One Piece, one of the longest running manga and anime franchises from creator Eiichiro Oda, needs absolutely no introduction. From films, merchandise, and numerous games, One Piece is known worldwide and has quite a solid reputation that only has grown in the last 25 years! When it comes to games though, One Piece has had some rough storms. That’s why when One Piece Odyssey was announced by publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment, our hive started buzzing! Unlike the chibi-like games or the musou games, One Piece Odyssey looked like a genuine JRPG that captures the world of One Piece in ways we’ve never seen before.

Well, we got our hands on One Piece Odyssey but was it worth the wait or should we have thrown this treasure back into the deep blue? We find out in our review of One Piece Odyssey for the PS4/PS5!

One Piece Odyssey follows Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Crew of pirates as they search for the legendary One Piece! During their adventure a strange incident occurs causing Always Sunny—Luffy’s powerful ship—to crash land on a weird island called Waford, which will test the pirate crew in a brand new and exciting new way. We won’t spoil the surprises, and there are MANY in One Piece Odyssey, what we love is this new tale/game doesn’t require you to be knowledgeable of One Piece—though you should be somewhat versed in the tale for maximum enjoyment.

It’s an entirely new original story from Eiichiro Oda and you can tell from the minute these characters begin their silly banter and goofy lines. Fans also need not worry if they want to see some of the past One Piece moments in One Piece Odyssey, there will be plenty of those moments but the surprise of how they come in is half the adventure. Now that we explained what you can expect from the story, let’s dive into the gameplay where One Piece Odyssey shines strongly!

When you begin your adventure on the island, you’ll be greeted with a pretty traditional JRPG experience. Players will navigate the unknown island exploring for items and new treasures, and lay the beat down on some pretty wild creatures both familiar and brand new! Exploration-wise, One Piece Odyssey is pretty standard. You solve puzzles using the crew’s numerous skills—like having Tony Tony Chopper navigate small walls—or using Luffy’s rubber appendages to scale large gaps. We loved that while some areas can feel pretty basic, One Piece Odyssey always tries to throw in new gameplay additions to keep you from yawning after a long trek through a sandy beach or dark dungeon.

One of the greater elements of One Piece Odyssey is the turn-based mechanics which are both familiar and pretty unique. Like any turn-based affair, players will utilize attacks, special attacks, and items to survive against opposing forces. Your team also fights in different parts of an arena meaning you’ll need to micromanage who you should fight first and if you should throw a fellow warrior into harm’s way. Battles start off pretty easy in One Piece Odyssey but before long, you’ll see our Straw Hat Crew end up weakened and need to regain their powers. Likewise, there is a pretty neat mechanic thrown into One Piece Odyssey that really threw us for a loop!

There are times when your fellow Straw Hats will be in deadly situations surrounded by powerful foes and might be scared of their possible fate! That’s when One Piece Odyssey utilizes scenes where the game will create conditions that need to be fulfilled otherwise your team will suffer. You may be given several turns to defeat an enemy before a party member is incapacitated or will be dealt extra damage while in the enemy’s zone. This keeps battles from growing stale and repetitive all while adding some flair to a pretty basic JRPG format!

We also loved the fact you can scour the island for those cubes to help enhance and power up skills you feel are more needed than others! The addition of a triangle-like proficiency system where various forms of abilities Luffy and his crew have can hit enemies harder/weaker given their individual weapons/skills.This follows a Strength, Speed, and Technique system that feels like something seen in series like Fire Emblem. You’ll need to swap team members out to sometimes face various foes!

Without mincing words, One Piece Odyssey is absolutely gorgeous! From the crisp settings to the extreme level of detail put into every member of Luffy’s gang, One Piece Odyssey feels like you’re stepping into the manga/anime without missing a beat! We did feel some of the enemy models could have been a bit more mixed up but there are enough variants to keep from being overly repetitive, especially after the first several hours. We tip our straw hats off to developer ILCA Inc.! You guys/girls poured some love into One Piece Odyssey as this could be one of the best-looking anime-video game adaptations we’ve seen in ages!

When we were given a review code for One Piece Odyssey we were happy it allowed us to play both the PS5 and PS4 versions of One Piece Odyssey, which we did because we love One Piece. We noticed the PS5 is probably the best way to enjoy Odyssey as it runs smoother, loads WAY faster, and rarely chugs during some of the bigger sections of the game. The PS4 version runs well and we didn’t have a lot of negative experiences—aside from the load times—but it is a night/day difference when running this title on both consoles!