How To Play the ‘One Piece Odyssey’ Demo

AAA video games are an investment, both in terms of time and money. 60 is not an insignificant number of dollars, nor is 40 an insignificant number of hours. Sure, it’s less time than it would take you to catch up on the One Piece anime, but still. All of this is why, when a big game announces a playable demo, it’s a delight to hear. It’s like taking your potential new game out for a test drive. Fortunately, One Piece Odyssey, the new One Piece JRPG six years in the making, has such a demo. But how do you find it?

One Piece Odyssey comes at the slightly delayed tail end to an epic year of 25th anniversary celebrations for the long-running series. Its release has caused a lot of bated-breath excitement from fans of the series because it’s the first-ever One Piece turn-based RPG game. Seems like an obvious match, right? What’s more, developer ILCA (which is also behind Pokémon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl) seems to have crafted a robust, thoughtful, and traditional-yet-unique turn-based combat system. It seems like One Piece Odyssey might not just be the Actually Good One Piece game fans have craved since the dawn of time; it might be a Good Game, period.

All of which is why it’s excellent that the game released a free-to-play demo on January 10. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to play it. Odyssey is releasing on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC (via Steam). However, for whatever reason, there is no demo available for the PC crowd. Also, note that the Switch is missing here entirely, which is unfortunate.

I have a Playstation 4, and I found the demo listed separately from the game itself. I assume it’s similar on other platforms. Search “One Piece Odyssey Demo,” and you’ll be able to find it. Also, note that you’re presumably downloading the entire game: the demo asks for about 16 GB of free space. It’s a whopper of a game, apparently.

There’s one more critical thing to note. In more ways than one, Odyssey reminds me of Persona 5 right off the bat. (My favorite similarity: Listen for Morgana in Chopper, or vice versa, and prepare to have your mind blown.) In terms of the demo, the big nostalgic point was that I found myself playing for much longer than I imagined because I couldn’t find a save point. Odyssey‘s demo is over two hours long, and it doesn’t allow you to make use of the save points the full game has placed for your convenience. You can only save upon completing gameplay through the demo’s stop point. So if you’re going to play it, make sure you have 150 minutes free. Fortunately, if you end up buying the full game, that save will carry over.

All that being said, I’d heartily recommend checking out the Odyssey demo if you’re at all intrigued by either One Piece or JRPGs. I was delighted to discover how fun and engrossing the game is—and also that one of Robin’s special attacks is “clutching” male enemies’ balls. Well played, ILCA.

One Piece Odyssey is available to purchase in full on January 13, 2023.

(featured image: Bandai Namco)