INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road

The name of the game is [u] content [/u], so if you like what's in the game, it's going to be worth it, even at full price. But, you need to know that the actual gameplay loop is [i] very [/i] different from what you'd see if you watch a quick gameplay video. [h1] Regarding the Chronicle Mode, with ~120 opponent teams and 5400+ unlockable characters, [/h1] those numbers are completely true, but in order to include so many levels, each one was cut down to about a minute of diologue before the main match. After each match, you receive 5-10 character "drops", which allow you to add characters from the opponent's team to your own customizable team. The drops can also be used as materials to make your players stronger. Overall, it felt like [u] playing through an MMO by myself [/u], grinding the same levels repeatedly in order to get materials for characters and moves I liked. I enjoyed it, [i] but was surprised by how little the actual soccer matches play a part in the gameplay, compared to the drops you get for completing them. [/i] Yes, you play soccer to progress, but given how every level is practically the same, progression doesn't matter nearly as much as assembling your dream team. [h1] The online multiplayer does not work whatsoever. [/h1] In my almost 150 hours, I could not get the online multiplayer to work even once. First of all, about 60% of the time, you will not be able to find a match at all. It didn't matter that I played this game on release, or that I have crossplay turned on, or that I'm in the region with the highest number of players (Japan). 20% of the time, you'll be matched with someone who is afk from start to finish. DId they disconnect? Who knows! But the remaining 20% is where you realize that it's a [b] BLESSING [/b] that you can't find a match. Matchmaking isn't decided by your team's power level, but rather your "rank", which goes up as you play multiplayer. This means that each rank is allowed to have players with mega ultra juiced-up teams, since [u] their rank is only determined by how many ranked matches they've played. [/u] Enjoy watching a simple kick from them shred your goalie's entire keeper power. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR THE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER! [h1] Speaking of which, don't buy this game for the story mode. [/h1] There are only [u] 6 [/u] story-progression matches. For reference, the original trilogy had you do 16, 22, and 28 matches. Victory Road has 9 chapters, and for the first 3, you don't play any soccer. You play some weird turn-based rock, paper, scissors game, which is awful and boring because, as you can imagine, [u] rock paper scissors does NOT work as a turn-based game!! [/u] In between those 6 matches, you're grinding exp on 2-button minigames to level up your team enough to challenge the next opponent. I've read other comments praising the characters for being interesting, but I strongly disagree, since most of them had no depth, or backstories, or even much dialogue at all. Most can be summarized by 1 single character trait, which to be fair, was the case in the original IE trilogy. However, having simple, stock characters doesn't work when Victory Road only has 7 main protagonists (15 in IE1). Furthermore, there's so few soccer matches to distract you from the lack of character depth, so you spend most of the 25 hour story watching plain characters spout generic, overused, and tired dialogue at each other. But don't have too much fun, or you might forget to do your turn-based rock paper scissors to level up!!!!!! :( [h1] There's a few more features to this game I haven't mentioned: [/h1] [list] [*]There's an Animal Crossing-esque mode where you can decorate your own town with buildings and funiture, then visit other players' towns. I have yet to see another player with a visitable town, and the decorations cost the same currency as things like new moves and powers for your players, so just forget about this mode. [*]The Chronicle Mode lets you play every story match from all 8 previous Inazuma Eleven games/series!! (although the story behind each match is compressed down to <1 min). As someone whose introduction to the series was Victory Road, this was really great! I fell in love with the franchise, and in addition to getting me into other titles in the series, this excitement also served as a boon that kept me interested through all ~120 levels. I am not sure if this excitement would last nearly as long for a veteran of the series. [*]As much single player content there is, it is all very very easy. In my 150 hours and hundreds of matches, I think I only ever lost a single player match twice, mainly because I didn't check what the "special win conditions" were. Don't expect any fast-paced challenges in this one. [/list] ------------------------------------------------- So, if you read all this, it might sound like I hate the game, but I don't. I think it's complicated, because so many features (town-building, turn-based RPS, and the ENTIRE ONLINE MULTIPLAYER), are just write-offs due to how they barely function at all. But, even excluding all that, there's about 100 hours alone in the chronicle mode, where you can mess around with different players, in every match in the history of the franchise. I had fun, and I think 150 hours justifies the full-price purchase I made. But I also think that a lot of players would not have that same fun, so it's important to know what those hours consist of.

Do i recommend this game? Yes and No, Why? Dont get me wrong this is a Great game its Fun too and the Moves and Characters are all very Amazing. The Gameplay is Pretty Fun too when you get used to it, Story Mode? i really loved and Enjoyed the Story. Chronicle mode is also a good way to relive a short story for each Inazuma Game/Anime. So whats wrong with the game? Lets start with the Grind. This game introduces a Scout system where with 5 Bond Stars you can "Gamble" for 10 random players on a specific banner, You get 5 of those starts for winning or losing 1 online match, 5 by comepleting Route Unlock in Chronicle Mode and sometimes 1 - 2 by comepleting a Chronicle Route Match (dont count on it tho). The First Problem is getting those Bond Stars, 1: Doing Online Matches is Fun but gets annoying overtime especially when u have to face People far greater then you since they already have all the good characters. 2: Getting them by Route Unlock is A good way to play Chronicle and get them but if your only there to grind the bond Stars Trash way. Next thing is the Banner Rates. Heroes... Destroyed my fun in the game over 1000 Bond stars for mostly 1 hero or none and than you can get duplicates... These rates are simply Trash but still pretty alright. Fables...We all know they are the grindiest thing known to an Inazuma game and should be cancelled so i wont get into that anymore. Now the next thing is the MATERIALS Holy the main Currency to getting moves for your Team or Equipment and its GRINDY TO GET???? yeah alright atp the game wants you to spend your life in this. Well if your fine with all of this (like i am) than you can have alot of fun in this game and it will probally become one of your Favourites. all i can say is to end this, if you decide to play this game dont do uneccecary grinding..it will and trust me it will ruin your fun in the game. That was all Have fun playing!

the gameplay actually feels great when you remember this all started as a Nintendo DS game, so adapting it to something like this can’t have been easy. There’s loads of potential here and it’s just awesome seeing everything in modern graphics, it genuinely feels like the series is coming back. Hopefully they keep updating and improving things because this could turn into something really special for the community.