It's very difficult to make school appealing. Persona gave it a go, and Lego Harry Potter took its best shot, but in general we just don't want to go to school ever. Dodgeball Academia is up against it from the off, but compelling gameplay could have brought it back from the brink of enforced educational apathy. Sadly, it's just not quite there.
Points for effort, though. Dodgeball Academia is a terrific-looking game, with a marvelous cartoony style that constantly impresses with its slickly-animated little flourishes while still feeling responsive, the way a game absolutely needs to. We think the characters and world have a vibe that's more than a little similar to Cartoon Network's OK KO series, to the point that we wonder if the show's creators might need to have a little word.
So what's the story? Protagonist Otto dodgeballs his way through eight episodes worth of narrative, spiking balls into opponents' faces for all he's worth. You'll explore the grounds of Dodgeball Academia, gathering your team, levelling them up, giving them accessories — the usual RPG trappings. Unfortunately, this is all accompanied by a metric ton of interminable dialogue, to the point that we actively started skipping cutscenes after the first few hours. Shame us if you will, but we defy pretty much any player not to do the same considering the relative banality of the situations and the sheer amount of downtime where you're simply tapping through dialogue balloon after dialogue balloon. Yes, it's an RPG and dialogue is to be expected, but surely this could have been handled in a more graceful manner than it is here. We just wanted to get to the next bit of traversal, the next game of dodgeball.
It seems prudent at this point, then, to review the actual game of dodgeball on offer in a game entirely based around it. It's a bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. See, while the games themselves are fast-paced and genuinely fun, you're going to be playing a lot of them and more often than not they play out pretty much exactly the same. The core mechanics are move, throw and catch, and each of them is responsive; you throw a ball with the 'Y' button (holding to charge a more powerful effort) and catch incoming balls with a well-timed tap of 'A'. The timing for the latter isn't demanding in the slightest and you should, with some practice, find the vast majority of battles exceptionally easy.
The game also offers you "Balltimate" moves which are vastly more powerful and spectacular strikes, but you won't really need them. Variety is instilled in the back-and-forth gameplay with enemies that use differing tactics as well as dodgeball courts laced with hazards (or frozen solid), but overall the matches remain much of a muchness — inarguably enjoyable to a point, but lacking in fluidity and almost criminally basic. The rhythm of combat doesn't change enough for our liking and whittling down your opponents' health is just too simple.
There are modifiers available to make the game harder or, bafflingly, even easier, which is a nice concession to accessibility. It's worth mentioning that there's a local multiplayer game here, too — naturally it's more fun than fighting the computer, but overall it remains simplistic and slow paced — Windjammers is right there on the eShop, so... play that for a better take on similar gameplay.
The map, the space wherein you are challenged by other players (rather like the trainer battles in Pokémon games) is very impressive and well laid-out. There are item chests and side quests to discover, and getting around is a breeze thanks to both the mini-map and a thoroughly speedy move that sees you tapping the 'A' button rhythmically to roll at speed to your destination. Disappointingly, though, the mini-map doesn't work inside buildings, some of which are rather large and confusing.
Aesthetically, Dodgeball Academia is an absolute treat — we've talked about the strong character designs, but it's gorgeous to look at throughout. Running at a smooth 60fps and bursting with colour, the game's world is its strongest suit and it's the reason we pushed ahead with it even when we had become tired of the repetition. We'd go so far as to say it's one of the best-looking Switch games we've ever seen, such is its fidelity, consistency and strength of design. The music is fantastic as well, with peppy and addictive earworms overlaying each battle.
Conclusion
Dodgeball Academia does admittedly come together in a rather compelling way, but we're critical of the independent elements that make up this package. You might find yourself caught up in the storyline, which could potentially make up for its other shortcomings, but we found it a little disposable. It's clear that love has been poured into this adventure and it's absolutely superb to look at and listen to — we just wish the central sport was more enjoyable to play and the dialogue wasn't so interminable. You might dig this game more if you get hooked into the grind, so to speak — battles are over quickly and levelling up is always fun — but overall, if you're not willing to get by on sheer aesthetics, you might want to dodge this one.
Comments 29
I gave it the same score for much the same reason. Good in concept but the gameplay is just okay (and became completely trivial as the game went on as I buffed many stats too much) and the story is kinda just there.
Honestly I’m buying it for the visuals alone!
I liked the school settings of older mario tennis and golf games. I might check this one out.
If you want some cool dodgeball action, then go with Knockout City ^_^
This is a review that I might have to disagree with slightly. The story is quite boring and the talking can go on more than it needs to for some, but the gameplay/combat/matches are actually really fun. Where I would be tired of the story, the matches would bring my interest right back. I finished the game in about 13-15 ish hours for the folks interested. The ending is a little padded, but it was okay for what it was. Definitely a game I would suggest picking up on sale.
@Ogbert I follow the designer of the game and yeah, they're talented. The visuals are definitely really great.
Was looking forward to play this game, but after this review i think im not going to bother. The visuals looks nice. Im still looking for some sport game with RPG element in it and thought this game would offer what im looking for. Well, i hope that sport stories will be released any time soon. Mario Golf was a dissapointment, wished it had some RPG play in it.
Looks like the middle dude on the cover art is holding a Pokeball and his hairstyle looks like some sort of scissor
@DoubleDate
Same here. My only interest was it was being billed as having some RPG elements. If they are not there, neither am I.
I'm in love with this game. Bad Review Stuart.
Guys You should try it! The game is a hidden gem! There are a lot of RPG elements, it's similar to Paper Mario/ Mario RPG ... and is very nostalgic like old Mario Tennis GBA... The Dodgeball mechanics are great too and it's very fun to play VS mode.
@crowbb Hey Crowbb, try this game. The RPG elements are there! It's a great game, this review isn't fair!
@DoubleDate Hey Double, try to find more reviews this game got 9/10 in many reviews... Try it! Is a hidden gem! The Stuart opinion was very personal and is not fair with this game.
@BenAV I liked the story, It's simple as Inazuma Eleven
Dude you are soo wrong! This game is awesome!
For sure the Art is the Highlight! but Dodgeball matches are really fun, Did you finished the game?
I'm on day 6 and I'm having a lot of fun.
Maybe this game and this reviewer doesn't match, I would suggest picking up on sale.
@LaylaK YEAH! Sounds like he played for few hours only right?
@Buy4 I enjoyed Inazuma Eleven way more.
Some people doesn't know how to enjoy some indies.
This review doesn't reflect the game. I'm with 10 hours playing it and this game is really great.
I love this game!
FORA BOLSONARO
@StuartGipp You should study more before write a review. Becareful with your words if you search about the studio behind this game you can understand a lot of things.
This game deserves 9/10.
@sikthvash You can play both... and KO City artwork is generic.
are these comments really weird to anyone else? i've never seen so many defensive comments on any other review, and at least 11 of them are from accounts made today
(also, a review is going to be personal...? why do you think so many old game mags and whatnot had multiple people review a game, it's always going to be different strokes, that's not "unfair" on gipp's part)
So many day old accounts defending the game against this average score, a couple located in Brazil too where this game was made.
More than a little weird.
Political too. Don't know why Bolsonaro has to be mentioned.
@The__Goomba In my opinion is about how important this game is being to Brazilian people, isn't strange because is a good game.
I think is the best Brazilian game at moment, is even bigger than other titles because is an Action/RPG created by few people. It's very hard to create something here in Brazil, this studio started with Public financial Aid SPCINE, and this was created before Bolsonaro Government. Bolsonaro is canceling some cultural Aid, and this week the news show us a lot of corruption in his family picking money from us.... so I think that's why ``Fora Bolsonaro``.
Funny you should mention how similar it looks to a CN show, as the devs of this game literally have their own show on Cartoon Network based on their previous game (Ninjin)
@Zeta0 Okay Brazilian that joined Friday.
I downloaded it and it's currently on my backlog. The reviews seemed to have been very good across the board when I downloaded it. The review content here still encourages me.
Thanks for the review.
Just looking at the screens this game looks more style over gameplay.
@somebread I thought I was crazy for thinking the same thing. I didn't check when the accounts were made, but maybe they're just paid shills. I can't imagine a fan of the game joining just to give a rebuttle.
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