people owning the last gen versions at least on X-Box and Playstation), which will have better graphics, improved framerate and more enemies on screen, but since i don’t have a PS5 yet i can’t verify that for myself.
That said, let’s get to to it, starting off with Rob Lucci in his CP 0/Eddghead version.
I didn’t expect much, as it falls in line with previous DLC characters that are just upgraded or new versions of existing base roster characters, like Onigashima Luffy or Shanks version from Film Red.
This falls in between those in terms of quality and variety, as in, unlike “Film Red’s Shanks, the CP0 version of Lucci doesn’t change character type, he’s still a Sky character like base Lucci was, while also being a better “remix” than Onigashima Luffy, as that plainly reshuffled moves from the various movesets/iteration of the characters.
Here the moveset feels honestly more custom made for PW4 gameplay, as in made to work with the new emphasis on aerial combat and how Sky characters handle, instead of them not too successfully trying to retrofit his PW3 moveset into a more traditional DW combo system, as now his ground strong attack combos offer a brief attack buff that can be kept by transitioning into air combos.
He just doesn’t feel as unwieldy as the Sky characters can usually be, moving ironically too high and too fast, overshootin the enemies you were trying to hit more often than not, i assume because most of the new moveset has airborne attacks that also hit in a wider vertical range, as do the special attacks.
The main allure was his Awakened Form seen during the Egghead Arc, which retains the Sky typing but also applies the attack boost he would trigger via the strong ground combos, and give him access to this version’s only musou attack.
Bonney was a given to be part of the pack, and i’m incredibly disappointed in her.
It’s almost like they basically put all effort in redoing Lucci and run out of fucks to give for a character that did require a lot more work to be made proper playable in a Warriors game.
First off, the typing is strange, Power when it should have been Speed, i assume she’s a Power type because her defense would have been even lower if she wasn’t…. but her defense IS lower than most even as a Power type, so i assume it’s to give her some attack stat.
She should have been a Speed character with Tecnique-esque abilities like Charlotte Cracker, she doesn’t even have a healing special, despite Bonnie’s trait of a glutton being well know.
Sure, we saw her abilities in the Egghead arc, but her fruit is not one ready-made for combat usage,
and those moves were imitations of Luffy’s, so she ironic feels kinda like Sabo as she also uses a lead pipe, but instead of mixing it with fishman karate and flame powers, she grows giant for some combos and extends her limbs for others.
Which is fine (and fitting with PW 4 giant characters penchant) but also odd as you’d think this would go well if Bonney also was able to shrink herself or the enemies since she can change age of living beings by touch, or have some combos do other unique effects different from anyone else due to the nature of her unique Devil Fruit.. NOPE.
this was not an easy character to make a playable Warriors character out of, i’ll admit, but i don’t feel there was even an effort put into Bonney, like even if you set with her having an iron pipe as a weapon, the moveset for her should-could have been better and fit her character, like her clutching people in grabs and then smashing them with the pipe, i dunno.
It feels like extra piss taking to see Kuma not back as a playable character but just as a part of a single special musou attack that references an important scene in Egghead, heck, maybe it would have helped if some of her combos summoned Pacifistas, but i’m assuming it was never gonna be a thing due to the next and last character of the pack.
Yeah, i don’t get why “loli Boa Hancock as a super combat android” won the poll, i’m not even gonna make a joke, as it’s a waste, we could had one of the Punk Satellites instead but instead we got another version of an existing character…. well, two, kinda.
S-Snake is a Technique character as expected, since she is literally a living bio-weapon clone of Boa Hancock made from her blood by Vegapunk and so she has the same Devil Fruit power, but like the other Seraphims, she’s made to also have lasers like the Pacifistas cyborgs.
Since she has the Lunarian wings with flame, those are part of her character’s mechanic, so after landing enough attacks and combos, they lit up, expanding the moveset to full and letting her use combos that can petrify and shatter enemies in said state, with the Full Force Boost making this effect constant as long as the Burst lasts.
And no, she hasn’t a smaller frame, since – in case you didn’t know -the Seraphim characters (or the Punk Satellites) are giantish, not huge like Kaido or Big Mom, but they still manage to tower over regular units.
It’s a decent enough character, it’s a mix of Boa and a Pacifista unit with lasers and homing projectiles, but it’s also an aerial combos heavy character, unusual for a Tecnique type, so it’s not actually bad as a character to play as.
It’s definitely a better one than Bonney, despite being a frankensteined gestalt mash up of previous characters.
The pack also includes 3 alternate costumes, one for each character in the pack.
I’m just gonna point out that the alternate costume for S-Snake is her without the rocket boots thingies.
To be honest it’s weird seeing Omega Force flip flop between making improved, better versions of existing character that have been in the base roster since PW 3, ones that work better with PW4 systems, making one wonder if they had to rush this one, to disappointing piffle like Bonney and then remix existing characters into one, with S-Snake mixing Boa Hancock and the old Kuma lasers, so i don’t really recommend the pack, get it when it goes on sale and-or as part of a bundle.
To finish off, it’s worth pointing that yes, Bamco Namdai does expect us to play on the old maps and missions, as the update to make the DLC compatible/usable also adds the previously non-existing “S+” rank for battles, with a section in the Gallery reserved to see the rewards you can get for getting enough S+ ranks… as in, extra skill slots.
I mean, it’s better than the usual unlocking of an image by completing the dozens of objectives tied to the various tiles, it’s something that can actually be used in the game itself, but even i wonder who the fuck is gonna bother to such extent just for a total of like 3 extra skill slots.
Not me, for sure, i really don’t care nor have the extra time for that right now.
UPDATE: Just now Bonney DLC got a free update that adds her “Future Where I’m Most Free” form from the Egghead Arc.
Yeah, a free update to a DLC paid character for PW4, this is a first.
I guess because the anime finally got around to show that part (i really haven’t been keeping up with the anime lately, i’ll admit), and having the form change in the DLC would have been a spoiler, so they did this.
Yes, at this point i would have expected it to be just an extra special attack, but nope, it’s an actual form change that makes Bonney become a Sky type and sports a similar airbone moveset to Luffy’s Gear 5/Nika transformation, makes sense since she’s imitating him and Gear 5 Luffy shows up for a special attack that can only be accessed during the form change.
It’s not enough to make Bonney a good or decent character, but it’s something for the better that makes her character more complete to play as, but just marginally improved, it’s a form change but it doesn’t really fix (not that it realistically could) the issues i had with her moveset and typing.
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