I don’t know about you all out there in this strange land we call the Internet, but I tend to really like games that think outside the box and blend genres. Portal blended the FPS and puzzle genres while Mirror’s Edge did the same for platforming and both were praised for it. But who would have ever thought an RPG and soccer could go so well together?

Not only do they go together, but they do so incredibly well, thanks to the masterful hands at Level 5, (of Professor Layton and Ni No Kuni fame). In Inazuma Eleven, players are put in the very capable cleats of Mark Evans, an overenthusiastic goal keeper who aspires to lead the Raimon Junior High soccer club to a championship, achieving both his and his late grandfather’s dreams in the process. The only problem? The rest of the team couldn’t care less about the sport, preferring to lay around in the club house and do absolutely nothing. Things look grim for Mark when the school threatens to disband the club if they lose an exhibition match to Royal Academy, a team that’s gone undefeated for 40 years. But when a new transfer student arrives at Raimon who also happens to be a star soccer player, Mark realizes that recruiting him might lead to a turn the team’s fortunes around.

So surely you must be asking how a soccer RPG would even work at this point. Surprisingly, the way the game is laid out is much more traditionally than you’d expect. Obviously, you’re going to spend a ton of time on the field, but Inazuma is more like sports meets a 32 sided die. Entire matches are controlled with the stylus, drawing paths for players to travel and tapping spots on the field where you want the ball to go. This control scheme has a moderate learning curve at first, but it’s nothing that practice won’t fix.

When players make contact, a clash initiates. Each teammate has their own set of stats ranging from kick strength, ball control and speed, as well as one of four elements that has strengths and weaknesses against the other three, all of which come into play during these battles. From there, each player involved has one of two options, a move that has a lower chance of success, but has a higher rate of keeping the ball if successful, or a move that is more likely to succeed, but comes with a higher risk of losing control of the ball or getting a foul called. When regular moves just don’t cut it,the team can eventually unlock special moves, the soccer equivalent to magic spells. These lead to some really fun animations that show players summoning gods to block shots, conjuring tornadoes to incapacitate opponents and shooting goals with flaming kicks. It’s like Shaolin Soccer meets Blitzball, and it’s a complete joy to play.

To add to the depth, each player and ability has an element, creating a rock-paper-scissors mechanic to an already complex game. With four types in play, (water, fire, grass and ground), how you balance your team is one of many aspects to keep in mind when you’re putting together the best club possible, especially if the opponents favor any one type. But before you get too trigger happy with the flashiness, each player has their own FP and TP, (this game’s equivalent to HP and MP), so deciding when the best time to pepper your kicks is a huge part of the game’s strategy.

Most of the game is spent exploring Raimon Junior High or the rest of Inazuma Town’s multiple areas while discovering treasure, secret training points and story missions along the way. And since apparently EVERYONE but your team loves to play the sport, different clubs will challenge your team as you walk through the city, essentially acting as the game’s random battles. Talking with the various NPCs throughout the city can result in the acquisition of quests, leads to new players and stat boosts for your party. In addition, your team managers can court members of teams you’ve defeated onto your side as well, with hundreds of potential players at your disposal. With so many possibilities, it makes the local multiplayer matches that much more interesting, since you’re not likely to play the same team twice. It’s just too bad that there’s no online play, because as great as this game is, it’s a niche title that’s an eShop exclusive. Good luck finding anyone locally to play with…

With so many players to recruit, it’s a good thing that Inazuma Eleven gives you so much time to play with them all. The story mode consists of ten chapters, each one featuring a different team that’s looking to take you down. Almost like a villain of the week anime, each group ranges in levels of ruthlessness, to the point where some are willing to hurt, manipulate and even kill to ensure their success. Whoa! Soccer is serious business! The 12-ish hours the story provides will leave you surprised at how far the characters will take their obsession, but it’s right up the alley of your standard anime story. Only, you know… soccer!

But as fantastic as I found Inazuma Eleven, there are a few noticable areas where it fouls. First off, the game comes off as incredibly dated from a presentation standpoint. It’s true that this game is a port of an old DS game, and it shows on the 3DS, especially compared to other games, both eShop and retail wise. The game has a fairly steep learning curve as well, throwing you head first into matches with little direction. The relentless AI doesn’t help matters much either, making the first games frustrating. It took me a good hour or two to become decent, which was partially because the opening tutorial sections don’t explain some vital pieces of information such as what each stat does. Sticking through it is its own reward though, since the game gets so better and better as it progresses.

That is, until the end. While most of the game can be played grind free after the opening moments of Inazuma, the end game serves up a sudden difficulty spike, forcing your team to spend a few padded hours building their strength, even if you never skip a random battle. When you consider that you can only build up a handful of players at one time, this can take a long, tedious amount of time before you’ll be able to push through the end of the game.

To rub salt into the would, the final battle takes place after a long string of  unskippable cutscenes, forcing you to go through the painful punishment of sitting through them again… And again… And again… This wouldn’t have been possible if the game gave you a retry option when losing story matches, but instead, the developers opted with an instant game over, taking you back to your last save. Mildly annoying during the standard story, and mind numbingly angering at the end, when you consider final bosses SHOULD be able to beat you the first time in, most players will have to sit through this frustration at least once, which is one too many times for me.

But even with those complaints, Inazuma Eleven scores in almost every other area. Dispite it showing its age as a DS port, the game play is never dull, the story is completely absurd, (in the best way possible), power ups force the game to evolve as you progress and the music is as charming as you’ll find from more recent releases. Most of all, the game is a truly unique experience that both RPG and sports game fans will be able to get a ton of mileage out of, making this cup one that can’t be missed!

tl;dr
+ A near perfect blend of soccer and RPG game play, creating a unique game play experience.
+ Both defensive and offensive powers keep the game fresh as you progress through the ridiculous anime style story.
+ Hundreds of characters to recruit and level up, creating countless unique teams to be discovered.
+ The ability to take your custom teams and play against other players locally, (if you can find any).
– As a DS port, the game’s visual presentation shows its age, especially for making its Western debut on a more powerful system.
– Late game grinding forces the final moments to come to a screeching halt.
– Instant game overs during story games create more backtracking than should be necessary.
– The tutorials don’t explain the game as well as they could have, especially with the unique game play mechanics introduced by the series.

Final Score: 4.25/5