“You know how fuzzy memories can be.” It’s 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 could be a fuzzy expertise. It oscillates between being thrilling and tedious. The promise of discovering “what if…?” eventualities is engaging for longtime followers, but it surely hardly ever follows by in a significant manner. And as a possible introductory level for brand spanking new followers, One Piece Odyssey falters as many of the context and characters within the core story flashbacks are stripped away. While I’m conflicted about my time with One Piece Odyssey, it is a testomony to the collection’ RPG outing that I’m keen on the general journey regardless of some obvious holes all through.
One Piece Odyssey’s wholly authentic content material begins sluggish however builds intrigue nicely each time I return to the island of Waford. That’s the place elastic outlaw Monkey D. Luffy and his infamous crew discover themselves stranded. Trouble finds them shortly as a stoic woman named Lim makes use of her powers to separate Luffy and his associates from their energy and skills, storing them in mystical cubes scattered across the island. Along together with her caretaker, an explorer named Adio, Lim helps restore the Straw Hats’ energy. To try this, they have to enter a world of recollections to recuperate what was misplaced.
These early hours introduce not solely flip-primarily based battles but in addition exploration. Most Straw Hat crew members might be switched between whereas traversing the world, every with distinctive and precious abilities that match naturally with the character. Being a rubber man, Luffy can stretch his arms to grapple to areas within the surroundings 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 techniques, similar to cooking therapeutic objects with Sanji and forging equipment with Robin, are pleasant touches that reach the characters’ ship roles meaningfully into the gameplay. Combined with the genuine dialogue between the crew, One Piece Odyssey splendidly realizes who these characters are.
With a mixture of sketched and life like textures, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s model interprets spectacularly into the character fashions and world. Areas like Alabasta and Water Seven are nicely-realized, together with the creatures and funky-wanting characters inhabiting them. The signature assaults of the crew, like Zoro’s sword methods or Chopper’s transformational Devil 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. While the addition of English VO or the anime’s rating and theme music would have been appreciated, what’s there works nicely.
The consideration to element is on full show in Odyssey’s flip-primarily based battles, which like Luffy, have an abundance of flexibility. Maybe an excessive amount of. Combat feels grand, splitting the crew into a number of micro-battles, normally making them struggle their enemies earlier than serving to elsewhere until ranged or AOE talents are available. The strategy of selecting off enemies after which consolidating the total pressure to wash up the surviving foes is satisfying, as is finishing bonus goals that reward further expertise. What helps make fights a bit too straightforward 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 presupposed to be tied down in numerous zones, looks like dishonest. The battle system has numerous potential however not sufficient restraint to make it actually particular.
While 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. Much 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. Still, vital moments within the last hours had me in awe, due to 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 available.
I’ve reservations concerning the expertise as a complete – nonetheless, I am unable to assist however smile fascinated about 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. Of course, I am unable to completely advocate this voyage for somebody new to One Piece, however seasoned pirates will discover a worthy journey on the horizon.
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