One Piece Odyssey is the latest game in the hit anime and manga franchise. It was revealed back in March of this year, and unlike many other One Piece games, One Piece Odyssey will be a turn-based JRPG. The game is being published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and developed by ILCA. ILCA recently worked on Nintendo Switch remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and they are also working on an Ace Combat game as part of a new studio called Bandai Namco Aces.
Players who are looking forward to the game have been curious about how the game will handle a turn-based combat system. Thankfully, Bandai Namco and ILCA have now provided a developer diary to give players a better look at the gameplay in action. The demonstration can be watched below.
The video covers various aspects of the game, including exploration, platforming, and the turn-based battle system. Various members of the development team provide their insights on the project, including composer Motoi Sakuraba, producer Katsuaki Tsuzuki, and Ken Takano who is the One Piece editor-in-chief at Weekly Shonen Jump.
While speaking about the game, the staff mention that it has been in development for five years and that it began while marketing was ongoing for One Piece: Pirates Warriors 4. Once the studio had created the framework for One Piece Odyssey, they reached out to One Piece manga author Eiichiro Oda, in order to ask if he could provide art and consult on the game. The result was that Oda created the character designs for Adio and Lim, two original characters that will appear in the game. Oda also created newly designed animals, such as the Leviathan and Dry Penguin.
During gameplay, players can switch between members of the Straw Hat crew at will. Each character has unique abilities, including Roronoa Zoro being able to cut through obstacles and Monkey D. Luffy using his stretchy limbs to reach out-of-the-way platforms. In combat, the Scramble Area Battles system will randomly pair members of your party with members of the enemy group and place them into combat zones. Players must then manage the battlefield positions of the Straw Hats and leverage their unique abilities to come out on top.
There’s also a mechanic called the Dramatic Scene system, which will introduce unexpected problems to solve. These hilarious problems fit the personality of the characters to a tee, such as Vinsmoke Sanji refusing to attack after being encircled by women, and there are rewards for overcoming these situations.
One Piece Odyssey is due to release on PC, PlayStation consoles, and Xbox consoles later this year.
