One Piece Odyssey review: a grand voyage with some chop
The world of Eiichiro Oda’s manga and anime franchise is well represented in the video game world. From the action/adventure title World Seeker to the Musou-style Pirate Warriors series, fans have had plenty of opportunities to step into the sandals of Monkey D. Luffy, but One Piece Odyssey is taking the iconic character to new shores.
See the trailer for One Piece Odyssey here
Bandai Namco’s latest instalment sees the Straw Hat Pirates wash up on the strange new island of Waford. Separated from their ship, Sunny, the crew reunite and gain their bearings before meeting Lim, a mysterious new character who promptly strips away each hero’s special abilities, but not before we’ve had time to enjoy them.
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Once our heroes are demoted back to level one, Lim explains their new surroundings to them, and we learn that Waford is no ordinary holiday destination. Luffy and the gang are informed that they can regain the powers Lim confiscated from them by accessing their memories, which have been manifested into physical stone blocks.
The catch here is that our cast of characters will have to travel back in time and relive their past trials in order to reacquire their lost experience. In other words, One Piece Odyssey is a grand tour through time as well as space, which is ideal for someone like myself. You see, I’ve only ever watched one episode of One Piece. While I have dabbled in the gaming side of things, this is my first in-depth expedition into the franchise.
Before we go any further, I need to address my playtime, which is only 20 hours at this point. While that may sound like a lot, I’m still not beyond the game’s second chapter. One Piece Odyssey is a truly enormous game from what I can tell so far, which is fitting given the length of the manga and anime. (I can’t help but wonder how the cast of the upcoming Netflix show feel about this, by the way.)
However, despite being relatively early doors, I’m confident I’ve come to know Odyssey well enough to give my humble opinion. So, with that being said, what we have here is an anime tie-in game that provides new story content while retelling previous arcs with a contemporary viewpoint.
Characters Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Nico Robin and Tony Tony Chopper are all present - along with others throughout - as the Straw Hat Crew embark upon a grand JRPG that wears its apparent Dragon Quest inspiration with pride.
One Piece Odyssey employs a turn-based combat system. Typically, you have a team of four heroes present on the battlefield at any one time. Sometimes your four characters will go and then the enemy will reply, while other battles will see actions more interspersed.
Battle options include basic attacks, skill moves, use items, and perform bond attacks. Skills are basically special moves, akin to mana actions in Dragon Quest games or Persona moves from the Persona series. These abilities require technical points (TP) to use, but this currency can be recovered using items as well as from each basic attack performed, which is handy.
Bond attacks on the other hand are grand techniques unlocked when characters reach a certain level of companionships with one another. The first such move I acquired involves Zoro, Chopper and Usopp performing one gutbuster combination, making for a spectacular finisher when used at the right time.
During fights, you can frequently swap between your four on-field heroes and the others in reserve. Changing characters doesn’t use up a turn, so you can replace Luffy with Nami and then attack with the lighter immediately. You can also change the positions of the crewmates on deck, which allows them to strike foes in different areas, depending on the size of the battlefield in question.
Another key component of combat is character type. Heroes and enemies alike fall into one of three categories: Power; Speed and Technique. This trio adheres to a Rock Paper Scissors system, where Power trumps Speed, Speed tops Technique, and Technique has the edge over Power. It’s a basic system and not one to get too bogged down in the hows and whys of, but following this paradigm is vital to combat.
Although, combat is never too challenging in One Piece Odyssey. There’s no difficulty options to speak of (the same can sadly be said of accessibility features), but the game feels easy for the most part. The only time I’ve hit the game over screen so far was when I decided to let the AI take control during a bossfight. Yes, you can basically let the game play itself, in a manner of speaking, at least during the combat phases, but I don’t recommend it as it’s not a guarantee of victory.
One thing that has to be praised here is the visuals. One Piece Odyssey looks gorgeous on console - specifically PlayStation 5. The characters are beautifully rendered, in and out of cutscenes, and the in-game world is a sight to behold. The anime aesthetic has been beautifully adapted to 3D, but still owns its cartoonishness, and rightly so.
The mismatched characters all pop in their own way. Zoro and his three swords is a particular delight to watch in battle, while Nico Robin’s height casts authority over her comrades. That’s by no means the most notable thing about the latter, by the way, as Oda-san clearly channelled his inner Dennis Reynolds for Robin’s *coughs* design. I mention this because I’m not sure everyone will be comfortable with this “plot”, if you catch my drift.
My biggest criticism of One Piece Odyssey is that it commits one of my most hated sins in a video game: mismanaging playtime. There are too often sequences where you will be shown a cutscene lasting a good few minutes (which are almost always skippable, if you should choose), before taking control of the playable character again only to walk for five yards and be thrust into another cutscene. In these moments, the game feels long in a bad way, and after 20 hours I’ve encountered this more times than I care to remember.
Another issue is the game feels quite stiff at times. Don’t let me be misunderstood, there are side quests and other things to do within Odyssey, but the game serves up tiny obstacles that can’t be cleared by the jump feature. Watching Monkey D. Luffy, a man made of rubber, have to walk around a two-foot-high stair ledge instead of being able to hop over it boggles the mind.
Lastly, I have to address the filler-y nature of the game. It’s easy to see how the manga has produced so many chapters because Odyssey has no qualms about throwing up roadblocks and stretching things out. There are moments when you think you’ve finally reached a destination or character, only to be hit with some bull, like Nami being pickpocketed, or an item being required to open a door. These moments of triviality add hours without feeling like they bring anything of merit. I know every classic anime has its filler, but come on!
What I do like, though, is the ability to traverse the in-game world as different crew members. Playing as Luffy lets you use his rubber arms to clear gaps by reaching for hooks, or grab items at a distance. Usopp can dislodge items from bird nests, while Zoro can carve through metal boxes and walls. Swapping between each hero is fairly quick, too.
Despite the drawbacks, Odyssey has my attention, and that’s no easy feat in a world that’s more saturated with games to play and ways to play them than ever before. There are fun places to explore and the main cast are a pleasure to be around, I just wish the world was a bit more developed and allowed for more creative traversal.
The main thing is, One Piece Odyssey has made me want to watch the anime. Yes, I’m aware it’s over 1000-episodes-long and is only just getting to its final arc now, but the world of Eiichiro Oda’s franchise seems more inviting now than ever, and that’s all down to what this game has shown me.
Pros: gorgeous visuals, lovable characters, good introduction to One Piece
Cons: staccato gameplay, a relatively bare world, too much filler
For fans of: One Piece, Dragon Quest, anime tie-in games
7/10: Very Good
One Piece Odyssey was reviewed on PlayStation 5 with code provided by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Game releases 13 January, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Read a guide to our review scores here.
Topics: One Piece, Bandai Namco, PlayStation 5