Bandai Namco dropped new details on One Piece Odyssey gameplay, one of the first in-system looks at the game since its announcement in March 2022. Prior reveals focused more on characters, art, and series creator Eiichiro Oda’s involvement.
The information was published in the current issue of Japan’s V Jump manga magazine, as well as shared on Twitter and via an update to the One Piece Odyssey official site gameplay section.
―――――――#ONEPIECE 連載25周年記念タイトル
「ONE PIECE ODYSSEY」2022年発売
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今日発売の #Vジャンプ に最新情報掲載中！
オデッセイのバトルシステムを紹介！新情報を見逃すな！公式サイト→https://t.co/QEKDyIIjE1#ワンピース #ONEPIECEODYSSEY pic.twitter.com/pq1wnTeTc6
— 「ONE PIECE」家庭用ゲーム公式 (@opgame_official) May 20, 2022
The site update consists of screenshots that show the two halves of One Piece Odyssey gameplay: Battle and Adventure.
The Adventure portion of the game involves exploring environments and getting past obstacles using the unique skills of the Straw Hat Pirates. The site mentions using things like Luffy’s qualities as a Rubber Man or Frankie’s ability to improvise tools and ways forward. Other screens show Zoro cutting through an iron gate with his sword and Chopper standing quietly in a cave.
The Battle gameplay screens from One Piece Odyssey also confirm that the game operates on a familiar turn-based command-style battle system. The team strives to make things unique to One Piece by allowing players to “achieve victory by involving the Straw Hat Pirates.”
An accompanying screen shows off the battle interface as well. In the screen, Luffy, Nico, Nami, and Sanji face off against some monsters. Battle Actions can be selected using shoulder buttons, with the triangle button appearing to determine “Strategy.” A warning at the top of the screen instructs players to “Move Sanji to Robin’s area and defeat 1 enemy before Robin is incapacitated!” implying that various opportunities can come up mid-battle. The characters also appear to have “elemental” qualities in a rock-paper-scissors-like triangle. For example, Luffy and Sanji are assigned red fists, which have an advantage against orange guns (Nami’s “element”), which in turn beat green swords (Robin’s “element”). Other screens of the One Piece Odyssey battle gameplay show Luffy performing the Gum-Gum Gatling move on a creature.
Other elements of the system include cooperative techniques called “Kizuna Arts,” a “Scramble Area” system (the warning from the battle interface screen refers to this), and “Dramatic Scenes,” referring to mid-battle actions that play out in mini-cutscenes and confer bonuses.
One Piece Odyssey is in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and is due for release in 2022.
