TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Based on the expansive anime, which has stretched to more than 1,000 episodes, the JRPG "One Piece Odyssey" lets you assemble and manage a crew of bombastic plunderers as they seek out adventure and loot while dealing with politics and interpersonal drama.
Colorful and bold in style, just as the show on which it's based, the 50-hour-plus saga takes players on a sprawling voyage that allows for significant character development along the way.
Phil Villarreal: As a newcomer to the material, I found that the game did a decent job of making its introductions to the various characters without making me feel like I needed to go back and do a ton of homework. I found the combat engaging, the party management intriguing and the story, well, serviceable. I was grateful for the ability to skip cut scenes, because some of the meandering plot points and filler dialogue got distracting.
I found myself sucked in to the journey from the outset, and appreciated the way the story gets going with a kick, gradually layering the complexities of gameplay, which helped me avoid the feeling of being lost at sea.
What were your first impressions, Sean?
Sean Newgent: I felt much the same. I have more familiarity with the material than you do Phil but I still don't really know what's happening. My One Piece knowledge is somewhere in the first hundred episodes and some of the random characters met later on.
This game, as is the case with most anime-related subsidiary content (games, movies) is filler so falls into the trap of nothing of interest or consequence actually happening. I'm with you where the dialogue was consistently atrocious and the story takes forever to get anywhere. I was getting annoyed by how often the game takes away control (sometimes having only taken two steps from the last cutscene) for more inane conversation.
"Odyssey" takes you into the realm of memories to allow the chance to play through some of the more famous arcs of the manga/anime and that is pretty cool for longtime fans. Getting the chance to explore Alabasta was exciting for someone who has a lot of nostalgia for this franchise. But the Alabasta chapter starts with you going back and forth across a small portion of map over-and-over again in one of the game's many attempts to stretch the runtime. It added to my frustration as I wanted to get to the dungeons and combat areas because where this game shines is in the turn-based action.
Phil, what did you think of the combat and for the sake of everyone's curiosity, who is your favorite Straw Hat Pirate based entirely on this game?
Phil: While Nami and Nico's ridiculous way with words made me chuckle, Sanji's wall-smashing ability was thoroughly satisfying and Chopper's way of scurrying through small gaps was amusing, I had the most fun using my stretchy arms to traverse and pop open treasure chests as Luffy. I favored him during combat and buff distribution, using him in combat as my armored tank to take point in combat and allowed everyone else to drift in the periphery.
The depth of the tactical nature in the combat easily surpassed that of "Marvel's Midnight Suns," and had me hooked, especially in the epic boss throwdowns.
The standard grind, though, didn't hook me. I found myself avoiding combat encounters in order to streamline my progress.
"One Piece Odyssey" impressed me with its accessibility, writing and overall vibe. I may even be intrigued enough with the characters to catch a few episodes of the anime.
Final thoughts, Sean?
Sean: Anime video games are well-known for being cash-ins and rarely do more for me than offer mild thrills. "One Piece Odyssey" has a lot of love put into it and regardless of the bland story and the onslaught of never ending cutscenes that could be chopped down, I had a lot of fun. Getting to explore familiar arcs of the anime as my favorite characters (Zoro, Sanji, and Nico have always been my top tier) while exploring the deep and tactical combat made for an entertaining time — just so long as I skipped through a lot of the inane dialogue.
I'm fairly impressed with "One Piece Odyssey" and think that while it certainly won't be remembered for the year end awards season, it will hold a special place in the hearts of "One Piece" fans and agnostics alike. I honestly can't wait to finish this article and head out on another adventure with the Straw Hat crew.
Past game reviews by Sean and Phil:
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Diablo II Resurrected
NEO: The World Ends with You
Rainbow Six: Extraction
King of Fighters XV
WWE 2K22
Weird West
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge
Capcom Fighting Collection
Capcom Arcade: 2nd Stadium
Stray
Digimon Survive
Cult of the Lamb
TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection
NBA 2K23
Lego Bricktales
Gotham Knights
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Star Ocean: The Divine Force
Sonic Frontiers
The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me
Evil West
Need for Speed Unbound
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion
Marvel's Midnight Suns
