Full disclosure, I’ve never seen a single episode of One Piece, nor read any of the manga. Others can be in places they shouldn’t be. Characters that otherwise wouldn’t have met yet can now meet. This opens up the door to a number of new possibilities. Each location you visit is a memory, and you’re now exploring these worlds under a new context, meaning historic events can change entirely. Most enticing to fans will be the Final Fantasy VII Remakeapproach to storytelling. Though that goes deeper when, like many anime-to-game adaptations, you factor in the fan service.

This chapter-by-chapter loop of visiting a familiar place, conquering it, and then returning for some good old-fashioned puzzle-solving is thoroughly engaging. These abilities can also be fine-tuned after completing one of the island’s four temple dungeons.

These locations become important for a number of reasons as the completion of an area and defeat of a boss (often one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea) sees the gang return to Waford with some abilities restored. Lim in particular comes in handy and aids in the groups’ means of travel, as she contains the ability to access and use the groups’ memories in order to transport them to known One Piece locations. Joining the gang is new characters Adio and Lim. Landing upon the island of Waford, the gang thankfully ends up at the source of the light though it’s an uphill battle ahead for the Straw Hats in the fight to find meaning and regain abilities. A dazzling beam of light echoes from the middle of the ocean, promising the potential of treasure for the gold-hungry crew, and it’s in investigating this anomaly that the crew becomes shipwrecked, losing their powers.

Luffy (otherwise known as Straw Hat Luffy) once more partying up with his pirate gang, the Straw Hat Pirates. One Piece: Odyssey is an entirely standalone story that sees protagonist Monkey D. Featuring dozens of hours, excellent turn-based RPG gameplay, and plenty of anime shenanigans to get into, it’s one of the best adaptations yet. Having just celebrated the manga’s 25th anniversary some six months ago, a companion game has been released to commemorate the milestone. One Piece: Odyssey is something of an occasion.

One piece odyssey canon