One Piece Odyssey Evaluation – Fuzzy Recollections

“You understand how fuzzy reminiscences could be.” It is a handy and hand-wavy line delivered by the brand new character Lim, warning the Straw Hat Pirates of the approaching 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, however it not often follows by means of in a significant method. And as a possible introductory level for brand new followers, One Piece Odyssey falters as a lot 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 authentic 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 lady named Lim makes use of her powers to separate Luffy and his pals from their energy and skills, storing them in mystical cubes scattered across the island. Alongside together with her caretaker, an explorer named Adio, Lim helps restore the Straw Hats’ energy. To do this, they need to enter a world of reminiscences to get better what was misplaced. 

These early hours introduce not solely turn-based battles but additionally exploration. Most Straw Hat crew members could be switched between whereas traversing the world, every with distinctive and priceless expertise that match naturally with the character. Being a rubber man, Luffy can stretch his arms to grapple to areas within the atmosphere 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 programs, akin 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 model 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 stage 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, normally making them combat their enemies earlier than serving to elsewhere except ranged or AOE talents are readily available. The method of selecting off enemies after which consolidating the complete drive to wash up the surviving foes is satisfying, as is finishing bonus goals that reward further expertise. What helps make fights just a little too simple 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 several zones, looks like dishonest. The battle system has quite a lot 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 sport’s menus. Nonetheless, essential moments within the remaining hours had me in awe, because of enjoyable hypothetical conditions with characters that did not occur within the canon story. I want extra of these moments have been unfold all through One Piece Odyssey to make higher use of the great settings and characters readily available.

I’ve reservations in regards to the expertise as an entire – nevertheless, I am unable to assist however smile interested by 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. In fact, I am unable to totally advocate this voyage for somebody new to One Piece, however seasoned pirates will discover a worthy journey on the horizon.