I will happily play or review almost any video game sent my way, but I tend to draw the line at sports games. As someone with no interest at all in real world sports, it’s hard to muster any excitement for digital simulations of ball hitting. That being said, if you want to make a sport wacky and wonderful then I might just have to take a look. Anime and sports have gone together like tuna and mayonnaise for decades at this point, and that’s a combination that absolutely works for me. After years of absence the anime football game that I loved on the DS is now back, and Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is absolutely something to celebrate.
For those who weren’t busy kicking balls in the early noughties, Inazuma Eleven is a series that blends RPG with the beautiful game. There are stupid over the top special moves that feel more Final Fantasy than FIFA, and more stats and systems than you could shake a stick at. I’d go as far as to say it’s overwhelming at first, but that’s why you should start by playing story mode.
In the main story mode (because there isn’t just one story mode obviously) you play as Destin Bellows. Destin was once a hotshot young football wizkid, but a health condition forced him to retire. Now he’s trying to be a normal student, but football is everywhere. Thankfully the power of sport means he eventually finds his mojo, becomes a coach, and goes on an epic adventure to lead them to victory. It’s a tale that manages to be silly, heart-warming and exciting in equal measure, which I was pretty impressed by.
This story mode is made up of plenty of elements, and not just sports contests and narrative. You can explore pretty sizable areas like the school, and these are full of people to chat to and items to collect (which as a charming touch are in the form of footballs you have to kick). I found the little portions of freedom a lot of fun really, but eventually you’ll need to jump into battle.
Not all battles are ball based though, which is very much what I was expecting. There’s also some more traditional RPG combat where you use Rock, Paper, Scissors to fight people trying to get in your way. It’s admittedly fairly simple and rarely particularly tough, but it’s another way that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is more than just a sports game.
Ultimately though the focus of Inazuma Eleven has always been footie, and the matches are the highlight of the game. This isn’t EA FC though, with much less of an emphasis on skill and more of a focus on stats and special abilities. I must admit the level of complexity was a little jarring when I jumped into my first match, and even after paying attention to tutorials there were plenty of elements I just didn’t understand. It took me so many hours to get a handle on how to actually win matches, and even more to get to grips with everything.
That’s not to say I didn’t have fun flailing around and trying to work out the best way to feint my way around the other team’s defenders though. The amount of different special abilities your squad has even at the start of the game is wild, with strikers able to fire terrifying tornadoes at the goal and keepers sporting a massive magic hand that stops any ball coming their way. It’s just complete anime nonsense, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I really had a wonderful time playing through this main campaign, but that’s only the tip of this ball shaped iceberg of a game. The second campaign is one clearly designed for long term fans of the series, which follows a time traveling fella who needs to gather the best footballers in history to save the world. This means getting to play through the story of every game in the series to see all your fave characters, but at a more rapid pace and with a visual novel flair. There’s less variety as you only need to play matches to progress, but it’s a seriously cool addition to the package.
You can also just play matches with no story stakes at all, be it against the CPU or against other players online. There’s also a mode where you can play series dream matches which is a lot of fun, and there’s even a city building mode where you can hang out with your soccer buddies. All the modes do a great job of feeding you overall currency and unlocks as you go too, making for a lovely cohesive package.
Victory Road just has so much going for it, but I can’t pretend it doesn’t have some issues too. The pacing of the main campaign is particularly rocky, especially in those opening hours where you barely get to touch a football. As someone who isn’t particularly up to date with the series it also felt a little alienating, with a lot of modes way more focused on exciting the die hard fans as opposed to the newcomers.
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is a fantastic alternative to those humdrum sports games that the jocks play, with a healthy dose of anime joy thrown in for good measure. It does take some time to get going and asks a lot from you as a player, but the end result is the most fun I’ve had with balls in years.
