The Big 4 which are consistently top 4 in manga popularity (not my favorite 4) in modern times, i.e One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Fairy Tale.

I'm a cruel man.

I want One Piece to be Zelda style with a big world to explore and dungeons.

I know nothing about this game but my guess is that it's not that kind of game.

Dont make me sad. I want to play that type of One Piece game. But it will never be true.

The question is why there isn't a game like that even though the Manga is exactly built like that.

This thread is what I needed. I am from Argentina and I MUST use pre-paid cards to buy things in the eShop, so I have to use the money very carefully. I have never seen One Piece even though I always wanted to (laziness), but this game is really appealing to me. I have only $55 dollars left and the game costs $49.99 + taxes, so it's $54, leaving me with only $1. Is it worth it? Or should I wait until I can buy another pre-paid card and have some money to spare for possible new digital exclusives?
If it's useful to know, I feel like this game will finally push me into the series.

It's not Zelda level of course but it's closer than I expected. Exploring is encouraged and the levels are fairly open and dense with content. It's more structured like Monster Hunter with a hub town and open levels outside. 

Lol it's not my personal 4. Was just a guess as J-Stars was first promoted with these 4 series. The only series of those I care for is Dragon Ball. I'm too lazy to get into a never ending manga or anime unless I catch it early on.

ROI - Return on investment. Anime games sell less and they mainly sell in Japan. There anime games will be made with less budjet. Cant blame them. Only anime game that feels like AAA games are CyberConnect 2's Naruto games and Unisofts Xbox 360 exclusive Naruto Rise of a Ninja and Naruto Broken Bond.

If we're only looking at what's more popular currently, Attack on Titan, Magi, and Kuroko no Basuke probably deserve mention over Bleach or Fairy Tail. AoT actually outsold OP during the first half of 2014.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-03/top-selling-manga-in-japan-by-series-2014/.75177

I mostly agree with your sentiment though. I still love FT, but Bleach and Naruto are really hard to get excited about anymore. Heck, I like to pretend the latter doesn't even exist now. Can't believe I was a Nardo fan for so long. Bleargh.

OT: If this game covers original material, I might actually be interested in it. I get bored of having to stay in canon the whole game. I'm already aware of what happens in the canon story, what I really want is to have fun in the universe I'm so familar with.

One Piece Unlimited World is kinda "what if" game with anime story.