Getting it Right, Day One

Update: An excellent new story trailer for One Piece: World Seeker was released at Tokyo Game Show 2018, detailing two new, game-original characters. The first is Isaac, the warden of the jail on Prison Island, while the second is Jeanne, a rebel leading a resistance group against the Marines. After a war stripped Prison Island of all its resources, the Marines rebuilt the island, ushering in an era of military rule and creating two factions of citizens: those who support the Marines, and those who oppose them and wish to restore the island’s tradition. Based on the trailer, it would seem that Isaac and Jeanne are the primary leaders of both respective factions.

Although it is still far too early to expect immediate gameplay improvements from the game, the story trailer does much to assuage my concerns about World Seeker’s narrative. The trailer also lifts the curtain on some additional interesting tidbits—most notably, that Prison Island is known as “Jewel Island” to its inhabitants, while the prison located at the center is referred to as “Jail Island” (at least in the Japanese dub). An interesting play on words, and one that only helps to further underscore the duality of Isaac and Jeanne’s spheres of influence!

Original Story: At this point, you’ve seen me cover One Piece: World Seeker extensively—abnormally so even, given the small nature of our site and limited capacity of our writers. While I could be talking about all kinds of other open-world games and single-player experiences, I choose to cover World Seeker because, to put it simply, I am a huge One Piece fan.

So hearing the news announced in One Piece Volume 90 (via Gematsu) that World Seeker would miss its initial release date and be pushed to 2019, you might expect me to be upset or disappointed. In reality, I could not be happier, and here’s why.

The Game Looks Awesome, but Also Looks Rough to Play

As impressive as One Piece: World Seeker‘s several story trailers have appeared, both in terms of graphics and scripted gameplay, the game looks far less impressive when players take it for a spin themselves.

Take this recent Gamescom footage from GameSpot, for instance. While the journalist playing does an admirable job showing off Luffy’s various moves—including a stealth state that allows for sneaky takedowns and a power state that lets Luffy use Haki-enfused moves—there’s no hiding the fact that combat in World Seeker is rough in its current state. The hit detection is off, the camera is all over the place, and there simply doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of depth or challenge here at the moment.

That could all change. The developers have already stated in this Q&A with German site Rocket Beans TV that players will be able to unlock new moves through a skill tree and customize Luffy’s attacks to make them less simplistic. Enemy lock-on is also apparently in the game, although based on gameplay footage available on the internet, it doesn’t seem like a super obvious/intuitive feature to players who’ve demoed the game. Based on what I’ve seen up until now, however, I can’t help but feel as if the gameplay in One Piece: World Seeker is paper thin.

With the delay to 2019, Namco Bandai and developer Ganbarion have given themselves a critical extension to their timeframe for fixing these issues. It’s no guarantee that gameplay will see massive changes leading up to release, but it’s encouraging to say the least.

Massive… but What Is There to Do?

Namco Bandai has been hyping up One Piece: World Seeker based in large part on the idea that it’s open world. I’ve already drawn comparisons between the game and the industry-altering Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as have numerous others.

However, a massive complaint from viewers online has been that One Piece: World Seeker looks and seems empty. The game lacks the density of a Witcher 3, while the world itself seems devoid of the charm that made Breath of the Wild so compelling.

So what gives? While Bandai Namco representatives claimed during the Rocket Beans Q&A that they’re aware of the complaint and assure players that there will be plenty of NPCs and wildlife on Prison Island, I have to believe that the “It’s empty! What’s there to do?” complaint has thrown Ganbarion for a bit of a loop.

With the extra time a 2019 release affords, I have to believe that Ganbarion is working hard on making World Seeker feel like a real living, breathing world. Even if the team doesn’t succeed—let’s not get crazy, this game isn’t suddenly going to become Cyberpunk 2077 due to an extra few months or even an additional full year of development—I still have faith that World Seeker‘s exciting traversal mechanics and flashy cities will make up for its lack of mission variety.

Fall 2018 Is Crowded Enough as It Is

While a lesser reason to be excited about a game delay, the fact remains that One Piece: World Seeker would have been a fish out of water had it released in fall 2018. Dragon Quest XI, Spider-Man, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Battlefield V, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are all games that World Seeker would have had to compete with, at least in the West. And that’s not even considering a certain Rockstar title releasing in October.

While Q1 2019 isn’t much clearer—Anthem, Kingdom Hearts III, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Resident Evil 2 Remake all say hello—Namco Bandai should be able to find a strip of runway somewhere later in the year to land this bird. May or June would make a whole lot of sense to me, assuming the release doesn’t overlap with Code Vein or Jump Force.

There’s No Rush When Adding Polish

You’ve read or heard the now-famous Shigeru Miyamoto quote before: “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

I’m not sure if I’m confident enough to proclaim that One Piece: World Seeker will be eventually good, given the unimpressive track record Ganbarion has with past One Piece games. However, a World Seeker product released in 2018 would have almost assuredly been some form of bad.

Ultimately, the delay to 2019 means that World Seeker will almost certainly be better upon release than it would have been had it released this year. That may seem like common sense, but I feel the need to reiterate it every now and again. Games take time, and polish is everything—especially for open-world games with tons of potential for game-breaking bugs.

Chins up for Luffy and the Gang

One Piece: World Seeker still clearly needs work. However, the delay to 2019 shows that publisher Bandai Namco and developer Ganbarion are at least committed to getting the latest Straw Hat adventure right from the get-go.

Could it still be a flop? Absolutely. But the delay to 2019 has me more optimistic about the game than ever, and I cannot wait to see how things shape up for Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew the next time we see World Seeker in action.

Here’s hoping it’s not too long until we see more.

How do you feel about the One Piece: World Seeker delay? Let us know in the comments below.

Author: David Silbert David is the creator and lead editor of The Punished Backlog. He has a problem finishing games he starts. Just beat: The Last of Us Part II Working on: Ghost of Tsushima, Bug Fables, Murder by Numbers Can’t wait for: Cyberpunk 2077, Halo Infinite Follow David on Twitter at @David_Silbert to keep up to date with all things The Punished Backlog. Twitter Facebook Linkedin