Anime is a very popular type of TV people watch. It contains lots of fighting and action but also a lot of dialog. I have not seen much anime in my free time, but you can tell if something is anime just by looking at the art style, and One Piece fits that bill. One Piece is one of the more well-known anime that people watch today, and with how many seasons there are, you may have heard of it. As you probably won’t be able to binge-watch it all in a day, here’s a brief synopsis. One Piece explains the story of Luffy and his group of pirates as he goes out on wild adventures across the ocean. With that in mind, One Piece Odyssey adapts the anime and its art style well to the 3d video game space.
Interestingly, ICLA Inc. has decided not to go with a fighting game, as previous One Piece entries have in video games. They have decided to make Odyssey a turn-based RPG, allowing players to gain levels through fights and using runes to enhance character stats. After crash landing, you’ll adventure with Luffy’s crew, The Straw Hat Pirates, discovering the secrets of the mysterious island, Waford. You’ll also meet a few friendly faces to help you around this unfamiliar land.
As I mentioned earlier, how everything is animated gives the game that anime feel. It feels like you’re watching an episode of the One Piece anime while playing. I have not seen much of One Piece, but I have seen enough to see the resemblance. All the animations are very fluid and have a significant impact on each of the attacks used. The character models all fit well in the environment created for the game. The world that Luffy and crew have found themselves in feels vibrant and lively. All the ruins felt like they meant something, that they hid secrets deep within them. Even the trees and vegetation felt like they had a “growing” personality. As I entered the Caves, the game created this well-put-together eerie feeling. It all felt like it blended well together. Each area had its own distinguishing features, making unique feelings as I journeyed through them.
The gameplay is what mainly caught me off guard with Odyssey. From what I’ve seen and experienced from most anime-based games, I thought it would be another anime fighting game, but after playing through the early parts of the game, I quickly learned that this wasn’t the case. One Piece Odyssey uses a rock-paper-scissors mechanic in its RPG battles. Each character and enemy can use one of three types: technique, speed, and power. Power beats speed, speed beats technique, and technique beats power. You can only have up to four characters in your party, so you must balance out your team depending on the upcoming fights. You also have a variety of things you can do in a fight. You can use a normal attack to deal damage, use an item, or use a skill. To use a powerful skill attack, you must use up TP, a currency earned by attacking with normal damage. Every character has different skills, ranging from skills that buff to skills that can attack multiple enemies. Sometimes, skills even have elemental effects that you can apply. Specific elements can also affect some enemies so that you may encounter one whos weak or even strong against a particular element. I had to find a happy medium between using a character with a strong trait or a strong elemental attack.
When a fight begins, your party of four will be separated into three different locations on the battlefield. So sometimes, you’ll have to use a character’s attack to move them into a different area of the battlefield. It’s either that or you’re forced to beat all the enemies in one place before you can traverse to another. Some skills that your characters can use are able to attack between areas too. That way, you don’t have to move your character to another area if you don’t want them to move. There are also special fights called Dramatic Battles. These Dramatic Battles require you to fulfill special requirements like killing an enemy within one turn or keeping a party-specific member alive. These fights will usually give extra rewards after they are completed, too, so doing these are beneficial.
Outside of combat, you can explore the vast and mysterious island of the Waford, discovering its secrets to try and escape with your crew. You can swap between each crew member while you explore the island to utilize their different sets of skills. Luffy has stretchy arms to reach long distances and can use observation hakai to find secrets. Zoro can destroy objects blocking your crew’s way, while Chopper can investigate small places. Nami can sense secret treasures nearby, and Sanji can cook up amazing dishes to buff your team for battle. Robin can appraise items for the team, and Usopp can make trick balls to help with combat.
While roaming the island, you can even find runes that you can equip to the party members to enhance their stats depending on their rarity. The runes can take up a lot of space in your character’s inventory, so you have to choose which ones you want. Runes can also give special attributes, like more damage towards a specific enemy or making your party use less TP while using a skill. You can also find these runes from drops when you defeat enemies.
One Piece Odyssey was a blast to play. It felt like I could watch a new adventure of One Piece unfold right before my eyes. The way everything was set up and played out was a great experience. The pricing here is set in the right spot since, as of writing this review, it’s still relatively new. The Steam cost of Odyssey was $60, but I could see the price dropping to $50 easily in the future. $60 isn’t a bad price for the game right now, as I’m having much fun with it. For anyone wishing to buy One Piece Odyssey, happy travels, and may your pirating adventure await you!
A Steam code was provided by the publisher for review purposes
