Inazuma Eleven Ares (Switch/PS4) Game PV (Online multiplayer confirmed)

[Miller]

All recorded on the Switch. Looking good, and it appears most of the optimization issues that have been the driving force behind the delays have been ironed out.

This is our first look at direct feed footage of the Switch version of Inazuma Eleven Ares since TGS, wherein the first public demo was plagued with framerate drops--an issue which appears to have since been mostly resolved. The trailer shown earlier at both TGS and Inazuma Fes 2018 was ultimately never released to the general public. Notably absent from this video is mention of the announced Android and iOS releases, which are most certainly delayed as is the case with several other titles on the platform from developer Level-5. However, eagle-eyed viewers will spot a reference to online play requiring a Nintendo Switch Online subscription featured at the end of the video. This is the first confirmation of online play being featured in Inazuma Eleven Ares.

Retail listings for Inazuma Eleven-themed Switch accessories pointed to a first August then October release date for the game proper, but a 3rd delay to Winter triggered manufacturer Takara Tomy to finally throw in the towel and ship them to stores without a game to cross-promote as was the original marketing strategy. European and American releases of the title have been announced for 2019. The accompanying television series has been airing in Japan for the better part of a year, and was set to premiere in France at the end of August but was unexpectedly pulled mere hours before air time. A subtitled broadcast of the first season aired in the Philippines day-and-date with its Japanese broadcast, but this venture did not extend to the series' second season and, as such, ended in September.

The earlier TGS trailer and demo are below.

 

[TripaSeca]

This Gameplay trailer got me really excited about this game!
This is shaping up to be a great experience and I hope it lives up to my expectations!

 

[Deleted member 2791]

Thanks for the super detailed OP.

As someone who follow the game since its announcement, it's the first time it looks really exciting. Delaying twice was rough but it looks like it will pay off.

 

[Deleted member 59]

I need to see non football related footage (ie the school/town explainexpl and rpg elements).

 

[jack_package_200]

Makes me want a new Mario Strikers game

 

[ILikeFeet]

I feel bad for the partners here. L5 fuckin up. Wonder how Tomy is gonna handle the game launch. Hope they didn't blow their budget yet.

Game looks good at least

 

[Terraforce]

Dang I didn't realize how much of a mess this game's launch ended up being due to the delays.

When exactly is this game releasing in Japan? I kinda forgot to even keep up with this after they were vague about the release date initially then delayed it even after that.
The anime finally started picking up pace which has me hype, and I imported a Japanese 3DS exclusively to play the Go games, so this is a day 1 double dip for me for sure.

 

[Miller]

I feel bad for the partners here. L5 fuckin up. Wonder how Tomy is gonna handle the game launch. Hope they didn't blow their budget yet.

Game looks good at least

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Yeah, when the second game delay happened, the Tomy accessories were pushed back alongside it. With this latest delay, Tomy seems to have said fuck it and just shipped them instead of paying to keep them stuffed in a warehouse for another indeterminate amount of months. It sucks for them and presumably soured their relationship with Level-5 a bit.

As for the game, yeah, it looks good. I like the visual style and the action seems dynamic. It's not represented well in this trailer but the action in a match outside of clashes has the characters running around at a reduced framerate when compared to the actual output (think Smash Bros. 3DS) in order to juggle 22 models on screen at once while maintaining the overall visual fidelity. It's a little jarring once you notice it, but it's allowed them to up the quality of the models--it's really night and day compared to the early builds in that regard, and a major upgrade. Some of the techniques look... like less of an upgrade from the 3DS versions than I'd have liked, but seeing them chug on the TGS build makes me sympathetic with Level-5's struggling to scale the Ni no Kuni 2 engine down (which itself was mired with optimization issues during development). This has been a rough gen for Level-5 so far. Here's to hoping that Yo-kai Watch 4 piggy backs off of these advancements and moves forward similarly. They need a win.

And this is saying nothing of the fact that the marketing apparatus surrounding the Inazuma Eleven "cross-media franchise" has moved on completely from the story arc covered in this game, and I'm curious whether this has consequently impacted plans for the already announced sequel which would have dropped March 2019 had these delays never occurred.

When exactly is this game releasing in Japan? I kinda forgot to even keep up with this after they were vague about the release date initially then delayed it even after that.

Click to shrink...

Official word is Winter.

 

[olobolger]

Cool explanation OP! After all the delays, that trailer is looking really good at least.

 

[kvetcha]

Can't stop laughing at how much that music sounds like Let's Fighting Love.

Game looks pretty cool, though! Bring on the weird JRPGs.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Yeah, when the second game delay happened, the Tomy accessories were pushed back alongside it. With this latest delay, Tomy seems to have said fuck it and just shipped them instead of paying to keep them stuffed in a warehouse for another indeterminate amount of months. It sucks for them and presumably soured their relationship with Level-5 a bit.

As for the game, yeah, it looks good. I like the visual style and the action seems dynamic. It's not represented well in this trailer but the action in a match outside of clashes has the characters running around at a reduced framerate when compared to the actual output (think Smash Bros. 3DS) in order to juggle 22 models on screen at once while maintaining the overall visual fidelity. It's a little jarring once you notice it, but it's allowed them to up the quality of the models--it's really night and day compared to the early builds in that regard, and a major upgrade. Some of the techniques look... like less of an upgrade from the 3DS versions than I'd have liked, but seeing them chug on the TGS build makes me sympathetic with Level-5's struggling to scale the Ni no Kuni 2 engine down (which itself was mired with optimization issues during development). This has been a rough gen for Level-5 so far. Here's to hoping that Yo-kai Watch 4 piggy backs off of these advancements and moves forward similarly. They need a win.

And this is saying nothing of the fact that the marketing apparatus surrounding the Inazuma Eleven "cross-media franchise" has moved on completely from the story arc covered in this game, and I'm curious whether this has consequently impacted plans for the already announced sequel which would have dropped March 2019 had these delays never occurred.



Official word is Winter.

Click to shrink...

I can't imagine the switch struggling to run 22 characters on screen at 30fps

Edit: wait, it's 60fps? Weird

 

[Miller]

I can't imagine the switch struggling to run 22 characters on screen at 30fps

Edit: wait, it's 60fps? Weird

Click to shrink...

It's all relative to how you want to push the polycount and textures, no? My point is that cutting the framerate of the characters' motion afforded them the headroom to up the quality of the models (which were frankly vile in the early builds), which is fairly demanding when you're scaling that to 22 characters in dynamic motion, and in competition with all of the engine elements both present and hanging out in the background ready to spring out at a moment's notice when clashes occur.

 

[ILikeFeet]

It's all relative to how you want to push the polycount and textures, no? My point is that cutting the framerate of the characters' motion afforded them the headroom to up the quality of the models (which were frankly vile in the early builds), which is fairly demanding when you're scaling that to 22 characters in dynamic motion, and in competition with all of the engine elements both present and hanging out in the background ready to spring out at a moment's notice when clashes occur.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't have put this game high up on the polygon count chart. Especially when L5 was targeting mobile at one point. The game was supposed to hit quickly after its announcement to meet the cartoon but that got fucked up. I more suspect the 60fps being the cause. Anime style can afford a lower polygon count as textures pull a lot of the weight; particularly normal maps to control shadows

 

[Effect]

Sports filtered through anime always seems to get me hyped. Hope this gets localized.

Edit: Oh I missed it the opening post it does have a 2019 release. Nice!.

 

[Kouriozan]

Ares is old news, it's all about Orion now :p
I hope the game will have tons of hissatu since it was pretty lacking in the anime for my taste.

 

[Rand a. Thor]

Shonen as Fuck Football in HD, finally. And is this game like Apollo Justice or something? I mean with the previous protag featuring in the game while they are promoting a new that is even doing something similar to an Apollo pose. Also are those Football Stands? What the hell have I been missing.

 

[Dremorak]

I really really enjoyed the first DS one. Hoping this turns out good!

 

[Miller]

Shonen as Fuck Football in HD, finally. And is this game like Apollo Justice or something? I mean with the previous protag featuring in the game while they are promoting a new that is even doing something similar to an Apollo pose. Also are those Football Stands? What the hell have I been missing.

Click to shrink...

There was a football stand feature but that's been retconned out. Now, essentially, the super powers used by the characters can manifest in a variety of unique ways-- many of which include external figures like Endou's Fuujin Raijin that is featured in the trailer.

As for the story itself, there are 6 mainline chapters of the Inazuma Eleven story. 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> (time skip) -> GO -> GO 2 -> GO 3. Ares is a 'What if?' story that takes place after 1 and retcons everything after it.

 

[Rand a. Thor]

There was a football stand feature but that's been retconned out. Now, essentially, the super powers used by the characters can manifest in a variety of unique ways-- many of which include external figures like Endou's Fuujin Raijin that is featured in the trailer.

As for the story itself, there are 6 mainline chapters of the Inazuma Eleven story. 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> (time skip) -> GO -> GO 2 -> GO 3. Ares is a 'What if?' story that takes place after 1 and retcons everything after it.

Click to shrink...

So basically since I only played 1 and 2 I can ignore everything and go straight for Ares? Good to know

 

[Deleted member 13646]

I wouldn't have put this game high up on the polygon count chart. Especially when L5 was targeting mobile at one point. The game was supposed to hit quickly after its announcement to meet the cartoon but that got fucked up. I more suspect the 60fps being the cause. Anime style can afford a lower polygon count as textures pull a lot of the weight; particularly normal maps to control shadows

Click to shrink...

The trailer is a bit weird, it seems 60fps but when you're in the soccer game the game seems, almost..., 30fps? Then comes the techniques and 60fps again. I'm not sure, maybe I'm delusional.

 

[Miller]

The trailer is a bit weird, it seems 60fps but when you're in the soccer game the game seems, almost..., 30fps? Then comes the techniques and 60fps again. I'm not sure, maybe I'm delusional.

Click to shrink...

This video in specific seems to speed up some of the action, and the video itself is composed at 60 fps so you end up with kind of a weird effect.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

So basically since I only played 1 and 2 I can ignore everything and go straight for Ares? Good to know

Click to shrink...

Yeah. Basically at one point in the original Inazuma Eleven trilogy (I think it was in 2), aliens invaded the world and Raimon had to train all around the world in order to beat them. Inazuma Eleven Ares is an alternative scenario where aliens never came to earth and Raimon ended up losing the world cup. They then decide to disband to find hidden top players around the globe to composate the ultimate team. It's also the reason why the game has some characters that are supposed to be dead because of the aliens (like Fubuki Atsuya).

 

[squall23]

There was a football stand feature but that's been retconned out. Now, essentially, the super powers used by the characters can manifest in a variety of unique ways-- many of which include external figures like Endou's Fuujin Raijin that is featured in the trailer.

As for the story itself, there are 6 mainline chapters of the Inazuma Eleven story. 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> (time skip) -> GO -> GO 2 -> GO 3. Ares is a 'What if?' story that takes place after 1 and retcons everything after it.

Click to shrink...

I hope instead of being retconned, they go full force into Endou and Natsumi's relationship by the 3rd game/season. I want to see the dating and marriage this time.

If only because I get to see Aki fans BTFO once again.

Yeah. Basically at one point in the original Inazuma Eleven trilogy (I think it was in 2), aliens invaded the world and Raimon had to train all around the world in order to beat them. Inazuma Eleven Ares is an alternative scenario where aliens never came to earth and Raimon ended up losing the world cup. They then decide to disband to find hidden top players around the globe to composate the ultimate team. It's also the reason why the game has some characters that are supposed to be dead because of the aliens (like Fubuki Atsuya).

Click to shrink...

I had a conversation about this in an IE forum. We all found it funny how aliens of all things essentially power-levelled Raimon players so they can actually stand on the world stage without embarrassing themselves.

 

[Comic Obsessed]

Yeah. Basically at one point in the original Inazuma Eleven trilogy (I think it was in 2), aliens invaded the world and Raimon had to train all around the world in order to beat them. Inazuma Eleven Ares is an alternative scenario where aliens never came to earth and Raimon ended up losing the world cup. They then decide to disband to find hidden top players around the globe to composate the ultimate team. It's also the reason why the game has some characters that are supposed to be dead because of the aliens (like Fubuki Atsuya).

Click to shrink...

Wait, is this for real? I only played the first one, it seems like I missed a lot of stupid stuff.

 

[Deleted member 873]

It looks AMAZING! Wish it had Haizaki's hissatsu so people could grasp how crazy this game will be.

Ares is old news, it's all about Orion now :p
I hope the game will have tons of hissatu since it was pretty lacking in the anime for my taste.

Click to shrink...

oh. I thought it was nice? But anyway, Orion is giving us all the hissatsu love we needed.

 

[Miller]

So basically since I only played 1 and 2 I can ignore everything and go straight for Ares? Good to know

Click to shrink...

Yup. Actually, a knowledge of 2 is good because it leans on certain story elements. Certain characters that are dead in the original timeline survived as part of the 'What if?' scenario, namely Kira Hiroto and Atsuya Fubuki.

Spoiler: Chapter 1 of the Ares storyline

Essentially, because Kira never died, the Sun Garden orphanage backstory is totally different, and those kids all end up in a legit school. As such, "aliens" never invade and the story that sees the Raimon Eleven power up to the world level never occurs. They have an exhibition match with the Spanish representative team and get absolutely smoked. Between the drama surrounding the Zeus team doping and the assured loss of the future Japanese team in the upcoming Football Frontier International, the members of the Raimon Eleven are scattered around to various schools across the country to raise the level of competition in an interim national tournament. Additionally, with Atsuya alive, the Hokkaido school is strong enough to have a presence.

Do you remember the sketchy coach from IE1 that set up the bomb on their bus? Turns out he got transferred to a school out in the boonies on an island. The school's soccer team is good but are a member short of competing in their provincial Football Frontier. The coach ends up pushing for disbandment of the team and demolishes their pitch. Ultimately, they end up getting transferred to Raimon and become the new Inazuma Eleven in the original's stead. That's essentially the set up for the story of Ares.

I hope instead of being retconned, they go full force into Endou and Natsumi's relationship by the 3rd game/season. I want to see the dating and marriage this time.

If only because I get to see Aki fans BTFO once again.

I had a conversation about this in an IE forum. We all found it funny how aliens of all things essentially power-levelled Raimon players so they can actually stand on the world stage without embarrassing themselves.

Click to shrink...

I just hope Fuyuppe never shows up. Tsunami and Tobitaka can stay, though/

 

[dragn]

i want a tsubasa game ;3

 

[Iva Demilcol]

More Level 5 is always a good thing.

 

[Gassy_N0va]

Is 2019 for NA the best we have for a release date at the moment? Either way, have always wanted to play an Inazuma Eleven game, and need my soccer fix on Switch (Mario Strikers 3 ;_;), so I'm intrigued! Looks good thus far!

 

[Deleted member 2791]

Wait, is this for real? I only played the first one, it seems like I missed a lot of stupid stuff.

Click to shrink...

well yeah, they're retconning it for a good reason

 

[Miller]

Is 2019 for NA the best we have for a release date at the moment? Either way, have always wanted to play an Inazuma Eleven game, and need my soccer fix on Switch (Mario Strikers 3 ;_;), so I'm intrigued! Looks good thus far!

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it was only mentioned in passing in a press release, so '2019' is all we have.

 

[Deleted member 873]

if it releases the same year as japan, that'll be amazing in itself

 

[butman]

Cross-play begging incoming...

 

[Oregano]

Surprised they're not opting to show the PS4 version when it will obviously look and perform better.

 

[cw_sasuke]

i want a tsubasa game ;3

Click to shrink...

https://www.tsubasa-dreamteam.com

If you only care about the story its pretty good.

 

[Deleted member 873]

Surprised they're not opting to show the PS4 version when it will obviously look and perform better.

Click to shrink...

are they showing the switch version?

 

[Miller]

are they showing the switch version?

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They have shown off-- the Switch version at TGS, the PS4 version at a recent Sony thing, and now this video which is all the Switch version.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Surprised they're not opting to show the PS4 version when it will obviously look and perform better.

Click to shrink...

showing the version that will sell the best isn't too surprising.

 

[Sandfox]

Surprised they're not opting to show the PS4 version when it will obviously look and perform better.

Click to shrink...

Showing off the main version.