I previously shared how much I enjoyed Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. It’s a lighthearted action RPG that really nailed the fun of mastering different professions and building up a virtual economy. I hadn’t played previous Fantasy Life games, but I ended up spending over 60 hours with this one and really loved it. However, Fantasy Life i had a famously difficult development process – Level-5’s CEO, Akihiro Hino, even wrote about it – and there was another game at the company that faced even bigger hurdles. I was very eager to see how it would turn out after being in development for ten years.
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road had a troubled development history, constantly facing setbacks. Originally announced as Inazuma Eleven Ares in July 2016, it was planned to launch alongside a new anime series of the same name. However, the game experienced numerous delays, even as the anime premiered in spring 2018. Throughout the development process, Hino, a key figure at Level-5, repeatedly explained the challenges they were facing, including detailed explanations for why the release was pushed back past May 2019, and even maintained a blog to keep fans updated on the Ares project.
The game originally known as Inazuma Eleven Ares went through several changes and delays. It was initially planned for release in Japan in spring 2020, but that date was missed. Further updates in April 2020 and 2021 pushed the release back to 2021, and then again to 2023. The game’s title also changed, first to Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes and then to Victory Road of Heroes in July 2022. This lengthy development process eventually led to the game that was released a few weeks ago, after years of revisions.
After that, while Victory Road still faced some minor setbacks, development generally progressed more easily. Level-5 ultimately decided to release the game on modern consoles and PC instead of mobile devices. Last year, they also ran a lengthy worldwide open beta, giving them valuable feedback from players over several months.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started playing Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road for the first time after it was fully released.
I was happily surprised by this new Level-5 game, especially considering its difficult development. Like Fantasy Life, it’s presented with a genuine and heartfelt quality. It clearly aims to be the definitive Inazuma Eleven experience, both for new players and longtime fans, and to justify the long wait. Victory Road truly made an impression on me, and it’s one of the most memorable games I’ve played this year.
Like most players starting Inazuma Eleven’s Victory Road, I immediately chose Story Mode and planned to explore other options later. Before I get into the details, let me explain a few things.
Like with the character Unmei/Destin, the Inazuma Eleven series often changes character names when released in western countries. For example, the main character from the first game, Mamoru Endo, is known as Mark Evans outside of Japan. However, Victory Road lets you keep the original Japanese names visible in the English subtitles, which makes the experience more consistent when listening to the Japanese voice acting. I chose to play the game this way, so I’ll be using the characters’ Japanese names throughout this article.
I’ll be talking about soccer quite a bit, as it’s central to Inazuma Eleven. It’s common knowledge that people use either “soccer” or “football” depending on where they are, a difference that started years ago with American football. Throughout this article, I’ll use the term “soccer” to refer to the sport.
I have to say, playing through Victory Road’s story feels a lot like when I first dove into Megaton Musashi W: Wired. Both games from Level-5 really unfold like you’re watching an anime season, and I was totally hooked, just wanting to see what happened next. I splurged and got the Deluxe Edition of Victory Road to play early, but honestly, I didn’t bother looking up anything about the story beforehand. It’s funny, because when I chose story mode, the game actually warned me that I wouldn’t be playing much soccer for a while… which is a really strange thing to point out!
The opening of Victory Road instantly created a lovely, yet sad, mood.
The story opens with a quick glimpse of a soccer game, hinting at future characters and events. Then, the focus shifts to Unmei, who is riding a bus and looking out the window. He gets off and starts walking to his new school. A group of kids playing soccer accidentally kick the ball near him, but Unmei walks past it without acknowledging them or returning it. His first spoken line reveals his strong dislike for soccer, wishing the sport would simply vanish.
Victory Road immediately grabs your attention with a unique setup: a sports story where the main character actually dislikes the sport. Right from the start, as you begin to play, the game presents a clever twist – soccer balls appear as treasure chests! It’s odd that the character, Unmei, even notices them, considering his aversion to soccer.
Visiting Unmei’s new school, Nagumohara Junior High, revealed a few things. The school is famous for its baseball team, and there’s a troublemaker named Joji Sakurazaki that Unmei has been warned to stay away from. Interestingly, Nagumohara used to have a soccer club, but it closed down years ago for reasons no one seems to know – and that’s actually why Unmei chose to attend this school in the first place.
Unmei’s first day at school takes an unexpected turn when he witnesses Joji cornered in an alleyway, being attacked by a group of thugs. Unmei immediately recognizes Joji’s fighting style – his kicks and movements are remarkably similar to a soccer player’s. Lost in surprise, Unmei steps in and takes a blow meant for Joji, getting hit in the head with a steel pipe. This is how Unmei’s journey begins in Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road.
I won’t detail everything that makes Victory Road’s story unique, but I want to explain what Unmei Sasanami is like when the game begins. Throughout Victory Road, players sometimes need to find specific characters and collect information, then review that information in a menu. While this might sound simple, it’s a deliberate design choice meant to highlight Unmei’s analytical personality – a core part of who she is.
He carefully analyzes every situation from all sides before making a choice, though he sometimes acts impulsively. A key moment in Victory Road happens about an hour in, when the Nagumohara baseball team starts playfully hitting damaged soccer balls with their bats on the pitcher’s mound. The reason the soccer club at Nagumohara closed down was a serious issue, and it led to widespread negativity and disrespect towards the sport.
As the sun sets, a worn-out soccer ball rolls to a stop near Unmei and Joji. Just as Joji is about to kick it back to the baseball players, Unmei stops him. We then see a flashback revealing the reason behind Unmei’s dislike of soccer.
Unmei used to be a passionate soccer player, but a rare heart condition forced him to stop. This condition meant he couldn’t do strenuous exercise, taking away the sport he loved. While he tried to move on and avoid thinking about soccer, he’s deeply hurt by others publicly disrespecting it. He believes that just because he can’t play himself doesn’t mean the sport deserves to be mocked.
Unmei angrily confronts Joji, revealing he’s discovered Joji used to play soccer but stopped because his parents and school discouraged it. Joji gave up soccer due to external pressures, while Unmei was forced to stop for health reasons. During their heated exchange, Unmei expresses his frustration that he can never play again, while Joji, who still could, seems to accept the restrictions placed upon him instead of fighting for his passion.
Just as Unmei was about to kick the soccer ball back to the baseball team, Joji stepped in and volunteered to handle it. Determined to return to playing soccer, he jumped high into the air and powerfully kicked the ball straight towards the baseball captain’s face.
A lot of us who played Victory Road remember how ridiculous this scene was when it first came out. The baseball team demands a soccer ball from two students, and after a long, pointless conversation, one of them suddenly kicks it with incredible force, hitting their own captain right in the face. Predictably, the baseball team is furious. Unmei then bravely challenges them to a soccer match, with the condition that if he wins, they have to stop making fun of soccer in public.
The next day, Unmei and Joji started planning how to build their soccer club. They quickly realized they needed more players, which kicked off their search for teammates. Heita Kisoji, a classmate, volunteered to join, and he initially feels like a familiar, energetic friend similar to characters from the Persona series – though his deeper story unfolds much later. Heita also introduces them to Inacord, a communication app similar to Discord. As the club grows, Inacord becomes a lively place for the characters to interact, and players will get to see a different, more playful side of Joji through his activity on the app.
The announcement of a soccer match against the baseball club is causing a stir at Nagumohara High. Soccer is a traditionally forbidden sport there, and both school administrators and the student council are hesitant to allow it due to a past incident that led to its ban five years ago. Amidst the confusion and excitement, the first part of the story, ‘Victory Road,’ ends with the discovery of an old, abandoned shed – a potential new home for the up-and-coming soccer club.
Each chapter of Victory Road’s story ends with a preview of what’s coming next, using exciting images and sound clips. These previews always did a great job of building anticipation and made me eager to continue playing.
Victory Road’s story is a surprisingly heartwarming tale of starting with nothing and achieving success, which is unusual for a sports RPG. As I mentioned before, the game warned players that the soccer gameplay wouldn’t begin for a while. It actually takes about four hours to reach the first soccer matches in story mode. Before that, most of the gameplay involves simple, turn-based battles reminiscent of rock-paper-scissors – and you can even automate them fairly quickly. While these battles aren’t bad, they aren’t as exciting as the actual soccer. However, I didn’t mind them because they helped build Unmei’s story and his relationships with the people of Nagumohara.
What truly makes Victory Road’s story compelling is the depth of its main character, Unmei Sasanami. Unlike many protagonists, Unmei isn’t a player on the field—he’s the strategist. This unique role shapes his relationships with teammates and opponents, creating bonds built on trust, respect, and even admiration. Unmei doesn’t rely on brute strength or skillful moves to overcome obstacles; he excels at strategy and often finds creative, unconventional solutions. He’s essentially a walking, talking version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, but applied to the world of soccer.
Unmei has a striking similarity to Haru Endo, a key figure in the story mode. While Haru is positioned as the opposing force, he’s really more of a co-protagonist, meaning Unmei is destined to compete against him.
Haru is the complete opposite of Unmei. As one of the star players on Raimon’s national champion soccer team, he’s incredibly talented – arguably the best. However, despite his skill, Haru has slowly lost his love for the game. What once challenged him now feels routine, and he’s no longer motivated to improve. While I won’t spoil the details, the story mode in Victory Road shows a striking contrast and parallel between Unmei and Haru’s individual paths.
When Unmei and Haru first meet, it dramatically alters both of their lives. They have trouble connecting, as Unmei is upset that Haru isn’t pursuing soccer with as much passion as he used to, and Haru doesn’t understand why Unmei remains so involved in a sport he can’t even play. This creates a core conflict that challenges their views on soccer. The story mode of Victory Road is full of similar disagreements, exploring how we often get in our own way when trying to better ourselves.
As the story unfolded, Unmei quickly became one of my favorite characters in this year’s RPGs. His rivals eventually understand that while Nagumohara’s soccer players are all skilled, Unmei is what truly drives the team’s success. Even though he doesn’t play, his sharp observations and data analysis give him – and his team – incredible confidence, allowing them to overcome any challenge.
I’m not a big soccer fan myself, but I appreciate its history and respect the players. You don’t need to love the sport to enjoy the story in Victory Road. What really makes it great is how well-developed and relatable the characters are, even within the exaggerated world of Inazuma Eleven. At its heart, it’s a sincere story about not giving up on your passions, even when things change – it’s about finding new ways to stay connected to what you love.
Victory Road has been a success, selling over 500,000 copies, but its development wasn’t entirely traditional. A report from December 2023 revealed that Level-5 used AI tools to refine artwork and create placeholder voices while making the game. It’s currently unclear whether any AI-generated content made it into the final version, as the game’s Steam page doesn’t mention its use.
The end credits for Victory Road lasted over 20 minutes and listed hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who worked on the game. These credits included voice actors, animators, designers, musicians, engineers, and staff from studios all over the world who contributed to its creation.
I recognize that many people strongly object to any media created with the help of generative AI, even if it’s just a small part of the process. Currently, several popular games – including Arc Raiders, Where Winds Meet, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – are using AI in some way. The new game Let It Die: Inferno recently announced that it will rely heavily on generative AI during its development.
The use of generative AI in games has sparked a debate about how much is too much. Many are questioning whether it should be allowed at all, fearing that large companies will slowly increase its presence if given any opportunity. There’s concern that a small acceptance now could lead to widespread use in the future.
Look, I’m not expecting this to solve anything, but I really need to say how much I dislike generative AI. It just feels like it steals from human creativity and basically runs on plagiarism. And honestly, the environmental cost of all those servers is huge, plus it’s giving companies a reason to replace people’s jobs – jobs that should be done by people. It really bothers me.
Read More
- Clash Royale codes (November 2025)
- Zerowake GATES : BL RPG Tier List (November 2025)
- Stephen King’s Four Past Midnight Could Be His Next Great Horror Anthology
- LSETH PREDICTION. LSETH cryptocurrency
- The Shepherd Code: Road Back – Release News
- Where Winds Meet: March of the Dead Walkthrough
- It: Welcome to Derry’s Big Reveal Officially Changes Pennywise’s Powers
- Gold Rate Forecast
- McDonald’s releases fried chicken bucket and Upside Down Burger in Stranger Things collab
- Man goes viral spotting himself in advert he never took part in
2025-11-30 18:00