Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road delayed to November 13.

(sighs) I was really hoping I was done with this. Just coming off house-sitting ahead of seeing my father and the next round of dentistry. City the Animation and New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt just started; as did the next course of Sakamoto Days. I even had myself all hyped for the next Pokémon Presents (hoping for more Legends Z-A footage and dates for Colosseum/Gale of Darkness on Gamecube Classics); but leave it to Level-5 to pull out one more yellow card.

That's right- with just under a month left to release, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road has been pushed from August 21 to November 13. Here is a statement from Level-5 on the matter.

“Due to the content volume exceeding our initial expectations, additional time is required for voice recording, multi-language localization, and other related processes. As we work toward the final stages of development, we have decided to adjust the release date to ensure the best possible quality. The release date of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road has been changed from August 21, 2025, to November 13, 2025 (GMT)]. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to all the fans who have been eagerly waiting for a long time, and truly appreciate your understanding and continued support.”

As you can imagine, this news once again fills me with mixed feelings. On one hand, this last delay can help the game avoid an uncharacteristically crowded launch month (including Gears Reloaded, Snake Eater Delta, Mafia the Old Country, Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Switch 2, and my primary target, Shinobi Art of Vengeance). On the other, this sends the game directly into an even more crowded fall window (including Ghost of Yotei, Ninja Gaiden 4, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, Outer Worlds 2, the HD2D remakes of the first two Dragon Quest games and especially Pokémon Legends Z-A). 

I'm not the only person who's invoked comparisons to Duke Nukem Forever or Beyond Good and Evil 2; and it's admittedly not hard to be concerned. Here's hoping that this last quarter of a year can put the last coat of polish on this game, so don't unlace your cleats just yet. Might not be a huge fan; but even I want this game to succeed amid all the setbacks and delays, just like Fantasy Life did. That's all for now, take care.

PS: Go see the new Superman, it really is that good.