Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, had it all before his death: wealth, fame, and power. Now, players around the world can set sail to become the next King of the Pirates and find Gold Roger’s greatest treasure, One Piece.
Dracule “Hawkeye” Mihawk
Originally released on May 2014 in Japan, One Piece Treasure Cruise is a turn-based RPG that follows the plot of one of Shounen Jump’s popular mangas, One Piece. Treasure Cruise was released globally on February 2015 and has easily become an addicting app for gamers everywhere. True to the storyline, players begin their journey as a young Monkey D. Luffy eager to become the next King of the Pirates with each island representing a story arc found in the manga and recruiting new crew members along the way.
Treasure Cruise stands out by allowing a player to customize their own pirate crew consisting of One Piece characters. A player can group together characters that would never team up in the manga and create their own dream team with a ship of their choosing. However, one cannot have two of the same character on their team (excluding the guest/friend captain). Treasure Cruise is played via intuitive tap controls to make combos and unleash massive damage. A player can make teams based upon their characters’ type, class, special, and/or captain ability.
Mihawk’s Special
The game has two modes of play, campaign and extra islands. Campaign follows the storyline of the manga. Extra islands consists of several stages: a stage that allows a character to attain evolver and booster characters easier, a bi-weekly boss stage, a no stamina required stage, and occasionally a 24-hour only stage. As a result, a player can easily raise their pirate level as well as level and evolve their characters. A player can recruit characters by hoping they will drop in the stages or by taking their chances with the Rare Recruit section.
While many mobile games motivate a player to spend money to access exclusive characters, replenish stamina, or increase their character bank, Treasure Cruise astonishes a player by making it easy for one to attain the Rainbow Gems. The gems can be attained via campaign, completing stages on Extra Island for the first time, and by simply logging in. A player can pay for gems, but with the number of gems given for their pricing, I recommend being patient and stacking up gems.
Login Day #100
Treasure Cruise’s cut scenes during campaign mode takes me back ten years when I first started reading One Piece. The game does a great job mixing artwork made specifically for the game and scenes from the anime to tell the story. Avid readers will notice certain details missing, but will find later that the missing detail leads to a special event for the game. For example, Dracule “Hawkeye” Mihawk first appeared after Don Krieg was defeated in the manga, but the creators of the game chose to exclude him from the campaign to make a 24-hour only event for the character.
Like most mobile games that require internet, Treasure Cruise has some lag time and cannot be played unless connected. This can cause data errors and throw off a player tapping to make a combo. However, the game constantly reminds player to play in areas with strong connection. For certain events, defeating the boss will be decided not by a player’s skill, but by whether or not a player has certain characters. For example, to defeat Mihawk’s event a player would need a combination of Vivi and Laboon or Lion Song Zoro or a team with characters that multiplied characters’ attack several times to unleash an extremely high damage output. Nevertheless, with how easy it is to attain Rainbow Gems for Rare Recruit, a player can eventually make their own dream crew that can take on any and all upcoming events.
This is awkward
One Piece Treasure Cruise tells the story of one of the most popular mangas, simple game controls, and requires no money to enjoy playing. With new events being released every two weeks, a rainbow gem for every day one logs in, the rare 24-hour only event, and a variety of stages to choose from for the player looking to kill five minutes or five hours, Treasure Cruise is a game for all ages. Treasure Cruise is an easy 9/10 for this pirate.
Sail to your nearest app store to download One Piece Treasure Cruise for free and find out if you have what it takes to become King of the Pirates!
Pros:
- Tap controls are easy to learn and pick up
- Easy to attain rare characters
- No money required
- Awesome storyline
Cons:
- Occasional lag
- Cannot be played offline
One Piece Treasure Cruise
- Story - 9/109/10
- Gameplay - 9/109/10
- Mechanics - 8/108/10
The Verdict
Greatly enjoyed customizing my teams and defeating the weekly events. Plenty of characters to use, each wit their own unique ability.
