The game has flaws. No doubt about it. If you're coming into this game thinking it'd be perfect (no idea why you would), then you'd be severely disappointed. With that aside, One Piece World Seeker is a game that can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone, but specially so by the fans of the series.
I came into this game after hearing a few people tell me about how "bad" it is and I am glad to not have the same opinion as said people. You start the journey with Luffy, the main character, and also my favorite. Why you would expect to play as other characters, I have no idea. How many open world RPG games allow you to play with anyone besides the designated main character/avatar? Yet somehow this is a "valid" complaint. Luffy being the only playable character makes perfect sense. The game wouldn't really work otherwise, from a gameplay and story perspective. This isn't the Unlimited series where you carry the entire crew with you. A lot of the functions are things only Luffy can do. The entire skill tree and story are based around Luffy. Allowing you to play with anyone else would require an overhaul of the entire game, which is why it was kept to DLC.
The graphics are gorgeous. The game makes good use of the PS4 Pro's capabilities and HDR visuals. A "Photo Mode" in the Start Menu gives you access to free camera where you can even edit your screenshots and make the shots look even better.
The story is good. It isn't going to win any awards, but it's good nonetheless and fits the One Piece world perfectly. Although if you are very familiar with the series, you would find some strange inconsistencies. Such as Luffy's bounty being quoted as both "100 million" and "500 million" during several parts of the game, when in reality, Luffy's bounty at this point in the story is "1.5 billion", so that didn't make any sense. But if you can look past that, you'll be alright.
There will be many things you won't be able to do until you have certain skills. Gear 4 which allows you to fly (sort of) for a limited time, doesn't come until about half way through the game. But the more skills you get along the way, the more fun you'll have. You can hover from building to building using UFO, make everyone around you faint/stun during fights, fly over to Sky Islands, among lots of other things.
The original characters are good. They're designed by the creator himself after all. Their personality isn't exactly the most original in the series, but they're good. The main antagonist for example has a really good motive for doing what he's doing and chances are you'll enjoy it more as it goes.
My biggest issue with the game is the lack of voice acting outside the cutscenes. This is quite annoying for me and strikes me as "lazy". But hey, if a big budge big shot top name AAA like Zelda Breath of the Wild can get away with nonsense like that, I don't see why we should be so hard on this anime game.
Other issues include: Getting a mount at the very end of the game - why? These things are a LOT more useful earlier in the game, not when you've already done everything there is to do.
The DLC is... "ok". They're all short and each episode can be completed in 1 sitting. Each have a few pros and cons. Zoro and Sabo's DLC for example has them unable to use Observation Haki, which we know they do have in the series, and this is annoying because it makes finding things that much bothersome. Zoro can leap up buildings indefinitely but only vertical ones and cannot leap towards ledges, which makes getting to some places nigh impossible. Sabo can leap towards ledges but cannot leap like Zoro can. Law can teleport but only up to a limited distance, and Law also has his own version of observation haki, "scan". But hey, if Luffy not being able to grab cliffs didn't bother you, then this probably won't either. Zoro and Law only block, cannot dodge. Opposite for Sabo. Zoro doesn't even give you the option to sneak up to the enemy and "takedown" which we all know he should be able to do. Zoro also starts with a blurred map because "Zoro can't read maps". None of them can fly or even levitate from one place to another like Luffy can with UFO. Sabo comes close by being able to fling himself off things like Luffy can with Rocket but this is very limited.
Overall I would say Law's DLC is the best and most fun due to his versatility, though story wise Zoro's is likely the most relevant. They are all short and Sabo and Law's lack voice acting EVEN in some cutscenes, which only make you feel like they're dropping in quality even more.
People who complain about the game being "empty" need to realise that it is no more empty than the majority of open/semi open world games out there. If you have every square foot of your game's world filled with NPCs and enemies, you're going to run at 4-8 FPS on a PS4 Pro or XboneX. At least, that is if you do not cut the size down by 85% and lower the textures to 480-720p. It seems as if some people thought this was The Witcher 3 with One Piece characters. The game is no emptier and more barren than every Elder Scroll and Fallout game ever made and is more populated than DBZ Kakarot and even Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Again, the game isn't amazing, and it has many flaws. But these games are often fun enough to be worth a deep sale. $20 for this is great deal. However, being honest, it is trendy to smear faces all over stuff when others are doing it and many people who hate on this game either don't own it or played 5 minutes of it and decided they would hate it. Not defending the game's flaws, but complaints are often just wrong (e.g. "combat is repetitive", you know, just like Dark Souls and Sekiro).
All in all, if you're not an edgelord who plays games to ignore the good and just focus on shortcomings, I'd recommend giving the game a try if you can find it on sale, specially if you're a One Piece fun. Who knows, you might enjoy it like I did.
7/10. Platinum'd and fully completed on 27/08/2020.
-Shonendo
