With One Piece Odyssey, Bandai Namco and developer ILCA aren’t just celebrating that 25th anniversary of the manga series created in 1997 by Eiichirō Oda was launched, but also the first role-playing game among the video games to franchise. The team promises epic adventures, an open world that lives up to the anime and a “completely new experience in the RPG genre”. In addition, even the creator himself wrote two characters for the game and designed several designs of monsters, items or even parts of the history of the world. But can One Piece Odyssey really deliver on all of its promises? I’ve already played into the first few hours and also asked the producers from Bandai Namco Entertainment about the new one-piece game. You can see a detailed assessment and the first scenes from the game in the video above.
The infamous pirate gang accidentally lands on the island of Warford during their journey through the Grandline. Here, Luffy loses his crew and straw hat, beginning the journey into a new adventure. In the new Warford location, the Straw Hat Pirates get to know two new characters, Adio and Lim. Adio is an explorer washed up on the Warford shore. Lim is a girl who wields mysterious powers while also detesting pirates.
Warford is not the only island where you will move in the open world. Places known from the series, such as Alabasta or Water Seven, will also be waiting for you in the game. The same applies to old rivals and friends of Luffy and Co.
As with the movies, the story of Odyssey will not conform to the canon of the series or manga. According to the team, knowing what twists might lie ahead would take away the tension. You want to remain unpredictable in what happens next. In general, this fits my impression of One Piece Odyssey. Dramaturgically there is still a lot to develop here. The story is clearly in the foreground in the video game.
A good role-playing game does not only include a well thought-out world, but also sophisticated combat systems, skill trees and dungeons. One Piece Odyssey doesn’t manage to revolutionize the RPG genre here, but it does bring some exciting new elements with it. As usual, you have to weigh up technique, strength and speed according to the rock-paper-scissors principle on how best to deal with your opponent. But there are also spatial zones. If your opponents are too far away, you sometimes can’t attack them or you spend moves to get closer – if your skills don’t allow ranged attacks. In addition, there are also the classic elements such as fire, water and ice, which also have an effect on the course of combat.
Dungeons, on the other hand, are a nice change of pace from the rest of the open world. Because the focus is always on the fight and the story, these separate areas offer a good opportunity to ponder. They are full of puzzles that sometimes seem more, sometimes less innovative. Once you have gained enough experience, you will be able to equip your characters with further abilities and advantages. But there are also other options to upgrade the group: With Sanji’s kitchen, Usop’s factory or Robin’s mysterious art. All three options are peppered with allusions to the anime.
In general, Odyssey plays well if you like the template. Regardless of whether it’s the small side conversations while running, the changing characters with which you can move through the open world or well-known attacks from the series, you quickly get the impression that you’re in the middle of the one-piece anime. The team wanted Odyssey to appeal to many audiences at once, not just one (e.g. hardcore fans or newcomers). This has worked well so far. However, One Piece Odyssey will not revolutionize the role-playing genre, but it will certainly be a nice JRPG with a lot of love for the template.
One Piece Odyssey will be released on January 12, 2023 for PC, on January 13, 2023 for PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. You can also watch the demo of the console version from January 10th. According to the producers, no DLCs are planned yet.
