Even if they’re not in your active party of four characters, you can freely swap them in without taking up a turn. What makes this system work is that there’s no traditional turn order, and you can just freely pick whatever character you want to take the first move in combat. Power beats speed, technique beats power, and speed beats technique. The traditional turn-based combat is powered by a rock/paper/scissors logic that assigns every party member, enemy, and boss a damage type of either power, speed, or technique. One Piece Odyssey’s combat is refreshingly simple, though that simplicity does wind up being a double-edged sword.

Moments like these are the heart of One Piece Odyssey’s story, and they’re brought to life brilliantly thanks to writing that feels totally in step with the anime and manga, excellent performances, and a fantastic art style that authentically translates the unique style of One Piece to 3D. Even small things, like the crew reacting to seeing the Going Merry docked at Alabasta, is a moment that provides a powerful emotional gut punch for any long-time fan like myself. These come in the form of “what if”-like scenarios that have the crew revisiting pivotal moments from the series with new perspectives. This makes it a tough recommendation for anybody new to the series, but if you’re deeply invested in the world and characters of One Piece, there are some really great payoffs in the Memoria chapters. It should be noted that Odyssey is aimed directly at long-time One Piece fans, with its story picking up well after the Dressrosa arc (about 750 episodes in), and it is not shy about diving deep into some of the biggest surprises of the show.

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