[THGS 2019] Together with the Straw Hat Pirates, interview with producer Katsuaki Tsuzuki

You’ve seen Basil’s and Kaido’s appearances! The crew only gets bigger for One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, to join in the fun in beating up lots of mooks! We catch with to the game’s producer, Katsuaki Tsuzuki, at Thailand Game Show 2019 to ask him a few questions.

Fans are probably wondering when the game takes place. Players will be starting from Alabasta, the Sand City. It won’t be a story continuing from 10 years ago, as the developers want the players to know the story as it is now. This is reasoned thanks to the addition of individual characters being separated episode by episode.

Those coming from the previous game – namely, Pirate Warriors 3 – might remember certain interesting features, like how Sanji cannot attack female characters. You can expect these characteristics to remain in its sequel, with more characters also having their own limitations. An example given is how a character can only transform at night.

While there may be these similarities, players can be assured there will be distinguishable content from the sequel from its predecessor. This content will also be lengthening the gameplay. What exactly they are, we can’t know yet, so we’ll look forward to their future announcements.

Unfortunately for movie character fans – we see you, Shiki and Z fans – there are currently no discussions on including these movie exclusive characters. Development is currently being focused on the Hawkins and other characters. Should fans ask, the development team could consider adding movie favourites to the game. Speaking of which, DLC is also currently under consideration. There’s still stuff yet to be revealed yet, so please wait warmly. We’ll stay tuned for more high profile characters joining in too!

The Wano Country arc will be part of an original story within the game. Tsuzuki says it’ll “be interesting”, so we shall see for ourselves then! We won’t be able to create our own playable pirate, as the team are focused on each character’s unique characteristics for now. He does seem open to the idea, at least, if the fans request it so. We couldn’t get a specific date for the game’s 2020 release, but he says “it won’t be too long”.

In closing, the producer is touched that there are many One Piece fans from Malaysia. He hopes that you guys will continue being passionate in the game, as it will encourage them to make more, and better, games.

ONE PIECE Pirate Warriors 4

Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Release Date: 2020-03-27

Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One

Fight hordes and hordes of enemies as you join the fray as one of the characters in ONE PIECE!

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