Nine years ago, the last title in the popular series from Japan was released in Europe. Now, after eight years of development, fans can finally look forward to a new installment, starting with a massive demo.
What game is this about? Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is the latest game from the Japanese developer studio LEVEL-5. The football RPG is finally set to be released this year, after experiencing a bumpy development period over the last eight years.
The story follows two new friends who want to revive their junior high football club together after one of them rediscovers their passion for the sport.
In our region, the game will bear the title Inazuma Eleven: Heroes of the Victory Road and will be released on the Nintendo Switch, followed later by releases on PS4, PS5, and mobile devices.
When does the demo start? The official website has now confirmed that starting from March 28, 2024, you can download the demo to participate in the beta test. However, this will only be available for the Nintendo Switch and will be about 5 GB in size.
The demo is expected to provide you with around 30 hours of gameplay.
What is behind the eight years of development time? In Japan, Inazuma Eleven is quite a popular football RPG, which later spawned a manga and an anime.
Nine years ago, there was already a game from the franchise released in Europe. In 2018, the next game was supposed to follow quickly, announced in 2016 under the name “Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin.” However, the developers faced some difficulties due to changes in the game engine.
Thus, the game was initially postponed to 2019 and then to 2020. Nevertheless, the developers remained optimistic until the Covid-19 crisis significantly slowed everything down. In April 2020, it was stated that there would be a drastic change in direction and a completely new name.
However, by September 2020, the studio head announced that they wanted to focus initially on “Yo-kai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Academy Y”.
In fact, there was a quiet period for the football RPG for several years, and fans had to wait a long time for news. Initially, it was stated that Inazuma Eleven: Heroes of the Victory Road should be released by the end of 2023. This too has been postponed.
Now, however, the release seems to be getting closer. The demo in March is surely a good sign for this.
What can you expect in Inazuma Eleven? Inazuma Eleven is a football RPG, but it also offers strategic gameplay during the matches played.
You control your team across the field, and each encounter with an opponent leads to a confrontation where you must choose from various options: blocking or tackling, dribbling or feints, praising, powerful shots, or special techniques. Your decision may allow you to overtake or stop the opponent. However, you can also lose these duels.
In the new installment, the gameplay is said to be not only more dynamic but also to take place from a third-person perspective. The randomness factor that often made duels in previous installments seem a bit unfair is said to have been adjusted as well.
4,500 characters have been announced, from which you can create your dream team. Expect many characters from previous installments, DLCs, and all seasons of the anime.
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