“You know the way fuzzy recollections might be.” It is a handy and hand-wavy line delivered by the brand new character Lim, warning the Straw Hat Pirates of the upcoming adventures into a few of One Piece’s hottest story arcs. Likewise, One Piece Odyssey is usually a fuzzy expertise. It oscillates between being thrilling and tedious. The promise of discovering “what if…?” eventualities is attractive for longtime followers, nevertheless it hardly ever follows by means of in a significant manner. And as a possible introductory level for brand spanking new followers, One Piece Odyssey falters as many of the context and characters within the core story flashbacks are stripped away. Whereas I am conflicted about my time with One Piece Odyssey, it is a testomony to the sequence’ RPG outing that I am keen on the general journey regardless of some evident holes all through.
One Piece Odyssey’s wholly unique content material begins sluggish however builds intrigue effectively each time I return to the island of Waford. That is the place elastic outlaw Monkey D. Luffy and his infamous crew discover themselves stranded. Hassle finds them rapidly as a stoic woman named Lim makes use of her powers to separate Luffy and his mates from their power and talents, storing them in mystical cubes scattered across the island. Alongside along with her caretaker, an explorer named Adio, Lim helps restore the Straw Hats’ energy. To do this, they need to enter a world of recollections to get better what was misplaced.
These early hours introduce not solely turn-based battles but in addition exploration. Most Straw Hat crew members might be switched between whereas traversing the world, every with distinctive and precious abilities that match naturally with the character. Being a rubber man, Luffy can stretch his arms to grapple to areas within the surroundings not accessible to different characters or snag glowing trinkets within the distance. Likewise, Chopper’s small body permits passage into tight areas solely he can match. Crafting methods, similar to cooking therapeutic gadgets with Sanji and forging equipment with Robin, are pleasant touches that stretch the characters’ ship roles meaningfully into the gameplay. Mixed with the genuine dialogue between the crew, One Piece Odyssey splendidly realizes who these characters are.
With a mixture of sketched and practical textures, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s type interprets spectacularly into the character fashions and world. Areas like Alabasta and Water Seven are well-realized, together with the creatures and funky-looking characters inhabiting them. The signature assaults of the crew, like Zoro’s sword methods or Chopper’s transformational Satan Fruit powers, are killer in movement. The anime’s Japanese VO solid additionally provides a welcome degree of authenticity, making Odyssey really feel like one other chapter of the anime. Whereas the addition of English VO or the anime’s rating and theme music would have been appreciated, what’s there works effectively.
The eye to element is on full show in Odyssey’s turn-based battles, which like Luffy, have an abundance of flexibility. Perhaps an excessive amount of. Fight feels grand, splitting the crew into a number of micro-battles, often making them struggle their enemies earlier than serving to elsewhere until ranged or AOE skills are readily available. The method of choosing off enemies after which consolidating the complete pressure to scrub up the surviving foes is satisfying, as is finishing bonus aims that reward extra expertise. What helps make fights a bit of too straightforward is the choice to swap the place of any character at any time with no penalty, so long as they have not attacked. Exchanging the locations of Nami and Brook, who’re imagined to be tied down in numerous zones, appears like dishonest. The battle system has lots of potential however not sufficient restraint to make it actually particular.
Whereas the preliminary adventures into Memoria drag, the second half picks up significantly because the motion and the stakes in Memoria and on Waford hit a fever pitch. A lot of the content material Odyssey revisits is underwhelming, and void of context for the occasions at hand, save for some lore dumps within the recreation’s menus. Nonetheless, essential moments within the closing hours had me in awe, due to enjoyable hypothetical conditions with characters that did not occur within the canon story. I want extra of these moments had been unfold all through One Piece Odyssey to make higher use of the great settings and characters readily available.
I’ve reservations concerning the expertise as a complete – nonetheless, I am unable to assist however smile occupied with this journey with the Straw Hats. It nails the core solid of characters, the Memoria areas are enjoyable to revisit, and the revelations surrounding Waford, Lim, and Adio finally fulfill. After all, I am unable to totally suggest this voyage for somebody new to One Piece, however seasoned pirates will discover a worthy journey on the horizon.
