For almost twenty five years One Piece is still one of the best-selling manga of all time not only just in Japan but also for the rest of the world. The manga has expanded with over a 1000 Chapters and the anime is still going if you've been watching the series; just like any other anime series franchise, there's always a movie, spin-off manga or even a video game adaptation and there have been plenty of those for the One Piece franchise.
Taking a different turn from other adaptations like the Pirate Warriors being a clone of Dynasty Warriors or the Unlimited franchise following certain moments from the series. One Piece: World Seeker takes a different direction and being the first open world game in the franchise. The main story takes place on the Prison Island, which is located in the New World if anyone is more less up to date on either the manga or anime Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat crew are still searching for the legendary treasure; while breaking through the Prison Island fortress the whole setup was a trap orchestrated by the prison’s warden Isaac. After they escape, the Straw Hat crew finds themselves separated, getting tangled up in a plot involving recognizable pirates and navy officers from Luffy’s past, all with Isaac pulling the strings. Seems like something we've seen done before with it being written by Eiichiro Oda this is a brand new story with new characters only added into World Seeker, as Luffy helps Jeanne, who is a Isaac sister try and work together in stopping Isaac with his upcoming plan.
Taking a few pages from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as you go explore the open world environment you can pick up various items and materials scatted all over the island from herbal leaves to food to various mining ores, you can easily exchange some of those or upgrade certain items to make equipment. It also would be a One Piece game if there wasn't any pirates or Navy soldiers, which are all over the island which you can fight and will drop SP which can be exchanged for learning new skills. Luffy can use skills like Observation Haki to see enemies from behind walls, Gum Gum Rocket for various attacks along with Gum Gum Bazooka and of course you can also swing across building to building or various trees or places you can't reach. The more SP you get from defeating a number of enemies, completing side-quests or a chapter you'll gain more SP which can help you unlock more powerful skills.
The graphics do look impressive, especially for video based on an anime franchise there were times where I would just take a break from the main story and would just end up exploring a certain part of the island looking for treasure. However, it does all fall pretty flat as the more you dive into the main story and completing certain side-quests, some of the missions can feel a little repetitive; especially if you have to go from point A to point B which is from a very far away distance you do have the option to fast travel if you wanted to. There were some textures and landscapes that felt a little choppy or a little out of place, especially if you loaded up an area or restarting a mission you end up failing.
You do have the option to change the difficulty from easy to hard depending on how much you want to get out of World Seeker, there is DLC content as well if you want more out of World Seeker. Completing the main story can take you under 20 hours or more and competing most of the side-quests, maybe a few more hours if you wanted to collect all PS Trophies. Fans of the series will get the most fun out of this which I will admit it was a decent game to play, but if you aren't up to date with the current series, this may put a few gamers off or anyone new to the series feeling confused on who is who on past characters in the One Piece series. I wouldn't say it's the best One Piece game I've played in the series, but does have its good moments here and there offering something make die-hard fans come back to.