The Next Gen update for One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 adds yet more reasons to play one of - if not the - best One Piece games on the market.

If you are unfamiliar with the base game, let me bring you up to speed. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is another in the long-running Warriors/Musou franchise by Omega Force and Koei Tecmo. The most notable game line in that lineage is the Dynasty Warriors franchise (from which we get the name), which sees you engaging in bombastic third-person hack and slash gameplay where you face off against dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of foes at once. The Dynasty Warriors titles have focused on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history at the end of the Han Dynasty. This has been spun off into countless tie-in games using the same essential principles, some also historical like Samurai Warriors, while others are set in fictional universes such as Hyrule Warriors and (naturally) Pirate Warriors.

One Piece Pirate Warriors sees you controlling Luffy, the Straw Hat pirates, and dozens of other characters across the series in set-piece battles from the main story. But there are, of course, side missions, alternate timelines, challenges, and what-if scenarios to add more variety to the experience. You will replay iconic moments from One Piece as well as create new ones where “wouldn't it be cool if Gol D Roger were at Enies Lobby” is par for the course. Warriors and One Piece go together quite swimmingly as both have a penchant for large battles, over-the-top characters, and unique special attacks. There's a reason they've made four of these after all.

This is not a new game, but it can feel like one with how much is on offer here. Right out of the gate, it's a pretty simple value proposition: if you already own Pirate Warriors 4 for PlayStation, Switch, or Xbox, you will receive this update for free. Hard to beat that price. And there is no additional fee if you are purchasing the game for the first time; the listing remains the same. That in and of itself gives a lot of positive feelings towards what is on offer, since next-gen updates are ah, shall we say, not universally free of charge across gaming's past or present-tense.

The upgrade is quite obvious from the get-go as a huge improvement. Most of the enhancements are in the visual and performance departments. Character models look crisper, colors are brighter, and there are simply more combatants visible on screen at any given time. For a game as frenetic as Pirate Warriors 4, the extra visual enhancements add clarity and a sense of immersion, particularly by reducing the amount of surprise enemy pop-ins when you walk within visual distance of them. The game moves at lightning speed, and this next-generation update helps oil up the gears to keep them chugging along with the action.

The game's value proposition is just very solid. You're either getting a free, fresh coat of paint on a title you already own, or getting a much more modern-looking experience for the (at the time of this writing) US$39.99 asking price. There is a lot of game here to enjoy, and I think even a single playthrough is worth the price of admission, but with character upgrades, unlocks, level ranking, achievements, and so on to chase, there's lots to keep you occupied. Even if you just go around trying out the game's huge array of vastly different characters, that's a great experience (stomping around as Kaido is just a one-of-a-kind gaming joy in my opinion).

The game's only real downsides have to do with DLC and clarity, I'm afraid. Simply put, it's hard to know what you're getting or what version to buy to get the full experience. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 now has a Next Gen update, an Ultimate Edition, a Legendary Edition, and an absolute dump truck of DLC characters and add-ons. What is or is not included in each? Which is free, and which do you pay for? These questions are not unique to Pirate Warriors 4. It's a common issue with modern gaming writ large. All of this confusion is likely to prompt you to lean on the most expensive version to get it all in one purchase and be done with it, and I'm not the biggest fan of that.

However, the core update itself is free as part of the base game. So whether you already own the game and are getting a performance upgrade for zero dollars, or you have never purchased the game and will be instead looking at an improved product for no additional fee, that's a positive all around. But this is a game where the variety of character options from the series long history is a big part of the draw, and those bonus dlc characters are not freely included, nor are they cheap (as of the time of this writing it's US$17.99 for the latest Egghead Island pack that includes three characters and a few costumes - a bit steep in my opinion). From another perspective, though, you could see it as continued support for a beloved title that is easily the most expansive One Piece video game offering that is bringing the game into the modern day in terms of visuals, performance, and even keeping up with the narrative itself.

I don't think this Next Gen update will do anything to convince Warriors detractors that this is suddenly a new game. But I don't think that was ever really the intent, nor do I think that is much of a concern. The Pirate Warriors series has sold ten million (!) units as of December 2025, and this upgrade will simply make the most recent entry a better experience for existing or future users - with opportunities to extend their playtime should their credit cards have enough stamina to keep up.