Inazuma Eleven: Balance Of Ares Gameplay Footage Sprints Onto The Pitch

He shoots, he scores

by Damien McFerran Mon 12th Mar 2018

Level 5 has released new gameplay footage of its forthcoming Inazuma Eleven sequel, subtitled Balance of Ares.

The franchise began life on the Nintendo DS before leaping over to the 3DS. Balance of Ares is coming to Switch, PlayStation 4 and smart devices this year in Japan, and will be accompanied by an anime series - the trailer for which is also included below.

As you can see from the new gameplay trailer, the franchise massively benefits from the increased power of the hardware, making those one-on-one encounters all the more dramatic.

Let us know if you're looking forward to this new instalment by posting a comment below.

Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media's sites from an editorial perspective. He's also the editor of Time Extension, the network's newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming's past glories.

1
Kalmaro
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Loved the DS game. Looking forward to this.

2
pawlslax
Mon 12th Mar 2018

I've been wanting to see Inazuma on swich.

Will be interesting to see how they implement the actual gameplay mechanics, as the touch screen was pretty damn important before...

3
TheGreenMiner13
Mon 12th Mar 2018

The visuals. Wow, just wow
hope the anime series will be good too

4
Roam85
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Really liked the 3DS one, if this comes West I’d probably go for it.

5
Indieminor
Mon 12th Mar 2018

I really want to see this in the US. Please cover over here please!

6
BenAV
Mon 12th Mar 2018

The only Inazuma Eleven game I've played was the 3DS eShop version of the first game, which I enjoyed very much. Will definitely consider grabbing this assuming it gets localised but would like to see how it plays first considering it'll be very different without the second screen.

7
MrGawain
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Well the RPG bit seems to be in place. But that touchscreen mechanic is what I remember about why I liked this game originally. With that said, I bought the 3DS game after loving the DS ones, and was thoroughly bored with the same old same old. I’d love to see a new football mechanic, but one that is more RPG than FIFA.

8
link3710
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Any chance we might actually see this in North America this time? Even digitally? I enjoyed the first one, but they haven't released the others here. Though... at least this time I can import.

9
Shiryu
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Its been ages since I got hooked in one of these games, about time I get into a new one.

10
ThatNyteDaez
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Looks interesting - for a game based on football. Loving the anime-esque artstyle too! A game like this isn't normally for me, but if there were a demo of some sort, I'd definately give it a try and see if it's for me!

11
stocko
Mon 12th Mar 2018

These games have been my guilty pleasure since the 1st one.

Luckily I have lived in the UK and got all that were released here.

This one better get localised, as the others were only Nintendo published, wonder if this will be a Switch Exclusive? Unless Sony takes the reigns on the PS4 version. But definitely Switch version all the way!

12
MrBlacky
Mon 12th Mar 2018

Definitely need to keep an eye on this!

13
Pizzapasta
Mon 12th Mar 2018

I'm so glad the Switch is region free! We never got any of the 3DS exclusive games here. I'm sure this is coming to Europe and I can just buy a EU eShop card! Besides I prefer the British accents.

14
ricklongo
Mon 12th Mar 2018

I've always been very interested in Inazuma Eleven, but Nintendo of America hasn't been exactly keen on releasing the games. Thank goodness for the region-free Switch, assuming this one does at least come to Europe.