The 25th anniversary celebrations for the serialization have come to an end, and the One Piece universe is going to release its new game, which appears to upend the JRPG structure.
The end of One Piece Odissey is just around the corner, so let’s go over everything you need to know about Bandai Namco‘s final fatigue.
CREW AT THE BOARDING
Caught by a sudden storm, Straw Hat’s crew finish to shipwreck on a mysterious island full of pitfalls.
With this premise begins the new adventure of One Piece Odyssey.
We’ll find ourselves lost with the faithful Thousand Sunny out of order, on the enigmatic island of Waford, whose existence has been hidden from the world due to terrifying storms that surround the island.
Watford is riddled with mysteries and traps that we’ll have to unravel during our adventure, revealing all the hidden truths and surviving the dangers that await us.
During the story we’ll get to know some new characters created by Eiichirō Oda himself for the game construction.
One of them is a girl named Lim, who in the first beats of the game will switch wrongly the Straw Hat’s crew for enemies and deprive them of their powers with her mysterious skills.
To be able to take the root for finding the notorious One Piece, the crew will have to reveal all of the mysteries related to Waford island and slowly retake their powers, which are spread around the island as luminescent blocks, to search and reabsorb them.
Because of this and other narrative discoveries, Bandai Namco succeeds in constructing an interesting and intelligent gaming structure, able to give meaning to a progression of levels and achievement of abilities, more powerful than ever and typical of JRPG, that would have nothing to do with the crew of Straw Hat, considering the group power and fame gained over the course of the 25-year serialization run.
RENOVATING THE ORIGINS
We’ll be forced to explore the island. This won’t be easy because of fights, riddles, and the lost power search .
The latter are obtained in the form of small luminescent cubes, which, once discovered, will be equipped by a member of the crew, gaining new abilities that will be useful during the battle.
Continuing with the turn-based combat formula that has always characterized the majority of JRPGs, we will face many battles during our adventure, that we will have to face with a fighting system based on a such simple as profound formula, easy to approach but hard to master.
The entire combat system is based on rock, paper scissors mode.
In a similar way of what we’ve seen on Monster Hunter Stories franchise, we’ll have to exploit tactically our moves and abilities, giving rhythm to the battle to the sound of well-placed combos, that let us to continue attacking without any stop the enemy and taking advantage of direction changes, offered by the battle-field.
Being able to find the right spot during the fight, will enable to discover the enemies’ weak points or tactical positions for the battle that we are facing, opening new war options.
We’ll have in front an open-world game with typical JRPG mechanics, with a management of the party to enhance and level, permitting us to recreate the crew that we all know.
FREE AS PIRATES
Obviously, we will not only fight, we may also choose to explore the island in search of secondary missions and useful crafting objects.
To take advantage of the latter option, we’ll need to build a bonfire, which will allow us to have a relaxing moment and use one of the many workbenches built up by members of the crew, such as Sanji, who allows us to cook delicious dishes that will temporary increase special attributes or create equipable objects with Nico Robin’s workbench, and so on.
We can also choose with which member of the crew explore the maps, being able to change it in any moment with the other available members in the party, based on our needs and preferences.
This freedom will permit us to explore various settings that we could face always in different ways, depending on which member of the mugiwara we’re impersonating.
For example Luffy’s ability to stretch will permit to achieve far objects and holds otherwise inaccessible. Using Zoro we’ll open iron cases and making our way through the obstacles we’ll encounter, opening new paths.
So on for any member of the crew, who’ll have their own utility and uniqueness during our adventure.
Finally the explorations will be enriched with the usual trade and exchange, light-hearted and funny lines typical of One Piece, that will please both the fans of the series and who for the first time will decide to go on an adventure with the mugiwara.
WALKING THROUGH THE MEMORIES
During our adventure there will be space for relieving some of the most iconic and important moments of One Piece. We will revive iconic manga scenes when we regain certain powers.
Lim will help them, in fact she has the power to unlock the access to memory. We’ll enter in a world made by the memories of the straw hat’s crew.
Here we can have access to one of the crew’s past events and adventuresl ike the narrative arch of Alabasta where we will face old enemies such as the feared Crocodile, and meet old friends such as Vivi and many others.
In these missions we’ll visit great maps that made famous One Piece, and take on secondary missions and find all the secrets and objects spreaded in the maps.
Another good thought by Bandai Namco that permits both to long-standing fans and who enter for the first time the universe of One Piece to find out the backgrounds of the manga.
For the moment we’re sure of three others narrative arches in the game in addition to Alabasta.
The narrative arches of Water Seven, Marineford and Dressrosa have been revealed and they will widen the range offered by the game, that will be enriched with several DLC coming out during the year.
CONCLUSIONS
We know that the game is on the pipeline since 2017 and Eiichirō Oda himself had an active participation in its development. We can’t wait to see if One Piece Odyssey will shine with its own light, pleasing its many fans who are waiting for it and imposing itself as the best title of the franchise.
Let’s get ready to sail another time with Luffy and reveal all the mysteries that Odyssey will offer.
