Dodgeball Academia is an RPG game about, you guessed it, a dodgeball academy! The game follows Otto, a rookie dodgeball player, as he goes on a journey to become the Dodgeball Academia champion. Along the way, he picks up a team of some very interesting and very crazy characters. This game has an 8 chapter long story mode as well as a local versus mode where you can use characters you’ve unlocked in the story.

I didn’t know how I would feel about this game going into it but I ended up loving the gameplay and all the insane characters and storylines that take place. It’s a very fun, lighthearted game with a battle mode very different from anything else I’ve played. The combat is a mix of bullet hell and dodgeball. The beginning fights are very simple and there’s not much to them but as the game progresses you begin to get pitted against some very challenging fights that require near-perfect timing and planning. 

At the end of the day, this is still an RPG game. It features a level system, equipment, items, and even skills. Each character has three different stats(Strength, Agility, and Technique) that increase as they level or as you give them certain items to boost them. These stats can cause them to hit harder, move faster, or charge their “Balltimate Move”(this game’s version of an ultimate move) faster and they can be very valuable in different areas of the game. You can have 3 people in your party at a time with a full team of 6 to choose from. 

All of the characters in this game are very unique and have their own standout personalities that will make you laugh or grit your teeth in anger. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game and didn’t have any sections of the game that I didn’t like. All of the chapters had an interesting story unfolding and make you want to keep playing and never put it down. My only gripe here is that 8 chapters just seems too short for a game this fun! Without spoiling anything, it does seem to be set up for a sequel so I am very excited to see where that goes. 

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I enjoyed this game a lot. There were some steep difficulty spikes in areas but nothing that can’t be overcome with some practice. The equipment was interesting and powerful enough to make big differences. Party members all felt unique in the way they played. The story was funny and quirky and kept me interested the whole way through. I enjoyed this oddball of a game and am excited to see a sequel get announced. Dodgeball Academia is available on PlayStation, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. It is also included on Xbox Game Pass.