The Japanese arm of Bandai Namco released a new TV commercial of the upcoming JRPG One Piece Odyssey.
The commercial is brief and doesn't focus on flashy gameplay. Instead, it's mostly live-action and it plays the emotional card. The game includes sections in which players will revisit memorable arcs of the anime and manga, including Alabasta and Water Seven. Considering that those were among the most emotional parts of the story, it's not surprising that the trailer promises that the game will pull at your heartstrings.
We see the typical Japanese salaryman, who we can say is definitely among the target audience of the game, as he picks up his copy of the game. As he finally relaxes to play, meeting Alabasta's princess Vivi once again brings a tear to his eye. I wouldn't be surprised to see fans of the original story react the same way when they'll play the game, and some of the trailers we've already seen were already quite stirring (and I'm not even a massive One Piece fan).
The returning locations and characters appear to be summoned by the powers of the new character Lim. They won't be full-fledged recreations of the original story, as our heroes will face the odds older and with more experience under their belts. To see how deeply this will change things, we'll have to play the game, but it's certainly an interesting narrative device for a title based on a popular IP with so much history.
One Piece Odyssey is almost here and it will release for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on January 13, 2023. if you'd like to learn more, you'll also be able to play a demo launching on January 10.
If you’re unfamiliar with One Piece, it debuted all the way back in 1997 as a manga by Eiichiro Odaon on Shueiusha’s ultra-popular magazine Weekly Shounen Jump and it’s still ongoing. As a matter of fact, it recently passed its 100th volume, while the never-ending related anime series just passed the 1,000th episode.
