Davis from Denkiphile: "Anime titles have always translated well into games, especially those in the shonen genre with their inclusion of rivals and grunts that make memorable boss fights and perfect waves of grunts. Already, we’ve seen this in action in One Piece: Pirate Warriors from Namco Bandai Games and it seems that they are trying to reproduce that success with the 3DS’s port of the PSP’s One Piece Romance Dawn. While the former is a hack-and-slasher, the newly released title is an RPG, a genre that may not work as well for the popular shonen anime."
One Piece: Romance Dawn is a game with a lot of potential, but feels like a missed opportunity. The pieces - comic/manga cutscenes, anime cutscenes, and a neat battle and crafting system, all sound like a recipe for success. But instead, we have a game that is mediocre, with flaws in all of them. If you are a hardcore fan of One Piece, you could do worse. And honestly, the game isn't all bad. But the Nintendo 3DS' library is so fantastic, there are so many better ways to spend your time than this game.
"Just to be clear- I don't watch One Piece. I actually don't even have the slightest clue what the series is about. All I know is that it is a popular anime that's been pretty long running."
Save/Continue writes: No nonsense here. One Piece: Romance Dawn is a $40 piece of garbage. There is absolutely nothing engaging or likable or even moderately fun about Namco Bandai‘s latest entry into the One Piece series of game adaptations.
