One Piece is one of the biggest and most prominent manga/anime series in the world. Not only does One Piece hold the title of highest selling manga ever, but the franchise has found even more popularity and success in the west over the past year or so with things like the live-action Netflix adaptation being released and Bandai launching a very popular trading card game for it.
All of that having been said, we still do not have a proper competitive fighting game inspired by the series, and it’s certainly not due to a lack of fan demand. The dream project One Piece and competitive fighting game fans want to see is a title that follows the same formula as Dragon Ball FighterZ, and one X (formerly Twitter) user recently shared a mock up of what a character select screen for a “One Piece FighterZ” could look like — and it looks so good that it’s a shame it’s not a real thing.
Video game fans are gearing up for one of the year’s largest presentations for new reveals and information regarding upcoming products. The Game Awards is going live later today, and hey, we could technically see a proper One Piece fighting game announced, though it’s very unlikely.
No, we probably won’t get that reveal today, but that’s okay, as this character select screen mock up from KidLiquid will just have to tide us over.
As mentioned previously, the general consensus wants to see a Dragon Ball FighterZ-style fighting game for One Piece as such a foundation would be perfect for the franchise. Dragon Ball FighterZ is a 3v3 versus fighting game that gives players a point character with their two other squad mates as assists.
You can call teammates into battle to perform a variety of different attacks that supplement your point character’s playstyle, tag one of your teammates in at nearly any time, and cancel supers into your other characters’ super attacks to tack on damage during a combo.
Popular anime/manga series like Dragon Ball Z and One Piece not only have an absolute ton of different characters, but they also have a ton of very popular characters. Fans would want as many fighters as they can get for these series’ fighting games, and a 3v3 versus-style set up is a great way to get a lot of characters not only onto the roster, but represented in actual matches more.
In addition to this, One Piece is all about pirate crews, friendship, and alliances, which only further gives weight to the Dragon Ball FighterZ style being the right choice for a proper One Piece fighting game.
Looking at KidLiquid’s mock up piece, we see that the character select screen is indeed heavily inspired by Dragon Ball FighterZ. There are 35 characters to choose from here, and all of them are assembled into the same layout that DBFZ has.
Again, much like FighterZ we see that three characters are select-able per team. This fan-made character select screen includes many of the series’ staples and most popular characters in the world of One Piece, just as you’d expect it to.
This fake cast is comprised of (in order from top loft to bottom right): Bartolomeo, Boa Hancock, Buggy the Clown, Shanks, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, Blackbeard, Crocodile, Charlotte Katakuri, Kaido, Perona, Jewelry Bonney, Marco, Whitebeard, Usopp, Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Smoker, Dracule Mihawk, Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma, Eustass Kid, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Sabo, Ace, Jinbei, Yamato, Carrot, Akainu, Kuzan, and Borsalino.
“Hey what fighting game do you want to exist?”
Me: Ok, hear me out… pic.twitter.com/zSn8vo5zNL
— Chris Okamura (@KidLiquid) December 4, 2023
Naturally, this isn’t the first fan-made artwork we’ve seen for a potential One Piece competitive fighting game. Back in August of 2022, artist Heliolisk put together a similar concept, though, their work also featured a look at the stage select as well as what actual matches could look like — and it all looked tremendous.
Arc System Works in conjunction with Bandai Namco was at the helm of developing Dragon Ball FighterZ, so naturally people want to see them take on a One Piece fighting game at some point as well. Back in April, IGN spoke to Arc System Works CEO Minoru Kidooka and asked about the possibility of a competitive One Piece fighting game ever being made. This is what he had to say:
“As I said before, I want to work with other people and use what resources we have to create a fun game for the FGC to really rally behind,” said Kidooka. “However, One Piece is something to think about. I can’t say whether we’re thinking about One Piece specifically.
“I can’t say, ‘oh yeah, One Piece, yes or no.’ I can’t say either way, but it doesn’t mean it’s decided or doesn’t mean it’s outside the realm of possibility.”
Unfortunately, that’s about the best we’ve got when it comes to anything concrete regarding such a One Piece fighting game. The concept will live on through fan art, and hopefully one day, much like Luffy and the Strawhats, fans will find what they’re looking for.