Gaming News After 8 years of development, this highly anticipated video game by anime fans is finally playable… with a 30-hour demo!
The Inazuma Eleven saga has left its mark on many people thanks to all its iterations. But 9 years have passed since the last title in the franchise in Europe and the next work is finally around the corner. Between a change in direction, development concerns, and a demo that would last 30 hours, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is starting to get people talking again.
Few people know that, but Inazuma Eleven is basically a very famous video game in Japan developed by Level 5. It was then adapted into a manga and an anime, both of which generated a certain level of enthusiasm among the younger generation, including in the West. The first game in the franchise, released here in 2011, created a buzz around this football RPG and brought freshness to the genre (400,000 copies worldwide). The second work surpassed one million sales and that was no surprise. It must be said that the recipe is tempting: the most popular sport in the world combined with special techniques straight from the best Shonen
But summarizing the title like that is a bit simplistic. Inazuma Eleven In fact, it hides a fairly advanced strategy game that has managed to improve and reinvent itself over time. Here we operate in a three-dimensional environment, but with 2D movements. We move players through touch and every encounter with an opponent leads to a confrontation in which we have many options at our disposal. Blocking or tackling, dribbling or feinting, lobbing, powerful hitting or special techniques; The player must find the right solution to overtake or stop his opponent. Other factors also come into play in battles, such as each player’s dozens of stats.
Although hundreds of thousands of players enjoyed the games, the series remained silent for many years, but in the last few weeks everything has changed. A beta of Inazuma Eleven Victory Road will finally make its debut. Fans and new players alike can test it all out on March 28th.
An expanded development
It all started in 2016 when it was announced Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbinwhich was scheduled to be released two years later, in the summer of 2018. The game was then postponed a first time to 2019 and then a second time to 2020. According to a press release from Akihiro Hino, President of Level-5, the development of Inazuma Eleven is known “Difficulties due, among other things, to the change in the game engine“. But the studio remained confident just before the Covid-19 crisis severely slowed development. In April 2020, the teams announced a drastic change in direction, stating that they would be “starting from scratch” with a brand new name: Inazuma Eleven – Great Road of Heroes. But in September of that year, the studio head took to Twitter and announced the following:
This is sudden, but for business reasons we have decided to prioritize the development of Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y over that of Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes. To get development back on track, we must first make various preparations that will ensure the success of the game, and we are currently thinking about it. We apologize for the long waiting time.
In fact, the Inazuma project was put on hold after four years of development and fans began to believe that it would never see the light of day. We’ll have to wait another two years before we see signs of life again, this time under the current name Inazuma Eleven Victory Road.
Victory Road: The Ultimate Inazuma Eleven Game
Inazuma Eleven Victory Road is therefore a football RPG scheduled for late 2024 and will be available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, Android and iOS. Over the past few months, some gameplay videos posted on the Level 5 channel have provided us with a lot of information about it. On the one hand, no more isometric view of old titles. Here we are in the third person perspective like Inazuma Eleven Strikers released on the Wii. In addition, a little less than a year ago, a collection of 4,500 characters was announced, including familiar faces from previous installments and others that will appear in the Season Pass or DLC. Yes, you read that right, you can put together your dream team from 4500 characters. While this number may seem crazy, it’s entirely understandable when you bring together all players from all seasons of Inazuma Eleven.
On the gameplay side, the Japanese studio has opted for something dynamic with new features that reduce a certain “random” aspect. In fact, a recurring problem with old games was that we didn’t always know why we won or lost a duel. With this in mind, we find a new functionality called “focus“, a slow motion that activates as your player approaches an opponent, prompting you to choose the right direction or dribble to pass. There is also a new “Goalkeeper Display”. This is a unique energy bar on the goal post that allows it to withstand enemy shots as long as it is full. The stronger the Guardian is, the higher this value is.
New content appears outside of games. For example, we can recruit players of different rarities, from Normal to Hero, and a gacha system is implemented. However, the latter is not yet fully represented. The studio also highlights an improvement in PvP. But amidst all of this, it’s the title’s demo that promises to be particularly generous. Available from Thursday March 28th, it would have a lifespan of… 30 hours.
Too busy with the demo?
In fact, in the latest trailers for‘Inazuma Eleven Victory RoadIt was announced that the demo, which is only available on Switch, will have a lifespan of more than 30 hours. But while that number may be impressive (and it is), it’s pretty understandable. In addition to accessing the first chapter of the final game, players can choose between three teams that bring together 48 legends from old games. Since there are two teams available from the start, players must perform in PvP to get the third team. For fans of computer battles, PvE matches will help unlock the highest difficulty levels of the game. To further extend the lifespan of the demo, there will be more than 30 cutscenes from the main story. To give you an idea, a standard game of Inazuma Eleven only offers cutscenes of a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes in the full version. In short, this will be an extremely busy demo that will be available until the game’s release.