- Joined
- Sep 29, 2022
OK--I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this...but the longer I watch One Piece it feels like a detailed Let's Play of a JRPG because it follows through so many of the video game clichés and it's getting harder and harder to ignore, but going back to the East Blue you can see it:
- Most JRPGs usually have you paired in the very beginning with an NPC who will never join you on your main quest and is totally weak, Koby will play that role.
- Like JRPGs, everyone's age runs young, before the Grand Line the average age of the Straw Hats is 18.
- You know how JRPGs have bosses that try to teach you (as a player) about a new mechanic that will serve you later in the game? They do here too, like Devil Fruits or Haki, Buggy is the first one with those powers.
- You have your scripted "boss fight to lose" that will effortlessly destroy you in one blow (Mihawk).
- If you start early enough you can see the game patched in real time, Zoro gets nerfed with poor sense of direction because he's too powerful, Sanji gets nerfed to become more of a simp and unable to fight women.
- You can be stabbed, shot, crucified, electrocuted, impaled, or otherwise beaten to an inch of your life but only deaths happen when the story demands it. Paulie is stronger than Belle-Mere, sure, but the reason he can survive getting shot multiple times point blank and Belle-Mere will die on the spot is because Belle-Mere is in the equivalent of a cutscene. This manifests in Zoro getting sliced to ribbons regularly but only Mihawk's attack causing a scar, or anyone, friend or foe, sustaining injuries to the face but it's only Spandam who has to hold his skull together with leather straps.
- Then you have your requisite video game settings you have to visit...the Baroque Works arc features an island with giants, a desert island, a winter island, and then in the Skypiea arc following, a floating sky island....and I'm only up to Enies Lobby.
- Chopper has the role of that mid-to-late game party member where they're not quite a straight fighter and relies more on gimmicks and fighting modes to be effective.
- Starting with Crocodile, you have to actually exploit the boss's weakness rather than just relying on raw power.
- Franky is like that boss you meet with amazing powers but then once he joins your party he's not nearly as powerful.
- Most JRPGs usually have you paired in the very beginning with an NPC who will never join you on your main quest and is totally weak, Koby will play that role.
- Like JRPGs, everyone's age runs young, before the Grand Line the average age of the Straw Hats is 18.
- You know how JRPGs have bosses that try to teach you (as a player) about a new mechanic that will serve you later in the game? They do here too, like Devil Fruits or Haki, Buggy is the first one with those powers.
- You have your scripted "boss fight to lose" that will effortlessly destroy you in one blow (Mihawk).
- If you start early enough you can see the game patched in real time, Zoro gets nerfed with poor sense of direction because he's too powerful, Sanji gets nerfed to become more of a simp and unable to fight women.
- You can be stabbed, shot, crucified, electrocuted, impaled, or otherwise beaten to an inch of your life but only deaths happen when the story demands it. Paulie is stronger than Belle-Mere, sure, but the reason he can survive getting shot multiple times point blank and Belle-Mere will die on the spot is because Belle-Mere is in the equivalent of a cutscene. This manifests in Zoro getting sliced to ribbons regularly but only Mihawk's attack causing a scar, or anyone, friend or foe, sustaining injuries to the face but it's only Spandam who has to hold his skull together with leather straps.
- Then you have your requisite video game settings you have to visit...the Baroque Works arc features an island with giants, a desert island, a winter island, and then in the Skypiea arc following, a floating sky island....and I'm only up to Enies Lobby.
- Chopper has the role of that mid-to-late game party member where they're not quite a straight fighter and relies more on gimmicks and fighting modes to be effective.
- Starting with Crocodile, you have to actually exploit the boss's weakness rather than just relying on raw power.
- Franky is like that boss you meet with amazing powers but then once he joins your party he's not nearly as powerful.
