Move over Mario, Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat pirates are setting sail in a game of their own in the upcoming, One Piece Odyssey.
One Piece Odyssey is an upcoming JRPG from Bandai Namco and ILCA, Inc., the developer behind Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. After being swallowed by a huge storm, the Straw Hats are separated on a mysterious island filled with imposing creatures. To make matters worse, their ship, the Thousand Sunny is destroyed, and Luffy is missing his iconic hat. In One Piece Odyssey, you play as Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Frankie, and Brook (sorry Jinbei) as you explore dungeons, team up against enemies, and unearth the mystery surrounding the island.
Oda to contributed One Piece Odyssey by creating new characters and monster designs exclusively for the game. Katsuaki Tsuzuki, One Piece Odyssey’s producer, said the team has collaborated with Oda for the past three years of development, he says helped create a “full-blown RPG” with an authentic One Piece feel.
In an interview, Tsuzuki revealed that the concept of One Piece Odyssey as a “full-blown RPG” came about after he realised the genre translated well with the legendary escapades found within One Piece’s story.
“We have devoted ourselves to creating an in-game One Piece experience that encompases the epic adventure to experience the One Piece world,” Tsuzuki said. “The fruit of this long-term collaboration is One Piece Odyssey.”
One Piece Odyssey’s announcement comes as a part of the series’ 25th anniversary, which is as long as I’ve been alive. The game looks promising, not only for how well its announcement trailer recreates the bombastic action sequences of the series through its RPG mechanics, but also in how appropriate its beautifully enthralling music is. This comes as no surprise since One Piece Odyssey’s composer, Motoi Sakuraba, also worked on the beautiful music in games like Dark Souls and the Tales of series.
Oda appears to share this sentiment as well. At the beginning of the announcement trailer is a message from Oda giving Odyssey a stamp of approval with the same fervent excitement he gave to the upcoming Netflix live-action series.
“I thought to myself – wasn’t it like 3 years ago when I designed the characters?! Hahaha!,” Oda said in a statement in the announcement trailer. “But when I actually saw the game… Wow! It felt like I was watching A MOVIIIIE!!! What incredible immersion!!!”
As a born-again One Piece fan, I’m champing at the bit to immerse myself in One Piece Odyssey not only to play as my waifu, Nico Robin, but also to have the privilege of personally playing a part in reassembling the crew I’ve grown so fond of. After experiencing the crew’s similar separation in the aftermath of Sabaody Archipelago in the manga, you best believe I’m putting things into gear fifth to get my ragtag group of freedom fighters back together again upon One Piece Odyssey’s release.
One Piece Odyssey is slated to release later this year on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X.
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