It’s time for a blast from the past today, so get ready for some major nostalgia. Today, we’ve got a major treat for all the Inazuma Eleven fans out there, and it’s something that’s been much-awaited. Years after its initial announcement, going through delays and developmental issues, we’ve finally received the newest Inazuma Eleven game, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road.
We’ll be going over what the game is about, the different game modes, and touching on the obstacles the game had to go through during development. Because if a game took 10 years to come out, you can bet there were some major problems. But without making you wait any longer, let’s dive right in.
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road’s Initial Announcement
Diving into the maze that was the game’s development phase, we start with the last games in the series, Inazuma Eleven GO 2: Chrono Stone and Inazuma Eleven 1-2-3!! Endō Mamoru densetsu, that were released in 2012. After that came a long hiatus with no new information, up until 2019/2020, when it was announced that Level 5 was restarting the gaming project.
For a few years, there hadn’t been much information on where the game was in its development, and no solid timeline for its release. While disappointed, there wasn’t much the fans could do at this point. But within the past few years, the studio had stepped up and started dropping hints like artwork to get the hype going. Fast forward to today, and we have the latest IE game available.
The game features a diverse cast of over 5,400+ characters to unlock and train, as well as a fresh cast of players to build your team with. The game has three main game modes: Story Mode, Chronicle Mode, and Victory Road.
Story Mode
In Story Mode, players will play as Sasanami, a boy who cannot play soccer but is interested in building a team of players to manage. As with every managerial game, the process of scouting players will be grueling and riddled with obstacles. Not only that, but that first team won’t be exceptional either.
Through training and hard work, you’ll need to upgrade your team in order to raise their skill level. Eventually, you’ll be facing Raimon in the finals to prove your dominance in the IE universe. The story is set 25 years after the initial Inazuma Eleven game and will not include any past characters. The setting of the story will also be changed to a school named Nahumohara.
Chronicle Mode
The next mode is Chronicle Mode, where players will need to collect characters and win matches in order to progress. The twist here is that you can choose from the entire Inazuma Eleven catalog, meaning all past characters as well. Face off against some of the most daunting teams in IE history to test your mettle.
This game mode will be accessible through the Inazuma Eleven Caravan. The number of players and difficulty of teams will progress as you complete in-game achievements. You’ll face higher difficulty teams as you progress, so make sure to constantly be working on improving your team.
Victory Road
Victory Road is the third and final game mode in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road. Unlike Chronicle Mode and Story Mode, Victory Road will be an online game mode where you can face off against other players across the globe.
Initially, players will face AI teams to judge their skill level and potential. This will award each player a set amount of play evaluations, similar to MMR in other competitive games. You’ll be matched with people of similar play evaluations to move forward. This will ensure fairness in the tournament and that no one gets outmatched early on. You can always increase your play evaluations by winning matches.
After the qualifying rounds, the top players will move on to the knockouts. The details of these stages will be revealed as the game releases in full, but it is rumoured that it will be scheduled over a couple of months, and each stage will have a varying set of rules to keep things interesting. This will definitely be the most played game mode by far, so get ready to compete for that top spot.
These are all the details I have right now, but we’ll keep you updated as information keeps flowing in. Make sure to check out this nostalgia-infused game to bring back some exciting memories.
