One Piece World Seeker Fight People Again

When Ane Piece: Globe Seeker was first appear, some fans reacted the same mode non-fans frequently do regarding the popular franchise's manga and anime offerings.

"I just don't become it."

Honestly, I understand where both are coming from. As much as I absolutely love Ane Slice, it'due south not equally friendly to localization as contemporaries Naruto and Bleach. A large role of information technology is its more than humorous writing compared to the other ii.

One Piece, at least to me, has a more than satisfying bite in Japanese. Information technology's a perfect example of the case where the original source material is much, much better than the translated versions if you lot happen to understand good, old Nihongo. As with any language, ane of the challenges in localizing Japanese humor involves cultural references that are difficult to translate. The fact that Japanese people identify added pregnant on the audio of words — which tin be used to add even more nuance — makes translation even more challenging. It'due south the same upshot I run across when trying to translate jokes from Tagalog, a language that is uncommonly well-suited to humor. Well, that and the native dialect of my hometown, which sounds fifty-fifty funnier to me than Tagalog due to its high proliferation of funny-sounding phrases (the dialect is chosen Pangasinan, in case y'all're curious).

So when a co-worker or a friend tells me they don't find One Slice that entertaining and wonder why information technology'due south so popular in Japan, I just tell them it'south probable because they are not getting the full experience due to the language bulwark.

Which brings us to One Piece: World Seeker. As a pop IP, One Piece has had its share of countless games through various console generations. These games have run the gamut from fighters and brawlers to activeness-adventure offerings. For its part, Earth Seeker tries to shake upward the formula by taking main protagonist Luffy and plopping him into a large open world. Instead of progressing the story through various curated stages, you do missions by interacting with characters in an open up sandbox that you can explore to your heart's content.

The developers' approach to the game apparently has been polarizing. Some fans, for example, voiced displeasure with the aesthetics of the game'due south new location. In addition to not being set in any of the familiar places that fans know and love, it too drops the cartoony way of the source material for the environs, which critics say make its globe feel out of identify. Others, meanwhile, welcomed the original setting besides every bit the new characters. In addition to giving fans something unlike, it besides helps keep the feel fresh, proponents said.

Personally, I'g fine with either approach. While some areas feel like they would be more at home in a Naruto game, Earth Seeker does a solid job overall from a visual perspective. This is specially truthful for the grapheme models, which still retain the cel-shaded wait of the source material, making them wait like they jumped straight out of the anime. Granted, a lot of the NPCs are based on reused assets. The Marine and pirate grunts are especially comical when grouped up, making me feel like I'k smacking around a family of twins or septuplets when I battle them in groups. The aforementioned is true for characters that populate the town, though some of them at least have different apparel. Regardless of whether or non Earth Seeker's visual style or aesthetic is your cup of tea or not, it'south arguably the best-looking Ane Piece game to engagement.

The story, meanwhile, flows similar an actual 1 Piece side arc thanks to the interest of One Piece "mangaka" or author Eiichiro Oda. Information technology's set in a place called Jail Island, a new addition to the lore that the Navy uses to house dangerous pirates. Previously known every bit Precious stone Island, the arrival of the Navy and its massive fortifications have changed both the confront and character of the previously peaceful country, which finds its once united inhabitants separate between two factions. In that location'south the Pro-Navy side, which appreciates the club and protection that the armed services has brought in against marauding pirates besides as the economic boost that they provide. Then there's the Anti-Navy side, who believes the soldiers have turned the once peaceful island into a military state and have conscripted its country and people to serve their purpose.

At the center of the narrative are two people. You're get-go introduced to Isaac, a powerful and mysterious Navy warden who oversees Jail Island and develops an interest in Luffy and the crew. Despite having the appearance of a loyal Navy homo, he also seems to accept a hidden calendar, which sets in motion a series of events that bring pirates and Navy bigwigs to the isle. The 2nd person is Jeanne, a young woman who plucks Luffy from the sea and ultimately enlists his assistance in helping the island and its residents. Jeanne, who also leads the Anti-Navy resistance, proves to be an of import slice in the narrative as the Straw Hat Pirates' slowly unravel what'south going on behind the scenes.

The story itself has familiar One Slice elements. Y'all have a person or group of people in trouble while facing a more powerful foe, with Luffy and the gang arriving only in fourth dimension to serve as a powerful wild card for righting wrongs. Forth the manner, the themes of family and friendship are used to chip away hostilities and misunderstandings between people while inspiring others to be their improve selves. Naturally, you've got some cool and powerful fights sprinkled in between, besides. The story starts out a bit slow but picks up nicely toward the end. Overall, I thought the mainline story was brief all the same solid and you can too greatly extend your play by doing all the side quests and missions. The trademark humor is as well present, including Zoro'southward legendary inner GPS (or lack thereof) and Luffy misremembering people's names every bit meat products. I felt it could have used fifty-fifty more than funny shenanigans but that could just be a matter of stuff getting lost in translation since huge chunks of dialogue are not voiced so I had to rely on the English localization for context. Regardless, I establish the story to be the strongest element of World Seeker.

For its gameplay, Earth Seeker tries to incorporate a lot of familiar elements from the genre. While I can say that Globe Seeker does a good task with certain things, it besides commits some of the mutual mistakes I see as a frequent role player of the open up-world games. The timing is a fleck interesting for me personally given that I find myself at a crossroads with the genre. In my recent review of Far Weep: New Dawn, for example, I mention that I've started becoming somewhat burnt out by open-globe games and sandboxes. I've just noticed that I don't have as much patience for some of the genre's mechanics and, while I still like open-world games overall, I as well think that they could use some changes or at to the lowest degree meliorate application of the genre's more well-worn mechanics.

At the tiptop of the listing are fetch quests. I'm not a large fan of being sent clear across the map or worse — different parts of the map — just to fetch something for a quest giver, especially since areas tin can take some time to load. Such quests tin can nonetheless serve a purpose when washed right but they often get used as a crutch to pad content. Earth Seeker can be guilty of this at times, especially with its side missions. I can't remember how many weird items or materials I've had to become for my crew members or some random NPC in gild to clear a quest or side mission. Fortunately, I've played this genre enough times that I've adult a habit of gathering items forth the mode or taking the time to do and so every fourth dimension I enter a new area. This helped me clear several quests right on the spot as soon equally I talk to the quest giver because I already had the item on paw.

Once in a while, though, I'll exist asked to get a rare item that has few spawn points and takes a while to go. When that happens, information technology becomes more than of a task and my enjoyment nosedives. Y'all've as well got the man equivalent of fetch quests where yous have to find people. Not all of them are bad but yous accept a few examples like tracking a lost Zoro by finding NPCs in various towns who have seen him. In some cases, the search surface area encompasses almost the entire island, which felt quite tedious, though you practice become hints that assist narrow stuff down equally long as you pay close attention. Anyway, I love Zoro but that mission made me want to stick his three favorite swords up his, um, nose. Instead, I much prefer doing well-thought-out missions that don't feel like decorated piece of work. To its credit, some side missions in World Seeker come with their own mini-plots that tie to the overarching narrative. I understand that properly designed side quests take more than time but they're a lot more fulfilling than only checking off an item list. Admittedly, some of those side quests still feel a chip hastily put together just I'd rather do that than simply choice up a Gourmet Mushroom from somewhere for Sanji. Y'all'll also desire to do a lot of those optional quests, by the way, not just to lengthen the game just to power upwardly Luffy for the battles ahead.

Speaking of gathering, the game'southward open world has large swaths of areas that either have nothing happening or no people present. A lot of times, such areas serve primarily every bit gathering spots with the occasional skirmish mixed in between. Getting to some of the more secluded corners of the game, though, can feel tedious, fifty-fifty later unlocking fast travel. It wouldn't exist as bad if the crafting in the game was more than engaging. Instead, information technology pretty much amounts to me handing materials to my crew members and generally getting OK items without much fanfare. You lot don't get the interactivity in the crafting process a la Atelier or the sense of satisfaction from, say, Monster Hunter where you learn the materials in an engaging fashion and brand something awesome out of them to boot. Thankfully, gathering points are at least marked, which helps reduce some of the tedium. Field items are too easier to option upwardly compared to, say, treasure chests, which can be a pain considering they require you lot to stand up within a small, specific spot correct in front end of them in guild for the unlock prompt to evidence up.

Taking a page from the Batman Arkham series and the contempo Spider-Man game, World Seeker also gives Luffy the ability to traverse long distances past air. In Luffy'due south case, this is done by snapping onto a structure or tree and launching himself forward. This is one of the neater parts of the game and feels great when things are working well. The only downside is when Luffy bumps into a wall or obstruction mid-jump, which pretty much stops his momentum. I wish there was a way he can just bounce off that, parkour it similar he does with brusque obstacles on the footing, or launch himself vertically upward and then air traversal goes more smoothly. Some areas as well take a ton of Marines stationed, making airborn travel less fun as they constantly shoot you down. Overall, the sandbox aspects of Earth Seeker borrows other elements from games similar the aforementioned Batman or Spider-Man games, simply don't feel quite equally polished.

Combat, meanwhile, is pretty interesting. Naturally, it centers on Luffy's diverse prophylactic abilities and Gear skills, which tin can exist pretty fun. You start out with a pretty basic move ready that isn't much to write home virtually. By doing quests and side missions, however, y'all can earn points for unlocking various abilities. These include Luffy'southward gatling punch, his charged double fist "bazooka" and his airborne elephant car-gun punch. Luffy besides learns to slow down time, either past using his "haki" approximate straight or by dashing through or blocking enemy attacks with perfect timing. Information technology'due south a pretty fun skill, especially if you like Bayonetta'south "Witch Time." For an added twist, Luffy tin can shoot enemies from afar past using pressure level. Using long-distance shots about make the game alike to a tertiary-person shooter, albeit with a cooldown. My biggest gripe with combat is how locking-on can be wonky when picking a target, especially when faced with a lot of foes. Sometimes, information technology'll end upwards locking onto an enemy far abroad instead of the guy standing correct next to Luffy and pummeling him like a rubbery pinata. Enemies also like to employ guns, which can be a fleck of pain when you have no selection only to fight through a big group while bullets merely start flying everywhere and canceling your moves.

In that location also volition be times when you'll face a boss but tin can only fight within a small circle, which can become annoying in multiple ways. During a side mission fight on the cliffs outside of the mines, for example, I fought a foe who liked to teleport on ledges that I couldn't easily get to, making the fight a hurting as I tried to maintain my depleting tension gauge. Sometimes, you'll be on a relatively flat surface but the boss ends up standing but outside the area circle or pushing you out of it. The latter happened to me at one betoken where I was knocked down exterior the circle and kept getting knocked down over again when I would stand, causing the mission to fail because I was outside the circle too long.

That being said, the boss fights are definitely one of the best parts of the game. You pretty much end upwardly fighting against a rogue's gallery comprised of the series' memorable characters and villains, nigh of which I found to exist incredibly fun. There was one fight, for example, where a certain character was just wasting me with beams when he got into low health. As my own health started flashing ruby-red, I switched from Luffy'south more powerful but slower Armament Haki style to his speedier Observational Haki form. I so proceeded to "Witch Time" the boss' beams by dashing at the last second, allowing me to pull off a improvement. In another battle, I charged up a double pistol in Gear style and released it right equally an airborne boss charged at me, leading to a cool finishing blow every bit the screen went deadening-mo. After on, yous tin can unlock his Gear four form, allowing you lot to deal serious impairment to bosses while resisting incoming damage at the aforementioned time. While fighting grunts has its hiccups, the boss fights are a smash overall. Ane downside, though, is that you can't play as whatsoever of Luffy'southward other coiffure members. That's a bit of a bummer is it would accept been a lot of fun to use folks similar Sanji, Zoro and Nami, especially in boss fights. Perhaps that's something they can add if they determine to do a sequel.

All in all, World Seeker feels similar a preliminary attempt that isn't quite at that place yet but has a good foundation if they decided to improve on its concept moving frontwards. I certainly prefer it to the faux-MMO approach that Bandai Namco has been doing a lot more of lately with some of its popular IPs. Hopefully, this marks the start of something promising for the future.

FINAL THOUGHTS

One Piece: Globe Seeker rockets Luffy into the open-globe, borrowing familiar sandbox mechanics from games similar Spider-Man and the Arkham series. Information technology's not as polished every bit those games and tin be guilty of incorporating some of the more annoying and overused mechanics of the genre. The original story, withal, is very much One Piece and its fun boss fights tin can be pure, over-the-peak mayhem. Information technology'due south one of the more aggressive 1 Piece games to come out.

• Rating: 7 out of 10
• Cost: $59.99; PC, PS4, XB1
• https://www.bandainamcoent.com/games/one-slice-world-seeker

Jason Hidalgo covers business concern and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews video games as role of his Technobubble features. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content?Back up local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.

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Source: https://www.rgj.com/story/life/2019/03/13/fetch-fetch-no-mi-one-piece-world-seeker-review-technobubble/3145740002/

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