One Piece is one of the longest-running manga and anime series today, and it has a huge fanbase. After running for so many years it is only now preparing for its final arc, much to the amazement of its many fans.
For all of this, there have been relatively few big forays into the video game medium for One Piece, despite lending itself to many options for different game genres. The new title One Piece Odyssey may well fulfill the dreams of fans hoping to take control of the Thousand Sunny, and its newest trailer gives a bigger glimpse of what players are in for.
The trailer revealed at Summer Game Fest starts off establishing how the characters get into the game's setting: a mysterious island somewhere on the Grand Line. This is not at all out of place for the crew of the Thousand Sunny, although how they get onto the island is a little unusual. After that, it goes into some gameplay, mostly showing off the new characters players will meet and the look of the island as they explore. Enemies seem to mostly be inorganic golems, and the game gives off some Persona vibes, which few will complain about.
One Piece Odyssey also looks a little bit like the Dragon Quest series, and One Piece mixed with Dragon Quest sounds like it could be a perfect match. Both traditionally have straightforward stories and distinct art styles, and the standard gameplay and progression of Dragon Quest would work really well on a One Piece standalone adventure. It could provide both something to tide over fans waiting for Dragon Quest 12 and a more fleshed-out filler arc than normal for One Piece fans.
One of the most interesting parts of the game will be seeing how every member of the crew contributes. Typically, while all of the members of the crew are strong in combat to varying degrees, each also brings unique talents. Luffy is one of One Piece's strongest Haki users, but he can't navigate like Nami. Hopefully, this RPG will make each member of the crew feel valuable.
A good RPG will also straddle the line between being too impactful and not impactful enough in terms of story. No one wants an RPG spinoff that is necessary for the One Piece story overall, but neither should the story feel like it doesn't matter at all. Fortunately, One Piece has thrived on repeating a similar story structure for each of its arcs, so this shouldn't be too tough. Still, a preview of something from the final One Piece arc wouldn't be unwelcome.
One Piece Odyssey will be released in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
