One Piece Odyssey Evaluation (PS5)

In case you ignore the One Piece: Pirate Warriors sub-series for a second, the final title followers of Luffy and his eccentric crew needed to stay up for was One Piece: World Seeker. A catastrophe of an open world sport, it felt unfinished with horrible gameplay and visuals — sufficient to make any fanatic sceptical of future initiatives. Nonetheless, practically 4 years later, with a brand new style and developer backing it, the One Piece franchise makes its debut on PS5 with one thing to be pleased with. One Piece Odyssey is unbelievable.

Slightly than have the Straw Hat Pirates discover one other open world, studio ILCA (finest identified for its Pokémon Good Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes) has taken a way more centered method within the type of a JRPG ala Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. Flip-based battles are aplenty, hub-based areas solely permit for a lot exploration, and the story naturally guides you from level to level, introducing set items and plot factors alongside the way in which. It isn’t solely linear — you are free to struggle and full aspect quests as you please — however the sport feels much more purposefully crafted with real intrigue and a right away function to progress.

You see, whereas the gang hasn’t been hit with amnesia, they’ve misplaced most of their powers. After the Thousand Sunny ship crash lands on a mysterious island, its inhabitants agree to assist the crew regain their talents. To do that, they need to enter different dimensions referred to as Memoria which re-enact occasions from the historical past of One Piece. What follows is a reasonably cheerful 30-hour marketing campaign that visits traditional moments and areas from the franchise’s previous; whereas some suspense is launched because the story develops, One Piece Odyssey stays a breezy and feel-good expertise.

The island would not truly play as massive an element within the sport as you would possibly suppose, although, with the hubs of locations previous being the place you spend most of your time. You may go to loads of completely different cities and cities, all of which have an issue it’s good to clear up with the intention to take again your abilities. Alongside the way in which, you possibly can conform to elective goals, mingle with the townsfolk, or settle for bounties. The JRPG follows a comparatively easy construction outdoors of fight, however exploration is heightened by little interactions you possibly can have with the atmosphere.

You are capable of change between each member of the Straw Hat Pirates at any time from a menu, and every one can do one thing completely different. Luffy can use his ludicrously lengthy arms to succeed in excessive locations, whereas Chopper takes benefit of his brief stature to run by means of holes. Zoro slices by means of steel gates, Usopp shoots down objects, and Robin can sense historic data. They’re all fairly fundamental actions — they solely require a single button press — however they assist make the locations you are exploring really feel a tad extra alive. With conversations to have and a good quantity of elective content material to finish, you may simply lengthen your playtime by one other 10 hours for those who dedicated to ending every little thing the title has to supply.

A lot of that point may also be spent in fight, which is the place One Piece Odyssey invitations most of its Dragon Quest XI comparisons. The JRPG retains its battle system conventional, with a single assault choice and a listing of talents to select from. You possibly can then make use of things, particular strikes known as Bond Arts, and freely change celebration members out and in. It is easy in the identical approach Dragon Quest is: simple to choose up with a lot enjoyment to match.

Alongside a very trendy person interface and a few very humorous talents for each combatant, you will possible actively hunt down the enemies that roam the battlefield as an alternative of avoiding them. It has that addictive high quality the place as quickly as you have earned any XP from a earlier bout, you instantly wish to do it once more for the sheer enjoyment of conquering the beasts of every world.

Fight makes use of a system in the identical fashion as rock-paper-scissors. Dubbed Energy, Velocity, and Approach, the three kind a triangle the place one is at all times weak to a different, however is then robust towards the one left over. For instance, celebration members specialising in Energy are robust towards Velocity enemies, however are weak to Approach foes. Approach customers are then highly effective towards Energy members and take additional harm from Velocity wielders.

Due to this, you will be always switching out and in celebration members in accordance with the kind of enemies you are going through. The mechanic provides diploma of technique to fights, making you query who must be a part of the beginning line-up whereas the others wait in reserve. It elevates the fight system above the standard setup by providing the cosy choices you are acquainted with after which providing you with one thing else to consider with out changing into overwhelming. A wise method that actually pays off as your celebration ranges up and features entry to new gear.

One other neat twist is how each your celebration members and combatants might be positioned; known as Areas, you are capable of assault inside and throughout completely different zones relying on which transfer you choose. This locations much more emphasis on getting the precise celebration arrange firstly of a bout as a result of for those who pair an ally up with an enemy sort they’re weak to, the encounter will rapidly turn out to be quite a bit tougher to win. Introducing even additional depth to fight, One Piece Odyssey well builds upon the standard fight system of previous with its personal concepts, all of which repay.

Maybe the one actual slight towards the title’s gameplay can be that some goals can really feel like padding. Notably within the first Memoria, the story goes on a bit too lengthy, to the purpose the place the worlds afterwards really feel quite a bit shorter compared. With menial duties like rescuing somebody’s pockets, sure goals can turn out to be a little bit of a drag. It was one of many few occasions the place we skipped fight solely so we may simply get the chore over and executed with.

Ensure that to not lose your focus throughout these moments, although, as a result of there is no English dub. All dialogue is in Japanese with English subtitles, which is ok. Nonetheless, some small translation points seem in tutorial pop-ups that would power you to learn a couple of sentences over once more to make sense of them. Though, we did not decide up on any associated to the character dialogue, so it isn’t a difficulty you will be encountering with a lot regularity.

You can say the identical about any frame-rate points, which in precise reality are nearly non-existent. The sport lets you select between two choices: Efficiency Mode and Graphics Mode. The previous runs at an extremely clean 60 frames-per-second whereas the latter halves your body charge, however each seem just about locked to their goal. We did not encounter a single noticeable body charge drop all through our time with the title, and the playthrough was utterly devoid of bugs and glitches too. Load occasions then go by so rapidly it may be troublesome to learn the tooltip on-screen in time.

Pitched alongside the collection’ twenty fifth anniversary, One Piece Odyssey may be very a lot a sport for the followers, however it additionally represents an opportunity for newcomers to return aboard the Thousand Sunny ship. Type of. The story of the island is totally new to the collection and so too are the characters that dwell there. What new followers will battle with are the pre-established faces — the sport would not exit of its technique to clarify why Luffy’s arms are so lengthy, for instance, or how the Straw Hat Pirates had been fashioned. Lots of data is assumed, so most references will possible go straight over your head and any callbacks made to previous occasions not within the sport will show complicated.

Nonetheless, the title additionally represents a terrific JRPG that followers of the style should not miss out on just because they don’t seem to be acquainted with One Piece. Because of an exquisite battle system, which makes an effort to introduce some new concepts, the sport might be loved by all. And for those who simply so occur to take to the appeal of Luffy and his gang of pirates, there are just one,000+ manga chapters so that you can compensate for.

Conclusion

Irrespective of whether or not you are a hardcore One Piece fan or an entire newcomer, One Piece Odyssey is an utter pleasure of a JRPG. Its fight system stays extremely pleasurable all through, and new mechanics present depth and technique in droves. Most actually the spotlight of the expertise, however with enjoyable exploration as well, you are at all times assured of time. One Piece Odyssey performs quite a bit like Dragon Quest XI, and it isn’t that far off being simply pretty much as good because it.