“One Piece: Grand Adventure” Tackles the Fighting Genre; Classic 3D Action Included

by Louis Bedigian

 

“The progression of Luffy's adventure is a summarized version of the One Piece story. It's as true as we could get it.”

 

Many moons ago, Grandfather Aloof left home to pick up a slice of his favorite pie, banana cream. He had tried and fallen for lemon meringue, had a brief love affair with banana split, and went head over heels for the chocolate pie with an Oreo cookie crust. Regardless, no pie tingled his tongue or titillated his taste buds like strawberry cheesecake. I mean pineapple cream. Uhh—banana cream!

 

That was Grandfather’s problem. He couldn’t decide which was truly his favorite.

 

Things got complicated when he met pastry chef Zeef.  Zeef had just opened a new shop, Grand Adventure Pie Company. His shelves were stacked with the latest delicacies, all the more likely to entrap gramps when he strolled in.

 

Sure enough, the wide-eyed grandpa couldn’t make up his mind.

 

“I’ll have the cherry pie. One piece.”

 

The words “one piece” did not set well with Zeef. You do not come into his shop with the intent to have a taste, he thought. You come for a full-on assault of flavors. If you exit with only one piece that must mean you weren’t a satisfied customer.  

 

 

 

“One piece?” Zeef asked, sounding very appalled. “No, you take two.”

 

Grandfather Aloof paced for a bit, then agreed. “Throw in a piece of strawberry.”

 

Zeef smiled. “How about some blueberry?”

 

“I’ll take that too.”

 

“Chocolate? Peanut butter? Pineapple?”

 

“Yes, yes, yes. All of that.”

 

“You know,” Zeef started, pointing to the back wall, “we have a fine selection of pot pies as well. Our chicken is irresistible.”

 

“Sure, definitely. Everything you’ve got.”

 

Before Grandpa knew it he had purchased everything available.

 

“Here’s a coupon. Next time you come in, buy 20 pies and get one free.”

 

Grandfather Aloof took the coupon with great excitement. “Thank you!”

 

Though his addiction to pies never ended, from that moment on Grandfather Aloof was determined to purchase only one piece…at a time. He documented his addiction in the New York Times bestseller, Confessions of a Pedantic Pie-eater. Chapter 13, “Pecans Are Evil,” sums up his traumatic life experiences.

 

“There were times when I couldn’t get out of bed without dreaming of its soft, sweet goodness.”

 

Thus, when it came time for Bandai to invent a new anime series, they knew just what to do: whether the story is about pie or a topic completely unrelated, it was going to be called One Piece.

 

Having had success with this formula, one might speculate about the eventual sequel: Two Piece. It worked for clothing companies, so why not? But Bandai wouldn’t have it. In honor of Grandfather Aloof, they will stick to just one, the only one.

 

Late summer the only one gets another – One Piece: Grand Adventure. 

 

 

 

Grand Features

 

• Eight playable characters that have not made appearances in previous game, all playable.

• Upgrade your fighter in Adventure Mode, then import him into the versus mode

• Upgraded characters can be imported on friend’s games via memory cards (PS2-to-PS2; GameCube-to-GameCube)

• Or use a special password, given in-game, that allows you to virtually pull up your PS2-upgraded character on GameCube and vice versa

 

“One Piece is an action/comedy-type series starring Monkey D. Luffy,” said Masahiro Knittel (Associate Producer), giving us an intro to the series. “As a boy he encounters a figure who is a pirate, who he comes to respect very much. Following in his respected pirate friend’s footsteps, be decides to become a pirate.”

 

If you think that seems normal enough, just wait till you hear the next part.

 

He continues: “One day he eats a fruit called the Gum Gum fruit which gives him the ability to stretch his body like a rubber band. In many different ways and in many directions his body can be stretched and twisted around and used to his advantage in battle.”

 

Which explains the Street Fighter-esque gameplay mechanics being demonstrated in the game. Full One Piece: Grand Adventure Preview

 

Mr. Knittel spoke about the new One Piece adventure during a recent conference call. He informed us of its party and fighting game elements, and how it expands on the grand battles of the first game.

 

“We’ve added an adventure mode,” he says, going over a couple of the game’s improvements, “additional features, mini-games….extra moves, secret attacks, special attacks, etc., added to the existing characters.

 

The first game, Grand Battle, offered a mere taste of the story mode they’ve cooked up for this edition. Titled the “Adventure Mode,” this new story quest takes you through the story as you know it…and beyond.

 

“There are five different adventures that you can follow. The first one [revolves around] Luffy. There are four others that follow after you’re done with Luffy’s adventure. Luffy’s adventure follows the main story for the One Piece show as well as the comic series. It does go a little further than what has been shown [thus far] in the U.S.” 

 

The world map.

 

 

Need some excitement? Dial 1-555-G-ADVENTURE

 

“When you start the game you have only one adventure, which is Luffy’s adventure,” says Mr. Knittel, explaining how the adventures build. “As you progress through his adventure you’ll pick up various characters. How the game works, there’s a sea map with various points that you can visit and stop at. There are points of interest that you don’t have to visit, but you can for additional bonuses like additional support characters. There are other additional unlockables that you can obtain by visiting these side points of interest.

 

“As you go through these different points of interest you’ll encounter characters that will fight you and/or join your crew and fight for you. The progression of Luffy’s adventure is [essentially] a summarized version of the One Piece story. It’s as true [to the anime series] as we could get it.”

 

That’s not even half of it. Various “bonus conditions” appeared throughout the preview build, but it wasn’t always clear as to what the reward would be for meeting the conditions. These conditions require you to fight opponents as you normally would with just one catch. You may not be allowed to jump. You may be required to have 50% of your HP left at the end of the match. Or you might have to ensure that your enemy is defeated through energy depletion (by fully beating him) and not by the time running out. These are just a examples – many more bonus conditions will be present in the final game.

 

Mr. Knittel told us that by meeting these conditions, we might unlock new characters and artwork that is viewable in the gallery. Even better is what comes after Luffy’s adventure is completed.

 

“Once you complete Luffy’s adventure you’ll be able to access some of the others. One is Captain Buggy, the pirate. These extra adventures follow a theoretical ‘what would’ve happened if.’ Sort of a ‘what would have happened in between’ this and that type of story. It fills in the blanks of some of the story elements.”

 

Like any title based on an existing property, there were some elements that needed to be added to make the game feel like a game, not just another chapter in the story. One such element: EXP.

 

“There’s an experience point system where the characters level up as you progress through the Adventure mode. When you level up you’re able to apply an extra point to the statistic of your choice. You can apply a point to attack, to defense, to increase your support character’s strength, attack, defense, etc.” 

 

“We’re looking at 40 to 50 hours to get through all five captains’ stories.”-- Masahiro Knittel

 

 

Grand Answers

 

Other recent Bandai anime and comic series have featured a wonderful array of graphic effects and very unique in-game cinemas. Will One Piece: Grand Adventure follow suit?

 

Masahiro Knittel: Yes. There are cut scenes. Each of the secret attacks that each of the characters have, whenever you do one, there’s basically an in-game rendered cut scene. Each one is very characteristic of that particular character. You’ll see a lot of funny nuances from each character within each attack.

 

There’s also a cut scene involving a major event when you progress through the Adventure mode. It shows a major event that happens in the actual anime series. Throughout the game, in between battles there are also cut scenes involving dialogue between characters. So there are smaller, more minor types of scenes throughout the game.

 

How do you go about locating the new characters?

 

MK: As you progress through the Adventure mode you’ll encounter them fairly naturally. Most of the characters you’ll be able to get by going through the game normally. Some are encountered by going back and re-visiting points of interest. You’ll basically be able to go back to these points that have already been visited and discover that something has changed. You’ll be able to talk to some of these characters, and you may have to fight some of them before they’ll join your crew. But that’s pretty typical of the One Piece universe – having to win someone over. Quite a few of them start out as adversaries but will eventually turn sides and join you instead.

 

Are the stages based directly on show locales, or will there be new places not seen before as well?

 

MK: Most of the stages are based on the show. There is a stage called Eden Rock, which was in the previous title (Grand Battle) – it will be back. I’m not aware of Eden Rock being part of the anime, but I have not followed the anime as well as I have followed the comic book series.

 

There are also some new stages that appear in the mini-games. 

 

 

 

What is the Accel-Heat System – which allows you to perform special moves -- how does it differ from other systems in other fighting games with similar functions?

 

MK: There are three levels of Accel-Heat. It’s for types of skill gauge moves. Players are allowed to have up to three gauge slots. They start out with only one, then eventually get, after they level up, [two more gauges]. Accel-Heat is just one of the moves that can expel the skill gauge.

 

Accel-Heat level 1 basically interrupts the current movement you’re engaged in. It kind of pops the character out of whatever is currently happening so they can flip around. Basically if they’re getting kicked or punched, they can break out of that, turn around and attack the opponent instead.

 

Level 2 – If you pop Accel-Heat twice in a row it brings it up to level 2. It allows you to prevent your opponent from blocking. They can try but your attacks will go right through it. These attacks will also deal more damaging effects.

 

Level 3 – This is when you expel all three skill gauges in a row. On top of the effects of level 1 and level 2 (breaking out of moves and increasing attacks), you’ll also be able to run around at a faster speed. Whenever you dash at an opponent it’ll launch an attack that goes through their blocks. By going to level 3, you’ll not only interrupt your opponents moves and prevent them from blocking, but you’ll also be able to charge and attack them. [It also allows you to] string more attacks together, and these attacks will be stronger than normal.

 

You earn EXP for defeating enemies. How is the amount earned decided – is it based on individual enemies, a specific stage or mission, etc.?

 

MK: The amount of EXP that you gain depends on the level of your opponent, as well as the difficulty of the battle itself. For instance, you’ll earn more experience points – if you’re, say, level 5 and your opponent is level 6, you’ll gain more experience than if you were fighting someone who is the same level [as your character].

 

Can you tell us anything about the mini-games?

 

MK: There’s a rumble battle as one of the mini-games, and many of the mini-games will be introduced in the actual story mode as well. You’ll go to a point of interest and instead of it being a one-on-one-type battle, it’ll be a rumble battle. In rumble battles you square off against five, six, seven, sometimes 15 to 20 opponents. Some will appear all at once, sometimes you’ll have to fight 10 at first, and as you kill one another will spawn.

 

There’s also a box-crusher game, which was also in Grand Battle. There’s a [split-screen] duck race, where you race on the ducks. There is also a custom rules mode where you can customize the rules of a versus battle. There are various elements that you can tweak.

 

Thanks to everyone at Namco Bandai and Kohnke Communications for having a wonderful conference call.