'One Piece Odyssey' Revists Some of the Straw Hats' Most Memorable Moments — Is the Game Canon?

Much like the story of the treasure itself, the legacy of One Piece reaches far and wide. The story follows Monkey D. Luffy, the highly-elastic captain of the heroically-infamous Straw Hat Pirates. Together, this band of well-meaning misfits travels the sea in search of the legendary One Piece, a fabled treasure left behind by Gol D. Roger, the most notorious pirate in history. Both the original manga and subsequent anime adaptation have achieved worldwide popularity.

Throughout its ongoing history, One Piece has been adapted into several films — including a box office record-shattering 2022 movie — an upcoming live-action series on Netflix, and multiple video games.

In 2023, One Piece returns once again to the world of gaming with the launch of One Piece Odyssey. This new JRPG will soon launch on multiple platforms and tells an original story in the One Piece universe. But is One Piece Odyssey canon to the original work? Let's break down what we know.

One Piece Odyssey follows the Straw Hat Pirates on their continued journey across the Grand Line in search of the legendary treasure. After getting caught in a storm, the crew becomes separated and stranded on the mysterious island of Waford. As they attempt to reunite with one another, they each get lost within a dimension known as Memoria. Here, memories of their past adventures are given new life as the Straw Hats relive some of their most pivotal moments and face off against old foes.

According to the game's official site, the story for this new game was crafted with "direct involvement" from original One Piece author Eiichiro Oda. The famed mangaka contributed to the creation of new characters and monsters exclusive to the world of Odyssey. But does that mean this new game is canon to the overall story?

Not entirely.

One Piece Odyssey is not canon to the original manga or anime. Given the game's current list of playable Straw Hats (i.e, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook), the game is not up to date with the current events of the manga or anime and wouldn't conceivably fit cleanly at any point in the series' timeline.

That being said, this hardly comes as a surprise. Many movies and video games of the past take place within the vast open world of One Piece without being canon.

Even involvement from Eiichiro Oda doesn't necessarily equate to a particular project being fully canon to the series. However, the game does still deal heavily with major canon events from the original story. Odyssey still stands out as a nostalgia-fueled love letter to some of the most memorable arcs of the series.

One Piece Odyssey comes out on Jan. 13 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.