If you happen to ignore the One Piece: Pirate Warriors sub-series for a second, the final title followers of Luffy and his eccentric crew needed to stay up for was One Piece: World Seeker. A catastrophe of an open world sport, it felt unfinished with horrible gameplay and visuals — sufficient to make any fanatic sceptical of future tasks. Nonetheless, practically 4 years later, with a brand new style and developer backing it, the One Piece franchise makes its debut on PS5 with one thing to be happy with. One Piece Odyssey is implausible.
Reasonably than have the Straw Hat Pirates discover one other open world, studio ILCA (greatest identified for its Pokémon Sensible Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes) has taken a way more targeted strategy within the type of a JRPG ala Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Flip-based battles are aplenty, hub-based areas solely enable for a lot exploration, and the story naturally guides you from level to level, introducing set items and plot factors alongside the best way. It is not completely linear — you are free to battle and full aspect quests as you please — however the sport feels much more purposefully crafted with real intrigue and a right away function to progress.
You see, whereas the gang hasn’t been hit with amnesia, they’ve misplaced most of their powers. After the Thousand Sunny ship crash lands on a mysterious island, its inhabitants agree to assist the crew regain their talents. To do that, they need to enter different dimensions generally known as Memoria which re-enact occasions from the historical past of One Piece. What follows is a fairly cheerful 30-hour marketing campaign that visits basic moments and areas from the franchise’s previous; whereas some suspense is launched because the story develops, One Piece Odyssey stays a breezy and feel-good expertise.
The island does not really play as giant an element within the sport as you would possibly suppose, although, with the hubs of locations previous being the place you spend most of your time. You may go to loads of completely different cities and cities, all of which have an issue it is advisable to clear up with a purpose to take again your expertise. Alongside the best way, you possibly can comply with optionally available goals, mingle with the townsfolk, or settle for bounties. The JRPG follows a comparatively easy construction exterior of fight, however exploration is heightened by little interactions you possibly can have with the setting.
You are in a position to swap between each member of the Straw Hat Pirates at any time from a menu, and every one can do one thing completely different. Luffy can use his ludicrously lengthy arms to achieve excessive locations, whereas Chopper takes benefit of his brief stature to run via holes. Zoro slices via metallic gates, Usopp shoots down objects, and Robin can sense historic data. They’re all fairly primary actions — they solely require a single button press — however they assist make the locations you are exploring really feel a tad extra alive. With conversations to have and a good quantity of optionally available content material to finish, you could possibly simply prolong your playtime by one other 10 hours if you happen to dedicated to ending all the pieces the title has to supply.
A lot of that point will even be spent in fight, which is the place One Piece Odyssey invitations most of its Dragon Quest XI comparisons. The JRPG retains its battle system conventional, with a single assault choice and an inventory of talents to select from. You possibly can then make use of things, particular strikes known as Bond Arts, and freely swap get together members out and in. It is easy in the identical method Dragon Quest is: simple to select up with a lot enjoyment to match.
Alongside a extremely trendy consumer interface and a few very humorous talents for each combatant, you will possible actively hunt down the enemies that roam the battlefield as an alternative of avoiding them. It has that addictive high quality the place as quickly as you have earned any XP from a earlier bout, you instantly wish to do it once more for the sheer enjoyment of conquering the beasts of every world.
Fight makes use of a system in the identical model as rock-paper-scissors. Dubbed Energy, Pace, and Method, the three type a triangle the place one is at all times weak to a different, however is then robust in opposition to the one left over. For instance, get together members specialising in Energy are robust in opposition to Pace enemies, however are weak to Method foes. Method customers are then highly effective in opposition to Energy members and take further injury from Pace wielders.
Due to this, you will be consistently switching out and in get together members in accordance with the kind of enemies you are going through. The mechanic provides a very good diploma of technique to fights, making you query who must be a part of the beginning line-up whereas the others wait in reserve. It elevates the fight system above the standard setup by providing the cosy choices you are conversant in after which supplying you with one thing else to consider with out turning into overwhelming. A sensible strategy that basically pays off as your get together ranges up and positive aspects entry to new tools.
One other neat twist is how each your get together members and combatants could be positioned; known as Areas, you are in a position to assault inside and throughout completely different zones relying on which transfer you choose. This locations much more emphasis on getting the best get together arrange firstly of a bout as a result of if you happen to pair an ally up with an enemy sort they’re weak to, the encounter will shortly develop into loads more durable to win. Introducing even additional depth to fight, One Piece Odyssey neatly builds upon the standard fight system of outdated with its personal concepts, all of which repay.
Maybe the one actual slight in opposition to the title’s gameplay could be that some goals can really feel like padding. Significantly within the first Memoria, the story goes on a bit too lengthy, to the purpose the place the worlds afterwards really feel loads shorter as compared. With menial duties like rescuing somebody’s pockets, sure goals can develop into a little bit of a drag. It was one of many few occasions the place we skipped fight completely so we might simply get the chore over and carried out with.
Be sure to not lose your focus throughout these moments, although, as a result of there is no English dub. All dialogue is in Japanese with English subtitles, which is ok. Nonetheless, some small translation points seem in tutorial pop-ups that might drive you to learn just a few sentences over once more to make sense of them. Though, we did not choose up on any associated to the character dialogue, so it isn’t a problem you will be encountering with a lot regularity.
You possibly can say the identical about any frame-rate points, which in precise truth are just about non-existent. The sport lets you select between two choices: Efficiency Mode and Graphics Mode. The previous runs at an extremely easy 60 frames-per-second whereas the latter halves your body price, however each seem just about locked to their goal. We did not encounter a single noticeable body price drop all through our time with the title, and the playthrough was utterly devoid of bugs and glitches too. Load occasions then go by so shortly it may be troublesome to learn the tooltip on-screen in time.
Pitched alongside the collection’ twenty fifth anniversary, One Piece Odyssey could be very a lot a sport for the followers, however it additionally represents an opportunity for newcomers to return aboard the Thousand Sunny ship. Type of. The story of the island is totally new to the collection and so too are the characters that stay there. What new followers will battle with are the pre-established faces — the sport does not exit of its strategy to clarify why Luffy’s arms are so lengthy, for instance, or how the Straw Hat Pirates have been shaped. Lots of data is assumed, so most references will possible go straight over your head and any callbacks made to previous occasions not within the sport will show complicated.
Nonetheless, the title additionally represents an awesome JRPG that followers of the style should not miss out on just because they are not conversant in One Piece. Because of a beautiful battle system, which makes an effort to introduce some new concepts, the sport could be loved by all. And if you happen to simply so occur to take to the allure of Luffy and his gang of pirates, there are just one,000+ manga chapters so that you can compensate for.
Conclusion
Irrespective of whether or not you are a hardcore One Piece fan or an entire newcomer, One Piece Odyssey is an utter pleasure of a JRPG. Its fight system stays extremely pleasing all through, and new mechanics present depth and technique in droves. Most actually the spotlight of the expertise, however with enjoyable exploration as well, you are at all times assured of a very good time. One Piece Odyssey performs loads like Dragon Quest XI, and it isn’t that far off being simply pretty much as good because it.