And we’re back with another VR adaptation. Last time around, I had the (dis)pleasure to review Crisis on the Planet of the Apes, a game that succeeded in providing immersive graphics and sound design, but failed elsewhere. This time, I’m reviewing One Piece: Grand Cruise, a game that succeeds in providing immersive graphics and sound design, but fails miserably everywhere else.

One Piece: Grand Cruise can hardly be considered a proper “game”. All you can do here is choose between two equally disappointing modes, as well as the credits (dead serious, that’s all that’s available on the main menu). Upon choosing one of the two “game” modes, you’ll start off by being greeted by the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, who’ll tell you to select one of his ship’s locales for you to (supposedly) explore.

Said “exploration” is not what you would expect. All you is teleport to one of the ship’s rooms, stare at one of the characters for a minute or two, engage on an awkward conversation for a minute or two, until you’re eventually interrupted by Luffy in order to help him and his crew defeat either a giant Kraken (that must be the fifth time this monster shows up in a pirate-themed game this year) or a an army of enemy ships (likewise). Aim your cannon with your Dualshock’s awkward motion sensors, press X like there’s no tomorrow and win the game. That’s all you have to do here, unless you’re curious to find out who developed this masterpiece on the credits section.

Is this a joke? The game looks so promising when you first boot it up due to its great graphics and voice acting, but the actual gameplay is so barebones it’s downright insulting! If this game was a free PSVR tech demo like the Spider-Man: Homecoming companion app, I’d be less revolted, but the fact is that this game costs actual money, and any monetary value you can think of is already a lot more than this game is actually worth.

One Piece: Grand Cruise is a beautiful game that does its best to immerse players into the anime’s world, that has to be said. That’s also the only positive thing about this trainwreck of a game. It’s almost devoid of actual gameplay, it’s stupidly short, it’s boring, and it’s too expensive for what it offers. Don’t be fooled by the adorable presentation: One Piece: Grand Cruise is one of the worst games you’ll find on the PSVR.

 

Graphics: 8.0 The game features great visuals, making you feel like you’re inside the world of the anime. Too bad the gameplay ruins any sort of immersion…	Gameplay: 3.0 All you do is either stare at One Piece characters talking to you or partake in clunky minigames with awkward controls. I don’t know which option is worse.
Sound: 8.0 Excellent voice acting by who I can only assume are the original actors from the anime.	Fun Factor: 1.0 Being able to look at One Piece characters in virtual reality might be interesting for the first minute or so, but this game is simply devoid of fun. A tremendous waste of time.
Final Verdict: 4.0