Game news After 8 years of development, this video game eagerly awaited 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 from the franchise in Europe, and the next opus is finally coming to fruition. Between change of direction, development concerns and demo which would last 30 hours, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is starting to get people talking again.
Few people know this, but Inazuma Eleven is basically a very well-known video game in Japan developed by Level 5. It was then adapted into a manga and an anime, both of which caused a certain enthusiasm among the younger generation, including in the West. The first game in the franchise, released in 2011 here, created momentum around this Soccer-RPG which brought freshness to the genre (400,000 copies worldwide). The second opus surpassed the one million sales mark 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 out of the best shonen.
But summarizing the title to that is a bit simplistic. Inazuma Eleven indeed hides a fairly advanced strategy game which has been able to improve and reinvent itself over time. We operate here in a 3-dimensional environment, but with 2D movements. We move the players with touch and each meeting with an opponent results in a confrontation where many choices are at our disposal. Blocking or tackling, dribbling or feinting, lobbing, power hitting or special techniques; the player must find the right solution to pass or stop his opponent. Other factors come into play in battles, such as each player’s dozens of stats.
Even though the games were enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of players, the series remained at a standstill for many years, but everything has just changed in recent weeks. A beta of Inazuma Eleven Victory Road will finally make its debut. Fans, like new players, will be able to test all of this on March 28.
An extended development
It all started in 2016 when it was announced Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbinsupposed to be released two years later, in the summer of 2018. The game was then postponed a first time for 2019, then a second time for 2020. According to a press release from Akihiro Hino, president of Level-5, the development of Inazuma Eleven knew “difficulties, among other things due to the change of game engine”. But the studio remained confident, just before facing the Covid-19 crisis which put a sharp brake on development. In April 2020, the teams announced a drastic change of direction and claimed to be “starting from scratch” with a brand new name: Inazuma Eleven Great Road of Heroes. But in September of the same year, the director of the studio spoke on Twitter and announced this:
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. In order to restart development, we first need to put in place various preparations that will ensure the success of the game, and we are considering this at the moment. Our apologies for such a long wait.
Indeed, after 4 years of development, the Inazuma project was shelved and fans began to think that it would never see the light of day. We will have to wait another 2 years for it to see signs of life again, this time under its current name, Inazuma Eleven Victory Road. Gameplay images are then broadcast, and the hype builds up little by little. However, Level 5 seems to be falling back into its failings because the game, initially planned for the end of 2023, is postponed for another year. But this is obviously the last time: a lot of things about the game have come together in recent months. With in particular the opening of a community Discord server or the imminent arrival of the demo, everything seems to be coming together for a release at the end of the year.
Victory Road: The Ultimate Inazuma Eleven Game
Inazuma Eleven Victory Road is therefore a football RPG planned for the end of 2024 and which will be available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, Android and iOS. In recent months, a few gameplay videos published on the Level 5 channel have given us a lot of information about it. On the one hand, no more isometric view of old titles. Here, we will be in third person view like Inazuma Eleven Strikers released on Wii. In addition, a roaster of 4,500 characters was announced a little less than a year ago, including well-known faces from previous games, and others who will arrive in the season pass or DLC. Yes, you read correctly, 4500 characters can be used to create your dream team. Even though this figure may seem crazy, it’s quite understandable when you bring together all the 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. Indeed, 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 the “Focus“, a slow motion that activates when your player approaches an opponent and asks you to make the right choice of direction or dribble to pass. There is also a new “Goalkeeper Gauge”. This is a unique energy bar at the goal post that will allow him to stand up to opposing shots as long as it is filled. The stronger the guardian, the higher this gauge.
Outside of matches, new content will appear. For example, we will be able to recruit players of different rarities, ranging from “Normal Player” to “Hero”, and a gacha system will be implemented. However, the latter has not yet been fully presented. An improvement in PvP is also highlighted by the studio. But in the middle of all this, what appeals the most is the demo of the title which promises to be particularly generous. Available on Thursday March 28, it would have a lifespan of… 30 hours.
Too busy a demo?
Indeed, in the latest trailers for‘Inazuma Eleven Victory Road, it was announced that the demo, available only on Switch, will have more than 30 hours of lifespan. But while that number may be impressive (and it is), it’s pretty understandable. In addition to having access to the first chapter of the final game, players will be able to choose between three teams bringing together 48 legends from old games. With 2 teams accessible from the start, players will have to perform in PvP to obtain the third team. For fans of computer combat, PvE matches will help unlock the game’s highest difficulty levels. To further extend the lifespan of the demo, more than 30 cutscenes from the main story will be present. To give you an idea, a standard Inazuma Eleven game only offers 15 to 20 minutes maximum of cutscenes in its full version. In short, this will be an extremely busy demo that will be available until the game is released.