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Published on August 8th, 2024 | by Nay Clark

One Piece Odyssey Deluxe Edition (Switch)

Clear the decks and batten down the hatches for an exciting pirate adventure with the one and only Monkey D. Luffy! One Piece Odyssey is a role playing game developed by ILCA, published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and initially released on January 10th of 2023 on Windows, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms and came out for the Switch on July 29th of 2024. This Deluxe Edition release of the game includes an additional scenario, extra character outfits for the crew, and Switch exclusive outfits are available as well. Whether you are a fan of the anime or not, you are sure to hoist the sails in this high flying role playing island hopping romp.

After a shipwreck, the Straw Hat Pirates find themselves stranded and scattered about the mysterious island of Waford. When they finally catch up with one another, an enigmatic woman steals their powers, turns them into cubes, and scatters them across the island. The band of heroes must now go out to regain their stolen powers and some missing memories in the land of Memoria which is a world that recreates events of their past. Everyone must pass these trials to figure out what is going on and to get off of this island safe and sound.

A new original story for an anime game is always a plus, but chunks of Odyssey do feel a bit on the lazy side. Just looking at the story generally, it’s a nice side quest to see all of your favorites forced to be involved in, but the remade circumstances are never incredibly involving since they already happened. Fans of the manga and/or anime might get some value out of witnessing small details like how other characters react to certain occasions like these, but they are just small cool moments and nothing incredibly lucrative. Even if you are not a fan of the series, when you are playing these antecedent events, the characters explain everything that is going to happen anyway so there are no intriguing elements in the narrative. Also, with Odyssey being more of a pit stop within the story, it largely feels like a watered down version of something that would happen within the main story of the manga or anime.

The gameplay and combat are enjoyable and is what you would imagine any kind of RPG to play like. You can run around the large maps and explore the world through different interactions like jumping up on ledges or swinging around with Luffy’s stretchy arms. You can also switch between characters while running around the world map and each character also has their own unique ability that will be used when solving puzzles, collecting items, and roaming the environment. The world is fun to dive into and it’s delightful to interact with these characters in this way, even though it can get a bit too linear at times. Enemies walk around the landscape and running up to them will start a battle, but approaching them while their back is turned will net you a surprise attack and lets you gain the upper hand immediately. Battles are turn based, but there are different elements woven in that make it a bit more engaging than other battle RPG battle systems.

Once you enter a battle, your team is separated from one another on the battlefield fighting their own fights. This approach alone causes some great moments mechanically where you have to decide to either use close up or ranged attacks between your group and how you should shuffle them around. Each character and enemy has a certain attribute attached to them and there is a rock-paper-scissors structure in fighting. For example, Luffy is assigned with the Power attribute and Usopp is Speed. If an enemy has the Speed attribute then your Power characters will be more effective up against it. Power beats Speed which beats Technique and Technique trumps Power. You can get into some pretty interesting scrimmages with this system in play and the simplicity behind the layers of it makes the game feel satisfying, immediately easy to understand, and fun to jump into.

There are other things you can do like side quests and bounties. Bounties are basically like mini bosses or optional fights that you can take place in that will give you some extra berries. Berries are the currency in One Piece Odyssey. You use berries to buy items, equipment, accessories, ingredients, and meals. You will be pretty set the entire way through, but may have to go out of your way if you want the best of the best for your pirate friends. Luckily, with how uncomplicated the game plays out, coming by berries and completing tasks like bounties to earn more berries is smooth sailing.

While the game is simple to understand, it may be a little bit too simple. There are your typical buff and debuff elements and gaining enough experience will level everyone up which makes them stronger and makes it easier going into the next battle, but the way the entire game plays out is pretty elementary overall. You can swap characters during battles at no extra cost. It doesn’t take up a turn or anything which makes the process of healing characters or always having the advantage quite frequently. There is also a bonus system where you have to complete extra objectives during fights that are absurdly easy to overcome, but the rewards are exceptionally valuable to the point that it makes the entire game a breeze because you are constantly being recompensed from little effort.

Graphically, One Piece Odyssey’s cel-shaded style looks good on the Switch. Surprisingly, it runs fantastic at a smooth 30 fps in both docked and handheld mode. There were a few hiccups here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. I would almost recommend picking this up on the Switch for that reason alone. It’s gratifying to be able to run something at this caliber on a handheld console. It never once felt like anything was slacking or there were any trade offs with the depth of field while on the playing field. The enemies are inventive and well designed and the cast of characters, new and old, all look great and are modeled with care.

The music in the game is really epic, but sometimes feels out of place in regular battles with basic enemies. Orchestral scores and the fanfare of a chorus backing up your every action sounds good during an intense moment in the show, but not when you are smacking a frog. The game is fully voiced in Japanese with no option for English voice overs. The characters all sound like their anime counterparts and fully express their emotions in a faithful fashion.

Final Thoughts?

One Piece Odyssey is a classic JRPG through and through. The story is pretty flavorless, but it’s encouraging that One Piece could get a massive video game adaptation to this degree. Even though the game is a bit on the easy side, the gameplay, controls, and battle mechanics all do their job well enough to keep you invested. Exploring the world with all of the characters is refreshing and it’s awesome to see them in this precarious situation, especially if you are a fan of One Piece and can pick up on the small details. The graphics and audio are sufficient and do justice for a One Piece experience on the Switch. If you are a rabid fan of the franchise, this is a no-brainer, especially with the added DLC and costumes. It is a fun game that has everything you would want in a One Piece RPG; the thing is, it doesn’t do anything extraordinary to outshine any other RPG out there. If you are curious though, you won’t regret your time with the wannabe Pirate King.

About the Author

Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.

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