La dernière version de Level-5 a profondément déçu de nombreux fans fidèles, avec ses modes principaux souffrant d'un ensemble de choix de conception frustrants et de problèmes techniques. Dans le Mode Histoire, les quatre premiers chapitres reposent fortement sur un mini-jeu de pierre-papier-ciseaux fastidieux au lieu du gameplay emblématique de la série, ce qui rend les premières heures de jeu inutilement prolongées. Les matchs réels sont rares, et le contenu secondaire est presque inexistant. L'avancement semble creux, car les techniques sont désormais simplement achetées dans les magasins sans aperçu, l'équipement provient de quêtes de ramassage peu inspirées, et recruter des joueurs d'autres écoles a été remplacé par l'ajout de personnages génériques provenant d'autres clubs. L'exploration offre peu de récompense, se réduisant à frapper des balles pour obtenir des objets triviaux comme des haricots. Le casting principal comprend huit personnages plus Destin, mais les joueurs doivent choisir cinq équipes supplémentaires dans un système mal implémenté qui les rend presque immédiatement obsolètes. Des personnages comme Ivan et Cedric semblent sous-développés, le dernier n'arrivant pas à tenir sa promesse de changement de personnalité. Pour affronter une équipe de club, les joueurs doivent les affronter quatre fois seulement pour les rendre compétitifs, et le choix des nouvelles techniques, des coups Kenshin et Mixmax est décevantement limité.
Le Mode Chronique aggrave ces problèmes en exigeant aux joueurs de terminer chaque match deux fois pour avancer, contre des adversaires IA si faibles que les matchs se terminent souvent 7–0 avec peu de récompenses. Ce mode manque d'un système de recrutement, se basant plutôt sur un mécanisme gacha où la monnaie est principalement gagnée lors des matchs en ligne – une conception qui affecte négativement d'autres parties du jeu. Le BB Stadium est encore plus frustrant, en limitant le choix d'équipe à seulement 20 options, alors que toutes les équipes, les techniques, les tenues et les logos sont disponibles dans le Mode Chronique. Les matchs en ligne sont perturbés par des joueurs AFK qui spéculent sur les orbes gacha, et des bogues restreignent parfois le Mode Campagne à affronter la même équipe sept fois. Le Mode Compétitif se distingue comme le plus problématique, avec un matchmaking inexistant qui place des joueurs de niveau 20 contre des adversaires de niveau 90. Il reste la principale source d'orbes gacha, encourageant ainsi une exploitation généralisée. Des piratages permettent à certains joueurs de faire jouer plus de deux héros autorisés, et malgré une mise à jour, ces joueurs illégaux persistent. D'autres problèmes incluent des techniques qui reprennent leur ordre par défaut après les matchs, des blocages de tirs fréquents, des problèmes de serveur permettant aux adversaires de traverser les joueurs, et une augmentation drastique des exigences d'EXP qui pénalisent sévèrement les défaites. Avec seulement quatre rangs et des déductions importantes de points pour les défaites, le système de classement ne parvient pas à distinguer efficacement les compétences. Pour un jeu retardé de quatre mois, ce niveau de finition est tout simplement inacceptable.
The delay has now exceeded four months.
I see where you’re coming with most of your points. While I actually enjoyed the pacing of the first four chapters, I agree that the rock-paper-scissors minigame isn’t the best representation of the series’ core gameplay. Using the double-speed option in settings helped make those sections more bearable for me.
The shop system works fine overall, though a preview feature would definitely be welcome. I also miss being able to recruit players from other schools. Exploration does offer substantial dialogue that changes frequently, and the ball placements encourage discovery, though more meaningful interactions would be better.
The character selection mini-games aren’t great, but the chosen characters aren’t completely useless. Having to replay matches is tedious—it would be better if higher difficulties unlocked automatically after completing the story. The matchmaking definitely needs level scaling too.
While the current recruitment system isn’t perfect, I wasn’t a fan of the old one either. Most of these issues seem fixable, and aside from the online component and excessive grinding, they don’t ruin the experience for me.
Given this game’s long development history, I’m optimistic the developers will continue improving it. If you’re feeling frustrated, maybe take a break and return later when more adjustments have been made.
I agree that locking gacha orbs behind online play is a poor decision. While you can earn some through chronicles, the drop rates and quantities are so low that it’s not worthwhile. The game needs significant quality-of-life improvements before it can be considered great.
I agree about the recruiting system, though I never got to play the older games to try it myself. Could you briefly explain how it worked in the older games? I think I have a general idea, but I’d appreciate a clear explanation.
In the older games, you had to defeat a player’s team to recruit them. After winning, an NPC would provide a list of objectives to complete before you could recruit that player. These tasks included taking photos of specific events, obtaining certain items through challenges, or having a particular player already on your team.
This sounds great and genuinely challenging. In VR, it feels like players—aside from Heroes—are too easy to obtain.
It was less fun than it sounds. The system was alright in the first game, terrible in Chrono Stones, and then Galaxy made it decent.
Also, the story scout characters use a version of the Palpack system combined with the requirement to go to specific areas, but they didn’t include an in-game way to find their locations.
The game was engaging because it had numerous maps, allowing you to explore and collect every photo and unique item. Now, it feels tedious, as it’s just about going AFK online and hoping for something to happen.
I’m not entirely convinced that a random draw should give you a top-tier player for no reason. Do you think they might introduce a recruiting system in the future, considering the game is meant to last six to eight years?
You make some valid points, though some feel exaggerated. I’m split on the story mode—personally, I enjoyed it.
The AI part isn’t really an issue, since you earn solid extra rewards, especially from hero missions at higher tiers. You can also farm items, spirits, and more in ranked matches.
I agree competitive mode has flaws, but I wouldn’t hate the game for it—just give it time. Even if they’d delayed the game by four months, I’ve had a good experience overall and can overlook it for now.
I completely agree there are very few new techniques; many are familiar from the anime and older games, so that’s a fair point.
The gacha system is good because it’s not pay-to-win, especially with thousands of characters available. They just need better ways to earn currency. The bond stars aren’t the problem—it’s how progression handles them that’s the real hurdle.
Bugs should be fixed, but that’s typical in any game. Overall, I understand your constructive criticism.
Despite its flaws, I still love the game and believe it has room to grow. Three upcoming free major updates should address many of the current issues, and future content updates are possible. I agree there are few new Kenshins and min-maxing options, but I don’t think that was the main focus—they feel more like Easter eggs to tie into the game’s timeline. I also wish there were more original techniques and hope to see them added. An extended story mode featuring another local or national tournament would be great for expanding content around story characters. Overall, I’m hopeful for the future, as the game already has a solid foundation.
I understand your frustration with the game, and some of your criticisms are valid. However, it’s important to consider both the positive and negative aspects. While I’ve also criticized various elements, your perspective seems to dismiss any positive qualities entirely. The game has many strong points, and criticism should aim to be constructive rather than simply venting, which can lead to unproductive toxicity—just as mindless praise isn’t helpful either.
Additionally, insulting the developers seems excessive, especially since they’ve been responsive to feedback. They’ve maintained transparency through development updates and created dedicated channels for criticism. Their willingness to listen is evident in actions like revamping models, updating techniques, and making adjustments based on player input, such as capping levels for competitive balance and reducing endgame match requirements to address common concerns.
All of these points are valid. You should post them on the Inazuma forum to raise awareness.
It seems like you’re focusing mainly on the negatives and making the game sound like a failure, even though you’ve clearly put a lot of time into it—at least 50 hours, from what you’ve said.
It’s unfortunate the game didn’t resonate with you, and your criticisms are valid—it’s not perfect. However, I believe the overall reception has been quite positive. Inazuma Eleven has always had grindy elements, and I can’t speak to the online mode since I haven’t tried it yet, but it wasn’t a major focus in earlier games either. Many of the RPG aspects feel secondary; most players are probably here for the story, otherwise they’d just focus on building their ultimate team.
Personally, most of your points don’t concern me. What does worry me are the various bugs, some minor and others quite significant. For example, I experienced a black screen at the end of Chapter 9 due to an oversight in handling certain scenarios, forcing me to avoid a specific situation to prevent a crash. It really broke the immersion.
For me, the key improvements would be increasing orb farming in offline mode and fixing the bugs and exploits. That said, it’s still a really enjoyable game and one of my favorites this year.
I didn’t mean to impose my opinions, but I felt it was important to point out the game’s flaws since I rarely see criticism in this sub. I don’t hate the game, but it fell below my expectations after such a long wait.
The issue isn’t grinding itself, but how you grind. In story mode, there’s nothing to grind for since everything is either in a shop or unobtainable, and there are no real challenges. I’ve played over 50 hours, but that doesn’t mean I can’t critique it.
Your post title says “Honestly, go fuck yourself Level-5,” which suggests this is more than just pointing out minor criticisms.
The game has been in development for years. Hasn’t it undergone beta testing? This is basic for a game in this category. It’s also full of bugs and glitches and severely lacks quality-of-life features.
The biggest issue for me is the amount of quality-of-life features that are missing.
It’s unacceptable that there’s still no sorting in multiple menus by 2025.