"You know how fuzzy memories can be." It's a useful and hand-wavy line delivered by the model new character Lim, warning the Straw Hat Pirates of the approaching adventures into just a few of One Piece's hottest story arcs. Likewise, One Piece Odyssey is often a fuzzy experience. It oscillates between being thrilling and tedious. The promise of discovering "what if…?" eventualities is partaking for longtime followers, however it rarely follows by way of in a big method. And as a doable introductory degree for model new followers, One Piece Odyssey falters as a number of the context and characters inside the core story flashbacks are stripped away. Whereas I'm conflicted about my time with One Piece Odyssey, it's a testament to the series' RPG outing that I'm eager on the final journey no matter some apparent holes all by way of.
One Piece Odyssey's wholly distinctive content material materials begins gradual nevertheless builds intrigue successfully every time I return to the island of Waford. That's the place elastic outlaw Monkey D. Luffy and his notorious crew uncover themselves stranded. Hassle finds them quickly as a stoic girl named Lim makes use of her powers to separate Luffy and his buddies from their energy and expertise, storing them in mystical cubes scattered throughout the island. Alongside collectively together with her caretaker, an explorer named Adio, Lim helps restore the Straw Hats' power. To do that, they should enter a world of recollections to recuperate what was misplaced.
These early hours introduce not solely turn-based battles however as well as exploration. Most Straw Hat crew members might be switched between whereas traversing the world, each with distinctive and helpful talents that match naturally with the character. Being a rubber man, Luffy can stretch his arms to grapple to areas inside the environment not accessible to totally different characters or snag glowing trinkets inside the distance. Likewise, Chopper's small physique permits passage into tight areas solely he can match. Crafting strategies, corresponding to cooking therapeutic objects with Sanji and forging gear with Robin, are nice touches that attain the characters' ship roles meaningfully into the gameplay. Blended with the real dialogue between the crew, One Piece Odyssey splendidly realizes who these characters are.
With a combination of sketched and actual wanting textures, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda's sort interprets spectacularly into the character fashions and world. Areas like Alabasta and Water Seven are well-realized, along with the creatures and funky-looking characters inhabiting them. The signature assaults of the crew, like Zoro's sword methods or Chopper's transformational Devil Fruit powers, are killer in motion. The anime's Japanese VO cast moreover supplies a welcome stage of authenticity, making Odyssey actually really feel like one different chapter of the anime. Whereas the addition of English VO or the anime's ranking and theme music would have been appreciated, what's there works successfully.
The attention to ingredient is on full present in Odyssey's turn-based battles, which like Luffy, have an abundance of flexibility. Presumably an extreme quantity of. Combat feels grand, splitting the crew into numerous micro-battles, typically making them battle their enemies sooner than serving to elsewhere besides ranged or AOE expertise can be found. The strategy of choosing off enemies after which consolidating the entire energy to wash up the surviving foes is satisfying, as is ending bonus targets that reward additional experience. What helps make fights a little bit bit too easy is the selection to swap the place of any character at any time with no penalty, as long as they haven't attacked. Exchanging the areas of Nami and Brook, who're alleged to be tied down in quite a few zones, appears like dishonest. The battle system has loads of potential nevertheless not adequate restraint to make it really specific.
Whereas the preliminary adventures into Memoria drag, the second half picks up considerably as a result of the movement and the stakes in Memoria and on Waford hit a fever pitch. Quite a lot of the content material materials Odyssey revisits is underwhelming, and void of context for the events at hand, save for some lore dumps inside the sport's menus. Nonetheless, very important moments inside the final hours had me in awe, as a result of fulfilling hypothetical circumstances with characters that didn't happen inside the canon story. I would like more of those moments had been unfold all by way of One Piece Odyssey to make greater use of the nice settings and characters obtainable.
I've reservations regarding the experience as a whole – however, I'm unable to help nevertheless smile fascinated about this journey with the Straw Hats. It nails the core cast of characters, the Memoria areas are fulfilling to revisit, and the revelations surrounding Waford, Lim, and Adio lastly fulfill. In any case, I'm unable to completely advocate this voyage for any individual new to One Piece, nevertheless seasoned pirates will uncover a worthy journey on the horizon.
