One Piece: World Seeker is set to usher in a brand new direction for the games dedicated to the popular anime and manga franchise, replacing the traditionally closed stages with a wide open world.

While the game has recently been delayed to next year, the development team at Ganbarion and Bandai Namco is hard at work to create something new.  In order to know more about the game, DualShockers talked to Producer Rei Hirata during a recent event.

Hirata-san explained that the reason why the team decided for an open-world setup is simply to better convey the feeling of a free adventure the franchise is known for. Development of the game has been going on for a long time, and while the announcement was delivered last year, the team has been working on the story and concept for a while before.

The title is set on a completely new island, featuring a completely new story, and according to Hirata-san it took a long time to come up with those original elements.

The game is currently coming for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but apparently, a Switch port is not impossible even if the team has plenty to do on the current platforms.

“We had already started developing [the game] before the Switch came out. We already have our hands full developing just for PS4, Xbox One, and Steam that have already been announced. We’ll see what the fans say, and then think about Switch.”

Hirata-san then explained the visual style of the game, mentioning that it was picked because fans of the anime want to see its characters looking as close as possible to the animated version. On the other hand, in order to let players enjoy the adventure on this new and original island, the environment should be very detailed. Fans appear to like the combination, and that is seen as welcome news for the team.

We also hear why the game features an original island instead of recognizable locations from the original media: one of the most important things of having an adventure is the sense of excitement and discovery when approaching a new place to start a new journey.

The team thought that in order to let the players really enjoy a brand new adventure, it needed to be set in a completely new place, full of potential new discoveries and elements never seen before.

Toei Animation and Shueisha -- respectively the publishers of the anime and manga -- have been providing feedback on the story, and the developers have been working on improvements and tweaks based on that input. There is a lot that fans of the original media can look forward to from the game's storytelling.

Luffy will be the only playable character because Ganbarion wants players to be able to enjoy the adventure directly from his point of view. Another reason is that we'll be able to experience the wide range and variety of actions that the elastic protagonist can perform, both in battle and for traversal.

One of the elements that I found rather challenging when I tested the press demo of the game, was the fact that I couldn't lock onto the enemies. Hirata-san explained that the developers are indeed focused on listening to feedback on the issue. Part of the concept of the game is that combat isn't "just about aiming and targeting." While you can do that, you can also go "full-on Luffy" and just smack your opponents, or sneak around. It's all about freedom, and there are many different courses of actions that players can take when overcoming their enemies.

Unfortunately, he could not comment on whether a demo will be made available for everyone online, as the team is currently focused on providing the playable experience at events, gathering feedback from attendees.

One Piece: World Seeker will release worldwide in 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It still doesn't have a firm release date. You can already pre-order the game on Amazon.

If you want to see more of the game, you can enjoy our gameplay from Gamescom 2018, the latest promotional video showcasing the new allies and enemies that we'll meet in the game.