TEST | One Piece Odyssey: Monkey Quest

After a failed first attempt at an open world and a 4th Musou, One Piece is once again heading down the classic RPG path with One Piece Odyssey, an adaptation developed by ILCA. Despite the title, the adventure takes place on a single new island, but thanks to a new character, Luffy and his crew revisit certain iconic locations from the saga in a special way. If we don’t have Homer’s (Greek poet, ha) decent odyssey, One Piece Odyssey doesn’t have the least appeal.

Testing was done on PS5 thanks to code provided by the publisher

One Piece: Chain of Memories

In One Piece Odyssey, everything begins as usual for the famous Straw Hats, or almost so: after a sea voyage, Luffy’s crew approaches a new island called Waford. Things quickly go from bad to worse with a devastating storm stranding Luffy and his friends on the island, the Sunny’s ship in disrepair, and a skeletal Brook in a “dream” state due to his body being left at sea. So leave the research. After finding something to repair the ship on the island and failing, they come across the only Humans living there, namely Adio and Lim, characters invented for the game. with Lim, a mysterious girl who has the power to steal the memories and abilities of living things. He does this to Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats because he doesn’t really like pirates for some reason. So, in addition to repairing Sunny, Luffy and his friends must uncover Waford’s secrets, befriend Adio and Lim, and then delve into certain parts of their memories to become who they truly are again.

As you will understand by reading these lines, the scenario of One Piece Odyssey is an excuse for fans of Eiichiro Oda’s work to be able to try certain emblematic arcs for better and for better, for worst. The story of the game itself is ultimately anecdotal, as the main story takes place in places that Luffy and his allies have already visited.. Sure, there are some interesting facts about Waford and a bit of suspense surrounding the new characters, but aside from a few passages, there’s not much to remember about this Straw Hats adventure. If we weren’t expecting the quality of the original arc written by Eiichiro Oda, even though the author was working on the game, more ambition wouldn’t be denied, which it was. One Piece: World Seeker.

If there’s one thing in One Piece Odyssey that will please fans of the manga and anime, it’s the homage to the characters and atmosphere of One Piece. On the other hand, ILCA’s work is glorious with sometimes funny and exaggerated, sometimes epic and moving dialogues and license-worthy situations. Also, it’s nice to revisit certain arcs of One Piece from a slightly refined angle, and if the surprises aren’t really there, the charm still works, especially in the Alabasta and Water Seven arcs, which aren’t lacking in moments. Plus, for starters, even if One Piece Odyssey is watchable, it’s almost recommended to be updated in the manga and anime in terms of too many references. Unfortunately, the title has some pacing issues that sometimes disrupt the flow of the epic, both in its script and gameplay.

We are definitely in the One Piece game.

Focus on turn-based

It takes a short while to realize that One Piece Odyssey is an old-school game. We find practically all the codes typical of last year’s RPGs: exploration of more or less large levels with many corridors, chests to open, battles to lead/avoid, spending time in menus to improve characters, dungeons to complete, quests to complete. .. Granted, this is true of quite a few RPGs today and even modern action-adventure games, but One Piece Odyssey really has a classic feel to it, down to the smallest details that don’t always work in its favor. As for exploration, if there are good ideas like using the Straw Hats’ abilities in various situations (Luffy can reach high areas, Zoro can cut through doors and metal crates, etc.), all of this is done through character changes, animations, and transitions. it often takes a disturbing amount of time. The speed of running is slow, there are many interruptions with black screens, picking up items is not immediate, commuting is legion, the saving system is carried out through checkpoints… In short, it is not necessarily a joy on this side, even if it is quite useful.

Fortunately, the main attraction of One Piece Odyssey is its carefully crafted turn-based combat. Here, too, there is nothing out of place with a management system that RPG fans have seen and reviewed: basic attack, objects, skills, escape, character change … nothing special in itself, but the originality does not match the quality. With moves and special moves, each Straw Hat’s traits are used for more than exploration, and the number of them is surprising. So with his flexible powers, Luffy can hit multiple enemies at once and upgrade his Gear 2 attack, Chopper can heal allies, Nami can destabilize enemies with lightning or charm… ILCA knows One Universe Piece. at your fingertips and felt in every confrontation. There are even choices that are enough to make fans of the franchise smile, like when Robin attacks where he’s caught… crushing them to crush his male attributes, it’s a pain, that goes without saying.

Undoubtedly one of the most violent attacks ever seen in an RPG.

Also, add to this an advantage/weakness system based on the classes of heroes/enemies, as well as another system focused on location – for once, it looks quite original and good, since heroes and enemies are placed in separate areas. you can leave or join depending on what you’re doing – and even without reaching a Persona or the like, you’ve got a game that’s as strategic as it is fun. Unfortunately, the difficulty is low, with very few major battles ending in game over, and with a few exceptions, bosses that aren’t difficult at all. Also, the bestiary isn’t as extensive as we’d like, but we happily find a variety of monsters and Humans from the manga/anime, along with a little new blood here and there.

Here, Luffy can help Zoro attack from a distance.

In terms of management, common to almost all RPGs, there is an increase in levels and, above all, equipment for acquiring and giving characters. These can be found or bought, and there’s a slot system for equipping them, giving buffs a big boost to hit points, defense, more critical hit chance, and more. Additionally, we have gear combos, items to craft with Usopp, food to cook with Sanji to save the day during battles, and even Straw Hat party camps that allow you to upgrade them during multiple battles. Yes, it’s a bit of nonsense, but it perfectly fits the spirit of One Piece and proves that the mix between RPG and license works. On the content side, One Piece Odyssey is clearly not lacking, but unfortunately the pacing is an issue with the Alabasta arc being too long compared to the others, and the final arcs seeming to be done at the last minute. things to do and abbreviated events. As for the add-on, there’s no finesse with the many tasks called FedEx, but if you want to do everything, there’s easily over 30 hours of guaranteed gameplay if the repetitiveness doesn’t tire you too much. .

Definitely an atypical dish.

An odyssey worth taking?

When announced, One Piece Odyssey’s graphical and artistic choices raised a few eyebrows, but not as much as Sanji. It should be said that unlike Naruto or Dragon Ball FighterZagain, we end up with a style that’s far from what we’d expect from a manga/anime adaptation, but One Piece: World Seeker is generally disappointing except for the character rendering, with One Piece Odyssey looking more believable. Even if there are some effects that are a bit weird and/or too “realistic” for One Piece, the specific aspect of the franchise is the settings, which are as charming as the exaggerated and marked textures. As for the characters and monsters encountered along the way, their models are glorious. First and foremost is the animation that takes its toll on One Piece Odyssey, with cutscenes and battles leading to spectacular spectacle.

The Water Seven is an attraction worthy of almost Venice.

Technically, the result of One Piece Odyssey lags behind on recent consoles. In resolution mode, the framerate seems heavier than other productions, and in performance mode, we have a fairly noticeable blurring on a large TV, while we’re far from a game pushing machines to their limits. Also, while loading times are fairly short, the presence of cutscenes does spoil things a bit. As for using DualSense on the PlayStation 5, it’s pretty effective, but the vibrations are very weak, very bad.

Now on to the music with an amazing selection from Bandai Namco and ILCA. If One Piece: World Seeker benefited from the presence of an anime composer, resulting in beautiful (but underutilized) music, One Piece Odyssey’s composer is Motoi Sakuraba. Yes, you read that right, he is responsible for various well-known video game soundtracks such as Dark Souls, Tales of, Baten Kaitos, Golden Sun and many more. That’s why he’s a great choice, and the gentleman is a perfect fit for the One Piece universe. Despite the presence of some epic pieces that can be a little too explosive, coming straight from Tales of, the music of One Piece Odyssey is generally very good and pleases our ears on various occasions.

Finally, on the dubbing side, we once again find Japanese anime actors having a great time. If not all the dialogue is dubbed, we still hear a lot of Straw Hats and many other characters known to fans. We can fear a sloppy work, because we find revised arcs and not as advanced as in the manga / anime, definitely, but if the services are not so extensive, we still find emotion worthy of Luffy and company.

A kick that is not missing from potatoes.

Verdict: 7/10

While not a genre-reinventing game, One Piece Odyssey is a quality RPG that will especially appeal to fans of Eiichiro Oda’s work. It has some flaws, but it also has heart, and we feel that ILCA has not neglected the core material. With fun battles, a look that more or less compliments Eiichiro Oda’s work, and an effective soundtrack, One Piece Odyssey stands out as a convincing adaptation, and we hope Bandai Namco publishes more One Piece titles in this edition. I don’t see enough.