I have such a soft spot for sports rpgs, this would have inevitably been a win for me. Its such a precise, niche genre that's basically never been done flawlessly, but you kind of have to adore with all the flaws in mind. More of them have popped up in the indie scene, but many have gone for a goofy, slapstick, throw every gag we got at the wall kind of vibe, with less the of shameless sincerity that I think a genre like this really needs to thrive.
The game mechanics themselves are fairly compelling. Throwing balls as your attack. Precise timing to catch thrown dodgeballs (which can move straight, zig, zag, or teleport around the field depending on the enemy type). Dodge roll or a jump depending on the character. A super meter that slowly builds based on time + caught balls + a focus button. All the party members operate slightly differently from each other. Otto is your jack of all traits, Mina counters dodgeballs back at enemies rather than catch them, a later party member has a counter that hit enemies multiple times, but requires a longer prep time for countering. Super moves like electric strikes, Paper Mario-style power bounces, things that get stronger and more elaborate as your characters level up. I can understand how it might get repetitive for some, but for me the gameplay was always just challenging enough to keep me coming back and engaging with it more and more.
Dodgeball Academia is mostly silly, but I think there's some really charming character work used to win you over on the characters. The story focuses on a young boy named Otto, who's run away from Referee school to join the Dodgeball Academy and find joy in the sport he adores so much. To that end, his primary interest is in having a good time. As he gathers people to his team/party, he does so primarily by being such a good sport about things. One of the first party members is "Balooney", the big blue fella on the box art. Balooney is shy and reluctant to fight, so Otto has to force Balooney onto the team just so Otto can enter the tournament. But after he does this, Otto does something really striking. 1. He apologizes for forcing Balooney into something he's uncomfortable with. 2. He promises that Balooney will NEVER have to fight. They'll find a fourth person to join the party and Balooney doesn't have to enter the court at all. And he sticks to this for the next several hours of gametime. Balooney acts as a passive healing support, but he's not an official party member. Balooney himself is the one who decides he wants to join the team for real after seeing Otto stick to that promise for a large game segment.
The game's character designs are so diverse and striking that I had no way of predicting who would join my party or not. I wouldn't be surprised if their choices were picked from a hat. Nearly all the characters ended up winning me over by the end and it gave me plenty of motivation to test out different party set-ups until I settled on my preferred squad.
But the core of the game's narrative has this fascinating kernel that I really wished it expanded upon. Otto's laid-back approach to the sport gets interrupted by an ultimatum. His father plans on forcing him to return to Referee School unless Otto wins the Dodgeball tournament trophy. He's openly mocking, nigh-on verbally abusive towards Otto, and its a great hook to give someone as nice as Otto real stakes to keep climbing the ranks.
Otto's opposed by two main antagonists. Boris is the school's strongest player, who casually destroys you in a casual match where he plays at 10% of his usual power. His parents are not in the picture and, its eventually revealed, they abandoned him and his sister. The initial set-up as a bully reveals something quite vulnerable: he thinks he needs to stay strong to support his sister. He gradually evolves into a supportive, but gruff mentor rediscovering his love for the sport.
But the main rival is Nino. Compared to Otto, Nino actually has a happy home life. His father heaps on endless praise, calling his son the best of the best. And so Nino takes his losses as a personal attack, a fear that he's failing his father that he loves so much. He doesn't have the stakes Otto does, he doesn't have to fear losing his friends or support system for failing. But he's so internalized this need to meet his dad's praise that he resorts to increasingly desperate means to destroy Otto's progress. Its a genuinely compelling rival set-up that I feel like has a lot to say about children and parental expectation.
But when I say "feels" like it has a lot to say, I do mean it "FEELS" like rather that "it DOES have a lot to say." There's something THERE about these children and their parents, but I'm not entirely sure the devs were fully aware of it. Perhaps they were mainly focused on keeping the game's cheery tone. The abuse Otto's Dad heaps on his son is ultimately brushed aside as goofy strict parents and we don't learn enough about the parents of other characters to feel a cohesive theme.
But I think that's also... fine? This game is writing a fun 00s shonen anime for kids. That's all it needs to be. The engaging gameplay and the interesting character work is just a surprise bonus.
The game mechanics themselves are fairly compelling. Throwing balls as your attack. Precise timing to catch thrown dodgeballs (which can move straight, zig, zag, or teleport around the field depending on the enemy type). Dodge roll or a jump depending on the character. A super meter that slowly builds based on time + caught balls + a focus button. All the party members operate slightly differently from each other. Otto is your jack of all traits, Mina counters dodgeballs back at enemies rather than catch them, a later party member has a counter that hit enemies multiple times, but requires a longer prep time for countering. Super moves like electric strikes, Paper Mario-style power bounces, things that get stronger and more elaborate as your characters level up. I can understand how it might get repetitive for some, but for me the gameplay was always just challenging enough to keep me coming back and engaging with it more and more.
Dodgeball Academia is mostly silly, but I think there's some really charming character work used to win you over on the characters. The story focuses on a young boy named Otto, who's run away from Referee school to join the Dodgeball Academy and find joy in the sport he adores so much. To that end, his primary interest is in having a good time. As he gathers people to his team/party, he does so primarily by being such a good sport about things. One of the first party members is "Balooney", the big blue fella on the box art. Balooney is shy and reluctant to fight, so Otto has to force Balooney onto the team just so Otto can enter the tournament. But after he does this, Otto does something really striking. 1. He apologizes for forcing Balooney into something he's uncomfortable with. 2. He promises that Balooney will NEVER have to fight. They'll find a fourth person to join the party and Balooney doesn't have to enter the court at all. And he sticks to this for the next several hours of gametime. Balooney acts as a passive healing support, but he's not an official party member. Balooney himself is the one who decides he wants to join the team for real after seeing Otto stick to that promise for a large game segment.
The game's character designs are so diverse and striking that I had no way of predicting who would join my party or not. I wouldn't be surprised if their choices were picked from a hat. Nearly all the characters ended up winning me over by the end and it gave me plenty of motivation to test out different party set-ups until I settled on my preferred squad.
But the core of the game's narrative has this fascinating kernel that I really wished it expanded upon. Otto's laid-back approach to the sport gets interrupted by an ultimatum. His father plans on forcing him to return to Referee School unless Otto wins the Dodgeball tournament trophy. He's openly mocking, nigh-on verbally abusive towards Otto, and its a great hook to give someone as nice as Otto real stakes to keep climbing the ranks.
Otto's opposed by two main antagonists. Boris is the school's strongest player, who casually destroys you in a casual match where he plays at 10% of his usual power. His parents are not in the picture and, its eventually revealed, they abandoned him and his sister. The initial set-up as a bully reveals something quite vulnerable: he thinks he needs to stay strong to support his sister. He gradually evolves into a supportive, but gruff mentor rediscovering his love for the sport.
But the main rival is Nino. Compared to Otto, Nino actually has a happy home life. His father heaps on endless praise, calling his son the best of the best. And so Nino takes his losses as a personal attack, a fear that he's failing his father that he loves so much. He doesn't have the stakes Otto does, he doesn't have to fear losing his friends or support system for failing. But he's so internalized this need to meet his dad's praise that he resorts to increasingly desperate means to destroy Otto's progress. Its a genuinely compelling rival set-up that I feel like has a lot to say about children and parental expectation.
But when I say "feels" like it has a lot to say, I do mean it "FEELS" like rather that "it DOES have a lot to say." There's something THERE about these children and their parents, but I'm not entirely sure the devs were fully aware of it. Perhaps they were mainly focused on keeping the game's cheery tone. The abuse Otto's Dad heaps on his son is ultimately brushed aside as goofy strict parents and we don't learn enough about the parents of other characters to feel a cohesive theme.
But I think that's also... fine? This game is writing a fun 00s shonen anime for kids. That's all it needs to be. The engaging gameplay and the interesting character work is just a surprise bonus.