It’s impossible not to admire the ambition behind this game. The sprawling city, the huge island map and the amount of detail that went into the graphics are downright impressive. This is the biggest One Piece game yet, but it's not without its flaws and it’s gonna take some love for the series to see past them. Luckily, plenty of people have love for this series! 

In the game, you play everybody’s favorite rubbery rascal, Monkey D. Luffy. After a very brief stint in prison, he’s plopped down on a giant island that’s being mercilessly controlled by the tyrannical Navy. Luffy soon meets a young freedom fighter named Jeanne who he, being a good guy, decides to help. And by help, I mean run around doing quests and pounding a zillion bad guys into the ground. There is no shortage of questing or pounding in this game!

The world is quite large, but luckily Luffy has a few fun ways to make traveling the distances manageable. First, he’s got a pretty quick sprint that can be maintained endlessness. Something I really wish every game had, especially large open world ones (lookin' at you Zelda: Breath of the Wild!). To break up the endless running, he’s got the ability to stretch his noodle arms onto buildings and slingshot off of them. And with a few easy skill unlocks, he can slingshot himself high into the air off a building and glide for a while. He can also turn his legs into helicopter-like blades and hover around for a bit. Fast travel is an easy option too. This mix of transportation abilities makes getting around the island both easier and a lot more fun. 

But you’ll definitely want to run around some and take in the sights. The island is full of beautiful vistas and the game scales nicely. Climbing to the top of a high peak reveals the docks far below full of massive ships which look like mere toys from the distance. Overall, the game is a graphical achievement with far more attention to detail than found in most anime games. It's commendable and a welcome change from the sometimes by the numbers approach anime games take.

Luffy has an arsenal of combat moves at his disposal and two distinct fighting styles. Observational Haki which focuses on quick strikes and dodges, and Armament Haki which is slower but does major damage. You’ll definitely find yourself switching between them depending on what you’re up against. But most enemies don’t offer much of a challenge to Luffy and you’ll tear through villains like they’re nothing. With the exception of the occasional difficult boss. 

World Seeker is a modern open world style game, so it’s got all the classic accouterments of that genre. Tons of NPCs to talk to, lots of shiny things lying around, crafting and random treasure chests (That take a really long time to open for some reason). But as far as open world games go, it’s fairly basic compared to larger more mainstream games of this genre. 

This is a great step in the right direction and I’m truly hoping this game does well. I’d love to see a sequel with a more fleshed out world and balanced combat system. I do applaud the developers for creating a beautiful world and making it feel fun to run around as Luffy. Nice bit of work there. If you're a Straw Hat fan through and through, it's definitely worth your time. 

by Urian Brown