It is the strategy football game you know and love, but now with added dimensions!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/37547/inazuma-eleven-go-hands-on-preview
My history with Inazuma Eleven is up-and-down. The first two were great, but the Inazuma Eleven 3 games weren't exactly amazing to say the least. The European entries were ported from the original Nintendo DS games to a Nintendo 3DS cartridges. Those dark times are now over, however, as we now move towards the new generation of football stars with Inazuma Eleven GO. This is the first proper, original football strategy RPG for our 3D handhelds, and this one has a new story and characters to boot.
What is immediately striking is how big the gap between the Nintendo DS and 3DS actually is. On the previous Nintendo system, all action would take place on the touchscreen. While that is still true for the strategy mechanics, the remaining elements are now moved to the upper screen. You will move about with the Circle Pad in environments that support the system's 3D visuals. The effects feel more subtle than other games on the system, but it does the trick for the most part. They shine the most in the cutscenes, which have some really nice layering that makes it all shine in a major way.
Talking about cutscenes, let us discuss the setting somewhat. With the GO series, we move ahead ten years into the future. The original Raimon stars made football a bigger widespread phenomenon and everyone started joining football orientated schools right, left and center. Raimon Jr High has become a hallmark in this field, and we are just in time to see the newest student in action. His name is Arion Sherwind and he certainly has some resemblance to Mark Evans, who was the star of the original trilogy. Arion's passion for football shines through in opening moments and you will learn soon enough why that is.
That being said, there are some major differences as well. Arion is not a goalkeeper, but a midfielder, and this makes him more a centerpiece on the playing field. This makes sure that the main character has a bigger role right from the get go and it causes for some genuinely exciting moments in the beginning. Through a weird string of accidents, he will be put on the playing field on this first day as a dark group of adversaries starts to show their faces. Fifth Sector wants to regulate all of the football schools, and forces Raimon to their knees. The plot tasks you with stopping this madness and bringing the joy of the sport to the forefront.
What I don't really dig is some of the voice acting, and this is the most irritating part of the venture. Arion sounds a bit too high pitched for comfort and this new Inazuma Eleven is once again filled with all sorts of weird wannabe accents. The new leader of Raimon crew has a phony-sounding Italian accent, and your first opponent has a phony-sounding Russian accent. Arion's new best friend JP is more-or-less French, so this adventure is more diverse than ever before. I am not exactly sure whether that’s a good thing, though maybe I am too used to a full on British cast.
The gameplay is strikingly similar to past installments, which isn't really a bad thing. The football matches are what I usually enjoy the most of in these games to begin with, and the touchscreen makes the mechanics feel easy enough. By drawing paths and tapping to shoot with the stylus, you will guide your players to victory. You don't have direct control over them, but that doesn't make it less fun as you decide their fate in the long run as a tactical advisor. You will make them pass, charge, kick, and shoot across opponents and it is all quite pleasant. Your key to survival is combining defense and attacks in a suitable fashion and make coherent decisions in regards to the formation of the team. Command Duels will also make a major role here, as you use special attacks of various elemental values to duke it out against one another. This makes for some amazing attack animations, which is displayed on the 3D display.
Between all of the story elements and battling, you are walking about the town a lot and exploring the environments. You can chat up NPCs for some potential clues, visit shops to buy equipment and special moves, or find special training spots to improve some stats. You can walk away from the set path and collect enough trinkets along the way, but most of the time, you will be guided toward your next objective. Big purple arrows are displayed on the map, which you can find on the touchscreen, so you will feel never be very lost. That said, the new ways you recruit players require you to explore somewhat more. With the PalPack Cards, you can find new players, though they will always require something from you before they will join. This makes the whole journey to recruit more rewarding, as you really feel that you earned the newcomer, and this feature gives you more proper side stuff to do.
Inazuma Eleven GO is looking like a promising title, though there are elements I am unsure about. The voice acting does not seem great and this seems mostly like a linear adventure once again. That said, the presentation really quite surprised me and the gameplay remains as solid as ever. I want to tell you so much more, but you will have to wait a little while longer before I can do that properly.
Topic: Inazuma Eleven GO Hands-on Preview (Read 1337 times)
