After much badgering from my fellow anime nerds I was obligated to try the Inzuma Eleven series of games since I was hearing more good things than bad - but the anime was so contrived I found it hard to take the game series seriously.
Inazuma Eleven was originally an anime released in 2013 using a combination of football (we're British we call it football not soccer)with magic. Starving to get into the championships. Overall not a favourite anime. However shortly after the first IE game came to DS. After a friend urged me to give this 3DS version a try after saying the magic world JRPG, this clearly is not an average sports game.
I half expected the game to be a mini Fifa but with anime cut scenes and Japanese VO. Being the first IE game on the 3DS I expected some sort of summary of the game or the story thus far, that doesn't happen you meet the man character and loads more across the world.
Story wise your in the future, your the main character's grandson you bump into Team Ogre it’s here that we are suddenly thrown back to the present where the main character Mark Evens is training for the world cup after “his most recent victory” that is never elaborated upon.
The general jist is we follow him and his group of friends as they try to become the best players in the world, while also trying to save football against the antagonists. They are a team from 80 years in the future called 'Team Ogre' and come with the mission of destroying the Raimon Soccer Club. The game assumes that we the player are aware of the complex story and all of the character connections hates and friendships. Nope, so from what little details I remembered fro the anime I played clueless-ly to all the references. It's a shame since it's a JRPG and the crux of the game is storyline and talking.
I really enjoyed the game-play there is none other like this it's comprised of playing football and solving tasks, talking to people, finding items similar to Pokemon just no monsters! Also it's a 2D game and it's surprising easy on the eye and I liked that quality and I'm glad it wasn't 3D. Enjoying their over the top hair in chibi form! It was also cute that we could customise the equipment like we could in battles for other games, instead this is for stars to help football.
The main bulk of the game is the football matches play out with the typical rules of footie with a mix of 4v4 and 11v11 games, the player starts with the ball and uses the touch screen to control the players by dragging and tapping the screen. If the carrier comes into contact with a member of the opposite team, the game pauses and allows the player to choose their next action from a menu, they can try to dodge / charge, or they can perform a super move that will drain their SP. Every time a move is selected the game shows a short cinematic of the characters performing the action with a little number by each player showing their stats. I think it's a combination of stats and skill on the stylus.
Looking at the previous titles, not alot has changed in the game play mechanics. It's a an RPG but with spurts of football rather than fighting so it would be an excellent game for the pre-teens to get some non violent gaming ingrained into their brains. The controls aren't easy well they are, the 3DS doesn't always interpret them the right way. So I'd say layer up your screen with a few protectors you don't want to rage scratch your precious 3DS.
I can see that Level-5 RPG had incorporated all the anime sequences well like the Professor Layton games but sadly IE did lack in other departments. The failure to integrate previous story-lines did leave me disorientated but I got the jist f what i needed to do and looked past story references and looked more towards graphics and strategy. Mixing sport with an RPG - who would of thought the unlike two could pair up to make something so fluid and enjoyable. 8/10
~Aisha Anime~
