Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is great on Nintendo Switch 2, but what about and Switch 1?

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road didn't have a Deluxe Edition early unlock for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 like with other platforms. This meant I could not cover it in time for launch day so I focused on the PC port and how it plays on Steam Deck. I've since been playing both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road to see how they compare to the PC version, how much of an upgrade the Switch 2 Edition delivers, visuals, performance, load times, and also how the Switch 2 Edition compares to what Level-5 released for Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Nintendo Switch 2 Edition impressions

While I was initially not too pleased with the Fantasy Life i Switch 2 Edition, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is great already on Switch 2. While there are some areas where the developers can improve it, it is already absolutely worth your time for handheld play, but docked is another matter if you have access to another platform. Level-5 previously mentioned the resolution and frame rate targets for Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road across consoles and PC. When I posted those details, I mentioned how these usually end up being the targets and not a hard lock for what to expect. Having now played the game on both Switch consoles docked and handheld, I was right.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release which means it is a cross generation title you can upgrade to from the Switch version with your save carrying over. The upgrade is quite massive delivering double the frame rate target, higher resolution, better draw distance, foliage, and faster load times. Buying this upgrade is a no-brainer if you own a Switch 2 and pre-ordered the Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Deluxe Edition for Switch. 

Note: The screenshots above have been taken by a 4K capture device.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road on Switch 2 also supports HDR and Joy-Con 2 mouse controls. Based on my testing, the mouse controls are implemented similar to the PC version which means you can use them in most parts of the game, but I don't like how they are implemented in the actual football matches. Hopefully we see improvements to mouse controls on both PC and Switch 2 in the future.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Switch 2 Edition docked on my 1440p monitor does not look as crisp as it should be, but the resolution isn't really a problem for me. The cutbacks or lack of texture filtering (how distant textures appear on the ground), shadows flickering, and draw distance compared to the PC version are noticeable. Distant objects like the mesh pattern near the field look really bad when running around on Switch 2 and Switch right now. Despite this, I want to stress that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road on Switch 2 does not feel rushed like the Fantasy Life i Switch 2 Edition did when it was released and it is a great portable experience.

While Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road looks good on Switch 2 both docked and especially handheld, you will run into a lot of shimmering near foliage or shadow flickering during movement. This is most noticeable in the daytime outside the school with a lot of foliage. This also happens on PC to some degree, but it is quite distracting on Switch and Switch 2. I don't have the other console versions right now to compare, but I hope to be able to do that next week. As for the actual Switch 2 performance, it holds up very well in the areas I've tested across both a new save and my older PC save I synced over to play story mode content and online. 

Note: The screenshots above have been taken via the Switch 2 system capture functionality.

I hope Level-5 looks into improving the texture filtering and draw distance on Switch 2, but also offers an optional higher resolution cut-scene DLC. The pre-rendered anime cut-scenes can look a bit low quality when playing docked right now. I thought they looked great handheld, but not docked. In a lot of ways, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road on Switch 2 handheld is the way to go if you want to play it here and have access to another platform for TV play through cross save.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Switch 1 impressions

I was hoping Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road would just feature cutbacks in resolution and have a 30fps target, but it unfortunately suffers from performance issues even during exploration in story mode. It also has animation culling happening for NPCs closer to the player compared to Switch 2 with a reduction in draw distance for NPCs and other objects. The performance issues right now are not just hitching or freezing during exploration, but some frame rate drops as well. Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road on Switch 1 also has additional loading screens while the Switch 2 Edition just fades in and out in a few seconds. 

The shadow and texture issues I mentioned for Switch 2 are even worse on Switch 1. The final issue is that the football just doesn't feel as good on Switch 1 compared to Switch 2 where it is solid so far. If the frame pacing and drops can be addressed in patches, I will be able to recommend Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road on Switch 1. Right now, I can't with the many cutbacks and performance issues. 

Note: The images above are from the Switch version docked taken by a 4K capture device.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road Switch 2 vs Switch 1 visuals and performance differences

In addition to comparing the Switch and Switch 2 Edition, I also wanted to give some context for how Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road looks on Switch 2 compared to the PC version. To try and capture Switch, Switch 2, and even PC / Steam Deck in similar or the same situation in-game, I ended up opting to use the first Chronicle Mode football match and one chapter 1 story mode school location. I did a comparison with Switch 2 docked and Switch docked capture via my 4K capture device alongside the Steam version at 1440p with TAA for the docked or TV mode comparison. 

As you can see, the Switch 2 version docked holds up very well in clarity, and it is a big upgrade over Switch 1, but I hope the draw distance and texture filtering can be improved so the objects far away don't look like they are floating on a solid color and actually have the texture displayed correctly.

For the handheld comparison below, I used the Switch 2 and Switch screenshot functionality since there is no other way to capture handheld images right now. I also used the Steam version on Steam Deck at 800p with a 90fps target here. The Switch 2 version again has better clarity, and the distance texture and other issues are less noticeable to me on the smaller screen.

For the final comparison image below, the first football match in Chronicle Mode at the kick-off is a good showcase of the Switch 2 visual improvements while having double the frame rate target. 

Note: The image above uses 4K capture from the Switch 1 and Switch 2 Edition docked.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road load times comparison 

To measure load times, in addition to using the dashboard to title screen and loading the story mode save, I tested how long each version takes to load a specific football match in Chronicle Mode. I have the Switch version installed on my Switch OLED's SD card, the Steam version on the ROG Ally and Steam Deck internal storage, and the Switch 2 Edition on the Switch 2's internal storage. All the load times below are in seconds and I mashed confirm and + to speed up the process and skip any cut-scenes. 

The PC version takes longer to load initially than it should thanks to the Easy Anti-Cheat implementation. Even Fantasy Life i took a bit longer to load on PC compared to consoles because of this, but I'm surprised at how long the initial load is on Steam Deck here. While the in-game loading is very fast, the initial load needs to be addressed. I tested this multiple times on both my Steam Decks with it installed to the internal SSD. 

Overall, I think Level-5 did a great job with Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road handheld on Switch 2, but I hope to see some improvements in patches. The Switch 1 version needs some optimization since it doesn't feel great to play right now. I also hope to see some quality of life features added like an option to toggle sprinting instead of having to hold down a button all the time. If you are playing it now, I recommend using the GL / GR buttons on a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller or mapping it to any paddle on whatever controller you use with them. 

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is now available worldwide for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).