One Piece Odyssey was first revealed during an event celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary earlier this year. The game is set to be the most ambitious One Piece game yet, taking direct influence from juggernaut JRPGs like Dragon Quest and the Tales of series. The game will allow players to control all nine Strawhats (unfortunately Jinbe seems to be too recent of an addition to the crew) in both exploration and turn-based combat as players experience an original story penned by and featuring new character and monster designs series creator Eiichiro Oda.
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Bandai Namco and ILCA recently revealed that Alabasta will be featured in the game as a fully explorable world with beloved character Nefertari Vivi making her return. Now, it’s announced that Water 7 and Enies Lobby will also both be featured as full environments and feature a unique story involving CP-9 and even the return of the Going Merry, the crew’s original ship.
These recreations of iconic One Piece locations appear to be derived from the Strawhat Pirates’ memories, hence why elements such as the Going Merry have been preserved. These seem to tie into the larger story of One Piece Odyssey, but gameplay snippets imply that these areas will be full of activities, such as canal riding in Water 7’s main town and even side quests that can be acquired from NPCs.
While there have been plenty of One Piece games before Odyssey, none have managed to attempt what it is doing, involving series creator Eiichiro Oda in a huge creative way while giving fans the first chance to fully explore fleshed out versions of some of the manga and anime’s massive world. This might not even be the final returning location revealed for One Piece Odyssey, as sky islands have already been teased for the game, implying a return to Skypeia and even the manga arc’s fearsome villain Eneru.
One Piece Odyssey will release for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 13th 2023.
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