One Piece Odyssey is likely to be one of the best One Piece sport of all time, however it didn’t cease me from wishing its story was saved for an anime as a substitute. The RPG well incorporates current One Piece lore and builds its characters effectively sufficient to attraction to each followers and newcomers alike. Nevertheless, some meaningless online game fluff makes it tough to get totally hooked up to its world and characters, particularly in its gradual starting.
I don’t assume that I’d really feel that approach, although, if it didn’t embrace such a powerful, thematically sound ending. One Piece Odyssey‘s nice story stands in distinction to a few of its extra tedious online game parts, making me want I may have seen it play out as an anime arc.
This piece accommodates spoilers for One Piece Odyssey.
Setting sail isn’t really easy
One Piece Odyssey strands the collection’ Straw Hats gang on the island of Waford. Earlier than the crew can restore its destroyed pirate ship, a mysterious woman named Lim steals their powers and disperses them all through the island and the land of Memoria as dice fragments. The one technique to acquire all of the dice fragments is to seek out them scattered all through the totally different settings, defeat the island guardians, and enterprise into Memoria utilizing Lim’s powers.
Memoria, a land constructed from recollections, reunites the Straw Hats with previous foes and buddies in a few of the most emotional arcs in One Piece historical past. That’s really the supply of considered one of One Piece Odyssey‘s principal points: a collection of half-baked translations of preexisting tales into partaking gameplay.
In our four-star overview, we observe that the sport suffers from a gradual begin however picks up the tempo after its prolonged Alabasta chapter. One Piece Odyssey didn’t attraction to me as a lot because it did to our reviewer, however we agreed that the sport was an “entertaining one because of the strong characters, plot, and world-building.” The backtracking downside turns into a evident difficulty in Alabasta and continues so far as Water Seven. At that time, gamers may simply tire of working all through the whole city and into the sewers to progress what would’ve taken half as a lot time to look at.
In spite of everything, anime would focus solely on story. You wouldn’t have to run backwards and forwards for a pair of keys or pester NPCs for clues.
An awesome anime filler arc
Even with its pacing points, One Piece Odyssey respectfully handles its supply materials. It references different characters, entities, and tales that time to the prevailing One Piece canon. It additionally builds the plot round two unique characters, Lim and Adio, which separates the story from the principle plot of the manga and anime. You’d assume this is able to detract from its attraction as an anime arc, however that simply implies that Odyssey‘s story doesn’t battle with the vast plot of the franchise.
Even higher, Lim and Adio visibly develop as characters over the course of the sport. Lim will get many of the consideration as a result of she accompanies the Straw Hats all through their most pivotal moments in Memoria, and in the end learns the worth of friendship (extra particularly, “nakama” or buddies so shut they could as effectively be household) in consequence.
In the meantime, Adio doesn’t journey with Luffy’s crew as a lot however remains to be believably built-in into the One Piece world. He has connections with One Piece villain Smoker and a transparent understanding of the World Authorities that affected most of the Straw Hats’ adventures within the anime and manga. One Piece Odyssey‘s story additionally takes care to weave Waford’s lore into the Straw Hats’ recollections, like tucking a e-book about Waford into an unsuspecting Water Seven library. It additionally performs into the characters’ strengths, like handing resident archaeologist Nico Robin the reigns for unraveling the thriller behind Waford’s connection to the sky folks and Weatheria.
One Piece Odyssey in the end wraps up free ends at its conclusion earlier than the Straw Hats depart Waford, answering questions like the place Lim got here from, Adio’s true intentions, and what the Straw Hats’ function was within the total journey. It ends with Lim and Adio adopting new views, even when the latter finally ends up leaving the island earlier than the epilogue as a result of he can’t hand over his dream of avenging his folks.
True friendship by no means ends
The ending itself is what notably resonates for me. In case it wasn’t apparent from his Yu-Gi-Oh! villain look, Adio is the antagonist of One Piece Odyssey. He manipulated Lim into stealing the Straw Hats’ powers and main them into defeating the island’s guardians. This turns into more and more apparent towards the later half of the sport as he takes steps to awaken Waford’s god-like sentient weapon, the Divine Breath.
Adio seeks to destroy the world and recreate it with the weapon’s weather-manipulating skills, a purpose he feels strongly sufficient about that he’s prepared to sacrifice his bond with Lim for it. He may’ve succeeded, if it weren’t for the actual Lim.
That’s proper: The Lim Luffy and the gang knew wasn’t really the true Lim. She was a duplicate created by the Priestess of Waford, who appears to be like precisely like her however with crimson eyes as a substitute of blue.
Adio shoots Lim to stop her from stealing his powers. Nevertheless, maybe due to her adventuring alongside Luffy via Memoria, she nonetheless cares about Adio regardless of his betrayal. She makes use of her final phrases to ask Luffy to deliver Adio again to his senses earlier than turning right into a dice (as a result of she’s not really an actual particular person). Then begins the arc the place the Straw Hats should defeat Adio and reign within the Divine Breath.
After Luffy defeats Adio, he admits that the bond he mocked was in truth stronger than his personal convictions of vengeance. Priestess Lim speaks to him on her different’s behalf, mentioning that he may’ve simply killed her however didn’t shoot, in a significant level. Luffy says one thing related, suggesting that Adio couldn’t win towards them due to his bond with Lim — that he couldn’t really pull the set off on them ultimately.
One Piece Odyssey leaves that as much as the participant’s interpretation, however we’re led to imagine that is in all probability the case primarily based on framing. Adio has a flashback with Lim in his remaining conflict with Luffy. Just like the Priestess identified, he has the talent to kill her when he shoots Lim, but he doesn’t. He feebly remarks, “Typically, I miss,” and hobbles off with the beat-up Divine Breath earlier than Luffy and the gang revive Lim. By the point the Straw Hats depart Waford, the Priestess and Lim resolve to rebuild Waford and hope for Adio’s return as a result of he’s their “nakama.”
One Piece Odyssey isn’t canon. Producer Katsuaki Tsuzuki confirmed as a lot in an interview with Ungeek earlier than the sport’s launch. It didn’t immediately progress something associated to the principle One Piece plot or the principle forged as folks, even when they affected Lim and Adio. Nevertheless, it ends on an emotionally satisfying observe that does the characters justice. Heck, even the action-packed cutscenes appear like one thing straight out of the anime.
I’m glad with the story, however with a sense that I may have gotten extra out of One Piece Odyssey had I watched it moderately than trudged via its RPG components. It might’ve saved hours of my time to expertise a heartwarming and canon-worthy story with out the grind. Bandai Namco crafted a reasonably strong RPG that freshens many mechanics which have since grown stale within the turn-based style, however generally you simply wish to know what occurs with out backtracking via the desert to get there.
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