Another season of football RPG madness is upon us and the stakes are higher than ever!
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/39861/inazuma-eleven-go-chrono-stones-wildfirethunderflash-3ds-review
Last year, Inazuma Eleven GO changed my entire perception of the franchise as a whole. It was a bold and fun entry that made good use of what the Nintendo 3DS could handle. In the beginning, I wasn't really sure what the new ''Chrono Stones'' entries could do differently to impress me again. The fact of the matter is that they didn't have to, because Wildfire and Thunderflash will garantuee players another solid RPG for the 3DS.
Let me be frank with you in saying following: You will need to have played the previous game. This is not something that you might have to consider. No, you will need to have played either Light or Shadow to understand how the story follows things up. The dialogue isn't kind to new players and newcomers will very likely be confused about what is up. Just like the last game, you will follow Arion Sherwind and his associates at the Raimon Football Club. After the incidents in the last game, the world seems to be back to its normal self and everybody is enjoying the wonders of football. At least, this is what Arion thinks.
Upon his return at Raimon, he finds out that football has been erased from people's hearts. His classmates all find it to be a niche sport and have joined very different clubs instead. Shocked and stunned, Arion wonders what he should be doing next. A mysterious figure, named Alpha, appears before him and he says that is planning to destroy everything related to the sport. Alpha and his team are traveling through time to ensure that this happens and this is where the craziness begins. Arion must now travel with the help of time traveling football player Fei and his coach Wonderbot, who happens to be a talking stuffed bear.
As you can clearly read here, the story is really goofy and out there. The thing is, however, I love it almost exactly for that very reason. The early chapters really build perfectly on the plot lines of the previous game and really twists them in some rather interesting ways. Even after that specific point, the game takes it in all sorts of directions and takes the time travel concept even further. With that out of the way, the voice acting is still not perfect. At this point, it can be considered a staple of the series as a whole. The accents are a bit more constrained this time around, but that doesn't make every single one of them sound normal.
Many of the improvements made in the previous game simply care over to this one. Navigation and exploring is an absolute blast on the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS, which you can do with the comfort of the Circle Pad. You can walk about, talk to various NPCs and prep for any matches that are upcoming. To be well prepared, you can purchase equipment at various shops in the game and grow the stats by accepting the challenges by various groups on the streets. By beating these players or collecting special PayPal Cards, you can add these people to your roster and your team an unique set of skills. There is once again hours upon hours of content to uncover and I only scratched the surface of what you can do. You also don't get in trouble for exploring somewhat, considering you can easily get back to the story. A simple purple arrow on the map screen will let you know where to go next and this makes going through the game not overly complicated.
The action in Chrono Stones gets going a lot faster than the previous entries. The various moves and skills during the football matches took time to develop in the previous game and that wasn't always pleasant. Within the first hour of these new titles, you already dealing with various threats and learning skills that were never there before. These simple RTS battles will have you drawing paths on the touch screen and tapping to shoot with the stylus. You don't take directly control over the players, but in this case, it is all the more intriguing. I had to use my wits and quick thinking to win battles, which all comes together in the Command Duels.
You will have to use your offensive and defensive skills in an one on one brawl against your direct opponent. There are the usual blocking and dodging endeavors, but Inazuma Eleven is known for its special attacks. By removing some energy from a special meter, you will be able to cause more devastation and bring the victory closer to your side. The variety of attacks are absolutely insane and all come with their own animations, which are brilliantly displayed on the top screen. The same madness comes from the Fighting Spirits that select players have and these are quite improved in Chrono Stones. You can now turn them into awesome pieces of armor for your players to wear and they boost your attack to a rather large degree. Another new element is Mix 'n' Match, which lets you fuse yourself with the aura of other people you meet during the story. I don't want to give these away too much, but the first example is how Fei infuses himself with the power of a T-Rex. Not only does this change his appearance, but it also grants Fei a brand new special attack that can crush the goalie and score an excellent goal!
Next to the story, Inazuma Eleven GO offers an array of communication options. You can download additional content, such as more characters and items, to enrich your experience. For active StreetPass users, you can play against other people by getting challenges from their side and duking it out. The best options are available to local players who can trade characters with one another or see how their team fairs in matches of up to four people. In particular, the latter is great fun with the right crowd and works without a hitch. You can also play together in Competition Routes, which allows you to battle teams that you have previously played against. The more matches you play, the more treasure chests filled with nifty gear you collect. If you and a friend each have a different version of Chrono Stones, be sure to link them up through SD Link. You might get a hefty reward for your efforts!
Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stones looks incredibly sharp on the Nintendo 3DS. Despite the game releasing 2.5 years after Japan, I was overly impressed how the environments and characters looked. The special battle scenes and cut scenes in particular look fantastic and I would highly suggest turning the 3D on. Level-5 did a great job layering the 3D effects and they are always giving Nintendo a run for their money. I do have to mention that I ran into a weird glitch early on. In one or two scenes, a few character models looked weirdly static and their arms were spread out. While I didn't encounter it afterwards, I feel that it is worth mentioning. The soundtrack is wonderful with very atmospheric tunes when you are on school grounds or on the go, and nice battle music to guide you to victory.
Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stones: Wildfire and Thunderflash are really great games, but they aren't for newcomers in the slightest. The game expects you to have played the previous entries and that you know what happened to the various characters. While this will be a big irritation for some, it was a huge plus for myself. The tutorials weren't overly long and I got into the action at quite a rapid pace. Next to that, I really enjoyed the story and the new elements to the battles are simply awesome. There was that odd little glitch and the voices still aren't overly fantastic, but that didn't stop from putting a massive amount of time on the counter. This might as well be my favorite entry so far.
Topic: Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stones: Wildfire/Thunderflash (3DS) Review (Read 3207 times)
