Dodgeball Academia

To be honest, I have more good things to say about this game than I can fit in 2000 characters, so I'll keep the technical aspects brief and focus on what makes it so good in general. In short, this game is a Paper Mario/Pokemon overworld with a zany, OK KO/World of Gumball/Jet Set Radio coat of paint and the turn-based combat replaced with realtime dodgeball matches that people fondly compare to casual console sports/party games, which I personally have no experience with. What impressed me though is how much depth the devs managed to fit into the concept of video game dodgeball where two teams fling X number of balls back and forth, and the combat rewards planning as much as reflexes and timing in terms of which party members you bring to a match and how you equip them. In addition to stats, all of your party members have their own timed attack counter, charged "focus" ability and super move, and while I definitely had favourites I had a good time playing with them all. My main criticism of the combat is that while you can retry most fights as much as you want, if you were caught unhealed or want to change your party composition after a loss you have to reload an autosave which can frustratingly lose you several minutes of progress. Although the story will be familiar to anyone who's played a Japanese game or watched anime after the year 2000 (plucky underdog kid wants to be the best, wohoo!), there was more than enough humour, character and optimism in the writing to keep me invested, and every character down to the minor antagonists bleeds charm and creativity. That said, the map does feel small and the admittedly linear campaign short (at about six hours for me) compared to its inspirations, although from an indie studio that's easy to forgive. Offering genuinely fun combat, fair challenge and a really loveable cast and story, Dodgeball Academia was a simple but absolutely joyful gaming experience that deserves gamers' attention and, I hope, a sequel.

As someone played the all awesome super dodgeball on neogeo I never thought such a retro genre would make a comeback. If you are fan of dodgeball or looking for a fun game that has some crazy aspect to the sport well this game is for you. The gameplay is quite simple you dodge/deflect depending on the character, shoot and pull out a super move but the game has it own unique twists along the way with its unique modes, rpg and perk system. My only complaint not a fan of the key bindings on the keyboard and there's no way to change them either unfortunately but still it is something getting use to, by now I have. Luckily game can be played with controller and even has local multiplayer which is fun if you have family or a friend to play with although it would've been nice if you could play against bots as solo. But still you can via replaying the story and there's slight replay value to it in my opinion, you can choose any episode of your liking and if you are not a fan reading the dialogue again it can be skipped easily. For an indie game I would say there's decent amount of content and some exploration with side quests. The graphics are really nice I like the mash up of 2d characters and 3d background they truly compliment each other with the art style. The music also very fitting to the themes and vibes of the game. I didn't pay much attention to the story but it had some funny moments nevertheless I would highly recommend you give this game a try its easy to pickup and a lot of fun.

Unfair perhaps to compare to the Kunio Pedigree (Super Dodge Ball), the problem with a game called Dodgeball Academia doesn't have enough dodgeball. Artistically, aside from bean mouth being so prevailing in the airtstyle as to even become the emblem of the very school, it's honestly inoffensive. Sidenote: Says to be inspired by anime, but is obviously more leaning on western CalArts stylings. The gameplay is sluggish, though. Telegraphed easily visible dodgeballs with spotty chance based detection instead of a more satisfying pummel. But a bigger problem... You're playing a sports game. Do you want to play the parts BETWEEN the sport, or the actual sport? Dodgeball Academia makes you slog though largely irrelevant scenes where they committed one cardinal sin: You can't adjust the dialogue speed. Games since Dragon Quest have been able to do this. That's what drags this game down. Commitment to a bunch of unneeded chaff. Why does there need to be persistent health when there's a healing facility? Why does the player need to run back and forth in areas? Why include light RPG elements when all the RPG elements are automated?