One Piece Odyssey’s release is just around the corner and to give everyone a head start, a demo of this new turn-based RPG is available now on Xbox Series X|S.
When you begin, you’ll see our main cast, known as the Straw Hat Pirates, get sucked into a storm, thrown onto a mysterious island, and separated. They must find each other, meet the locals, and fight off the new enemies they meet along the way. That means we get to see our heroes in action and get hands-on experience with the turn-based combat.
Your favorite pirate crew is all here
- Luffy – The captain who ate a Devil Fruit, which made him able to bend and stretch his body as if he was made of rubber.
- Zoro – The master swordsman who uses a three-sword fighting style.
- Nami – The ship’s navigator and skilled con artist who uses her “Clima-Tact” to fight by controlling the weather.
- Usopp – A sharp shooting slingshot user, afraid of most conflict.
- Sanji – A skilled cook who reserves his hands just for cooking and fights only with his feet.
- Chopper – Part reindeer, part human, full-time doctor on the ship.
- Robin – The ship’s archaeologist who ate a Devil Fruit which gave her the ability to create duplicate limbs from any surface.
- Franky – The shipwright and cyborg with super-human strength and weapons built into his body.
- Brook – Musician and skeleton whose soul can separate from his body… or what’s left of it.
Each Straw Hat has their own combat specialty, which are often their iconic moves from the One Piece series. You’ll get to utilize everyone’s unique abilities not only to fight, but to get around the map. During dungeon exploration, use Luffy and his stretchable limbs to pull yourself across the map with Gum Gum Slingshot, or take advantage of Chopper’s small size to crawl through tight spaces.
In each fight, your party members and enemies occupy different positions on the battlefield. This allows you to land close-range, long-range, and group attacks depending on your location, so you’ll have to make sure each Straw Hat is in the right spot to take advantage of their abilities. Thankfully, the game lets you swap party members positions throughout the fight. You can even pull party members into the fight who weren’t on the field. Usopp too close to a group of enemies? Switch him out with Sanji. No healing items available? Have Chopper tap in to take care of damaged friends. Later in the game, you can even harness the power of friendship with “Bond Arts,” a powerful ability that Straw Hats execute together, which you can unlock through side quests.
During battle there’s a chance you’ll trigger a “Dramatic Scene,” which is an extra task to complete in exchange for bonus experience and loot. In a “Dramatic Scene,” you might be tasked with defeating an enemy with a particular member or in a certain number of turns. Completing these gives you a huge boost in leveling and helps you quickly progress through the game. Another way to get ahead in big fights is to eat food items that give you a buff. While you can’t get Sanji’s ability-buffing food in the demo, you can still pick up ingredients that can help you during smaller fights and can be used for cooking better recipes once you transfer your demo save into the main game.
Fans of the series get the chance to jump into an adventure with their favorite crew and and fight iconic enemies from some of the team’s biggest battles. You also get to experience a new world with new characters, some designed by One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda himself! Even if you’ve never seen the One Piece anime or manga, the game will be a great first introduction as you get to discover what it means to be a Straw Hat Pirate and get a taste of life on the Grand Line.
If you’re curious to try out the first One Piece turn-based RPG, you can download the One Piece Odyssey demo today! Your progress in the demo transfers to the full game, but make sure to pre-order to secure even more bonuses for when it’s released on January 13.