The launch of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road sees the return of special moves, known as Hissatsu. These moves fundamentally define the flow and excitement of each match. The game steps away from conventional sports physics, as the outcomes of key challenges hinge on raw energy, split-second timing, and the sheer power of an unleashed technique.
But the way these special moves work and how they affect the game can be a bit confusing to newcomers. We’ll be pulling back the curtains on how they work and what’s new about them since this isn’t just a rehash of old systems.
Special Moves/Hissatsu Explained
In Victory Road, Hissatsu or special moves rely on a single, crucial resource: the Tension Gauge, often referred to as Tension Points or TP. This will be the core resource of all your special moves, and with the new system, you are forced to make difficult decisions. These may include whether to use a large amount of your Tension on a striker’s powerful shot or save it up for a desperate save by your goalkeeper.
You can accumulate tension throughout the game through active play and successfully executing action mechanics. Winning scrambles, completing Focus Battles, making successful passes, and good defensive maneuvers all help towards accumulating tension. Managing this is the real key to victory since you have to know when the write time to use your TP is, as leaving the gauge dry will leave you susceptible to your enemy’s powerful moves.
Next up, we have the Hype Animation or the Special Move Gauge. It is crucial as it determines the power and success rate of a Hissatsu Technique, replacing the previously simple Critical Hit. Building hype isn’t as complicated as you think, either, as your player performs successful actions, their individual Special Move Gauge fills up.
Hype also plays a role in effectiveness, as when a player uses a Hissatsu, its effectiveness is dramatically boosted based on how full their Hype Gauge is. The more hyped a player is, the more likely their shot will end up in the back of the goal, breaking through the enemy’s defense.
Now, if you’re a sucker for animations, you will want to keep a fully charged Hype Gauge. This triggers the most powerful version of the move, often accompanied by a flashier, more dramatic animation, which is the Hype Animation itself.
Elemental System
A feature that makes its return to Victory Road is the Elemental Affinity system, and it is a major factor in determining a Special Moves effectiveness in a Focus Battle. There are four elements altogether: Fire, Forest, Wind, and Mountain. Fire is strong against Forest, Forest is strong against Wind, Wind is strong against Mountain, and Mountain is strong against Fire.
The game integrates this system with the moves really well. For example, the Answer Boost Special Move is a shoot move used to score a goal. It requires high/moderate Tension Points to execute, has a crucial Hype Animation, and is most effective against Wind. God Hand, which is a catch move, has a very high cost of TP with a critical Hype Animation, and is most effective against Wind.
The New Hissatsu Moves
There are over 5400 characters in Victory Road, mainly because the Chronicle mode lets you recruit characters from all previous Inazuma Eleven games. As a result, there are over 550 Hissatsu moves in the game, but most of them come from older entries. There are 21 new special moves, though, and they are as follows:
| Hissatsu | Element | Type |
| Answer Boost | Forest | Shoot |
| Bahamut Crash | Forest | Shoot |
| Cheat Blaster | Fire | Shoot |
| Dancing Turtle | Wind | Block |
| Empress Shadow | Fire | Shoot |
| Falcon Counter | Fire | Dribble |
| Force Flash | Mountain | Catch |
| God Fingers | Wind | Catch |
| God Hand Tiger | Mountain | Catch |
| Gravity Desert | Mountain | Catch |
| Icy Grace | Wind | Catch |
| Invisible Link | None | Shoot |
| Onigiri Over There | Forest | Dribble |
| Outer World | Forest | Catch |
| Penguin The Parade | Forest | Shoot |
| Sky Thunder | Wind | Shoot |
| Spring Thunderclap | Wind | Shoot |
| Sunshine Blade | Fire | Shoot |
| Swirly Shot | Wind | Shoot |
| The Fort | Fire | Block |
| The Matrix | Forest | Block |
