My thoughts on IEVR after 5 months of pure cope (and 520 hours)

(YAP SESSION INCOMING)

I know posts like these have already been made, and I will immediately admit that I, The "Fetta guy", have the critical thinking skills of an actual toddler. But I really felt like throwing my hat in the mix.

I loved the demo, I love this game, I think it has some great basis to be one of the best Inazuma Eleven games to ever come out. However, how it's handled is just questionable? Atrocious? I don't know how to describe it but it's depressing that's for sure, and it's coming from someone that has always had this sorta of hopeful, positive approach to the game.

I think where it all went wrong were obviously the many delays, and the need Hino felt to make up for them by just filling this game with so much shit that it all becomes overwhelming. It's nice to have a CaC, don't get me wrong, I LOVE (and absolutely fucking hate) XenoVerse 2: but did we REALLY need it? did we really need the Kizuna Town mode? It's a nice addition, sure, but why?

Commander mode was relegated to the "Roblox grinding" mode, when it was supposed to be much more active - which kinda sucks, you know? I remember it was supposed to be this sort of Football Manager like mode which could've been fun. But I think the change came from a "fuck the grinding is atrocious, quick! Make an auto-play mode for the players!"

Speaking of grinding, we all know it sucks, it's borderline Roblox levels, I don't have to speak much about it.

The AI in this game is COMPLETELY braindead, needs a buff, we've all had this discussion. I also feel like the game is slightly slower-paced compared to release or the beta? It's still kinda fast, but also feels sluggish in a way.

The Story Mode was REALLY good, I liked it and had a fun. I came to appreciate all of the Nagumohara guys even though they didn't get enough time to shine and really develop. Though Chapter 8 was disastrous, like from Match standpoint and from a literally everything else standpoint. But besides that, I think that VR shines here. It's Vibrant, It's fun, Unmei is a great, charming protagonist and my favorite out of the 5, the rest of the cast was just as fun, even if didn't spend as much time as I hoped we would with them.

Chronicles Mode, on the other hand, sucks ass: Straight up. They should've never made the Route Unlock Battles: I think they're stupid, dumb, and there just to pad out. You'd have to hang me to get me to play through it again. The novelty of being able to replay any match from the entirety of the series is nice, but if this is the cost? No thanks. It's story, while being there just to be there is also... questionable? I wouldn't say god-awful like the rest of the mode, but y'know, it's kinda undercooked. Vic is also a bad protagonist and I'm sorry: he's bland and only got a sad backstory so that Level-5 could go "Ooh, look! his momma died! ooh boo-hoo you are sad now! you have to cry!"

It makes me wonder if these are the same people that wrote Fubuki's character. Don't get me wrong, I'm also guilty of this mindless way of writing, but suffering DOESN'T make a character, it BUILDS them, helps them grow. Besides this, Adult Fei is hot and there was no adult Fetta coming in with an axe to kill the Mind Eaters, 1.5/10. (Oh and Keines and his team are just straight up bums, but appreciated the sort of "Taisen-Route" sort of approach that the mode took in this final stretch. Just wish that we had more.)

Now, to end off this yap fest: I like this game, but I don't want it to live on life support just begging to be put down. This new update, while pretty damn good and giving me back my sweet baby boy HakuShuu, shows just how much the game still needs to find it's footing and be fixed. I'm really happy that so many other people care, that they make lists of what should be added (even if sometimes does lists seem pretty unrealistic) and should be fixed. It's something so beautiful to see, that even despite every weird, questionable choice, the heart of this community is still beating for this series and this game.

Thank you for reading my TEDtalk, please listen to Pianto by IZI, and: Let's play Football!