Just a few weeks after my preview of One Piece Odyssey I was lucky enough to get my hands on the entire game... or rather, to enter the code into my PS5. With memories still relatively fresh, I revisited Wadford Island, only to discover that my preview was spot on. To what extent almost everything I mentioned was confirmed, and whether there are any surprises in store, you can find out here in our review. One Piece Odyssey.
As I said…
Since most aspects of the initial impression from the preview haven't changed, it will likely be quite difficult for me to avoid repeating myself. Of course, there are also a few surprises or things that only became apparent after playing for a while, so we'll first address the points that already defined the preview, which it now supplements with further details. read here
At the top of the list are the turn-based battles. I've already mentioned how well-designed and incredibly fun they are. I can now confidently say that this hasn't changed at all. Sure, the enemies do start repeating themselves after a while, and your own characters and abilities eventually stop offering any real innovation, but the variation within these recurring routines almost never allows for boredom. Which characters do you send into battle with which abilities, how do you position them, and how do you proceed when things really get intense? This keeps you glued to the screen and is definitely one of the game's strengths. One Piece Odyssey.
But even aside from the battles with their well-animated cutscenes, certain attributes prove even more impressive over time. While the number of ways to develop specific skills is enormous, the skill menu never feels cluttered and always maintains a clear overview, making it easy to make the best decisions for yourself. There are also quite a few combat-related items, yet their number and effects are well-balanced and add a unique dynamic to the game.
Endless dialogues & confined spaces
Although it's hard for me to believe, I suspect not everyone will be bothered by the first negative point in this review. Where I find the characters' endless chatter (even if they are completely insignificantI already found the dialogue in the preview quite annoying, and stretched across the entire game, it's truly unbearable. Hardcore fans who want to absorb everything the Straw Hats have to offer probably won't be as bothered by this as I was. While I do appreciate the game's bright and childlike humor, which helped me survive the long dialogue passages, I still think they significantly disrupt the flow of the game and will likely deter newcomers sooner or later.
The map design wasn't just a little annoying this time, it was downright disruptive. While it's possible to explore the world here and there, usually with freely selectable characters, far too often you're forced into story moments where you have to run through narrow areas and can barely stray from them. Especially if you're following the story, there's not much to see around you, so you just mindlessly trudge along the barren paths past a few minor creatures, only to often have to backtrack. And well... that brings us to the next problem.
Beautiful story, bad plot?
The story mode was both a confirmation of my previous negative impressions and a positive surprise. The negative impression here refers to the structure. While there are certainly linearly narrated sections, these are far too often interrupted by small missions that couldn't be more "side quests." Go there and collect this, then run back and bring that to him, and then go back again and report back…And so on. To be honest, it doesn't feel like the developers were trying to conjure up the best possible gameplay for the players, but rather like they were looking for the answer to how best to stretch out the plot. The idea is not only unimaginative, but unfortunately, it's also copied far too often in other games.
Since the gameplay's implementation of the plot wasn't particularly successful, let's look at the positive surprise. It was known relatively early on that... One Piece-Creator Eiichiro Oda for Odyssey would be on board. This was tantamount to a promise to release a game with soul and love for the series. ILCA, Bandai Namco, and Oda himself then actually delivered on this promise. Aside from the two new characters that Oda created specifically for the game and who fit perfectly into the wacky pirate action, it's teeming with anecdotes and little moments that will melt any fan's heart.
Besides what the characters say and tell, the humor, the battles, and the familiar locations, one fact lends the whole thing a special touch. It's part of the story to repeatedly delve into fragments of memory and relive moments from the past. This means nothing less than revisiting old plots from manga and anime and experiencing them again in a completely new way. True to the nature of dreams, things often don't align with reality, so you can't even complain that you've already read or seen it all, since what's being presented here is a modified version of something already familiar.
The issue of memory fragments naturally played a central role in the trailer, and the preview material also took us right back to the beginning of the Alabasta arc to tell a somewhat new story from there. The fact that this aspect then has such a significant impact throughout the entire game and also constitutes a large part of the entertainment... One Piece Odyssey What makes it special was something I hadn't expected, and it makes you overlook many things that you don't like so much.
Intrigued? Demo for One Piece Odyssey It is now available in the PlayStation Store.
Conclusion One Piece Odyssey
