Reviews
One Piece Odyssey is a game where players are beckoned to embark with Captain Luffy and his Straw Hat pirates. The main plot behind One Piece Odyssey is relatively straightforward. Captain Luffy and the crew of Straw Hat Pirates come across a mysterious island. Deciding to investigate, they are shipwrecked on the island due to a storm. Then, a girl named Lim on this island robs them of all their powers, which means they start off at level one with a few skills. Continue reading our One Piece Odyssey game review to decide if the game is worth your while.
One Piece Odyssey Game Review: The Good And The Bad
The Quest for Lost Powers
To regain their powers, they must combat the island’s guardian, Colossi, and embark on Memoria. These places are dreamlike worlds that utilize memories of their past. Thus, they will strive to obtain the skills they have lost in the game. However, the memories of Memoria don’t fully match up with their past lives.
One Piece Odyssey: Where Does the Story Fit?
If the story’s place was a matter of concern, it doesn’t fit into the main story of the anime. It is similar to all the One Piece movies beyond the main plot. The game seems to be after the Dressrosa arc. Just a few bits imply that it could be after the Whole Cake Island arc, but since they are missing a crew member, it doesn’t fully fit.
For Fans or Newcomers?
My advice to newcomers unfamiliar with the One Piece story is to refrain from starting with ‘‘Odyssey’’. It isn’t just the very humble role-playing game that doesn’t boast much coverage of the anime series; it’s rather not the best introduction to the series. Even if the plot doesn’t bother you, the differences in the memories create an issue. The RPG has a few flashbacks that would help clarify the story. Unfortunately, these might not be that deep for new fans.
Combat System in The One Piece Odyssey Game
The combat in the game is simple. It is based on a rock-paper-scissors system where each character type has strengths and weak aspects. You can change the character you want to attack during a battle for free so that you can immediately take advantage of the identified strengths and weaknesses of various types of characters. The battles are divided into small groups, and you cannot return to the places you have already cleared.
Using Skills and Points
The characters use skills that take technical points, which can be received by attacking in a typical way. There are several elements, and it makes sense to note some status conditions, such as bleeding, which can be annoying. During some fights, you will have additional tasks, such as defeating a strong enemy quickly or doing it with a particular character. Completing these tasks will give you additional experience points, and skipping them will not harm you.
Characters and Their Abilities
The skills of different characters are well-represented in the game. Some characters use distant attacks, such as Usopp; there are those whose purpose is to control fights and heal teammates, such as Chopper. Then, there are characters that become stronger for a limited time, like Luffy. Chopper can also take a tank form for battle, during which he cannot heal the teammates. All the typical special attacks the Strawhat pirates use in reality are present and look wonderful.
Boss Fights: A Letdown
The boss fights in the One Piece Odyssey game are a significant disappointment. They are merely regular enemies but have more points than the other characters. They do not suggest changing the way you play the game much. Sometimes, when you’ve taken half their health, the bosses get stronger and their life bar fills quickly. Items that reduce the defense of the bosses make even the hardest enemy quick to defeat.
Exploration and Crafting
When not fighting, you can explore and craft equipment and food. There are dungeons with simple puzzles. Different characters help you explore different areas. Chopper is used in tight spaces, Usopp helps you shoot down items, and Sanji can locate extra ingredients. Luffy is generally the most used character for exploration since he gets to use his grapple hook. Exploration is done to find cubes, which provide you with skill points that can be used to improve your abilities. Side quests are pretty simple, although doing the bounty hunts as you fight off enemies styled after the past enemies is fun.
One Piece Odyssey Game Performance and Systems
The game works fine on my PlayStation 5, except for one minor thing. The combat messages are a bit unclear. For example, the game shows “attack ineffective” when it should be a “miss.” The equipment system uses a grid, but an auto-equip option exists. I do not know if this system works well, but it did not manage to equip things well when I tried it.
Visuals, Sound and Voice Acting
The game looks reasonably well and suits the One Piece style. Naturally, some new enemy designs are not great, but I believe this is an issue with the series in general. The 3D models of Nami and Luffy look strange, but attacks look good. The only thing I don’t like is that the fast-forward speed is not very fast during battles.
The developers did not dub the game in English because of insufficient demand, I think. The soundtrack is excellent and fits the atmosphere of an adventure well.
One Piece Odyssey Game Pacing and Missed Opportunities
I should say this game takes about 15 hours to start being fun. It is quite a lot for a 40-hour adventure. The first place, Alabasta, is annoying because of the excessive backtracking and almost constant removal of the fast travel. They did not manage to choose the best crew members for the game’s beginning. Thus, some are introduced late, while few stay away for too long. It takes too long for the whole crew to show up, but the team dynamic is seen when it finally happens.
One Piece Odyssey Game Review: Final Thoughts
Sometimes, some important moments in the game are not shown either as cutscenes or playable parts, which is rather disappointing. For example, saving Princess Vivi is just described with text – there is no exciting mission to complete. While the game does have some fun parts later on, they are not enough. In the end, our One Piece Odyssey Game Review proves that the developers did a pretty good job.
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