ELEVEN MAKER (Free Soccer SLG & ADV) Introduction and Review

This is a free soccer simulation adventure game by RISTON STUDIO.
The main objective is to improve the relationship with team members through daily actions, develop the team, and aim for national championship.
The game's appeal lies in its story progression through charming, chibi-style characters reminiscent of the Power Pro baseball video game series, and its authentic, nail-biting match sequences.

The completion time was approximately 6 hours.

Game Overview (No Spoilers)

The protagonist, Ritsu Inaba, is so impressed by the play of Shishikawa, the ace of the former U-15 Japan national team, that she enrolls in Shirato Academy, where Shishikawa is a student.
However, the soccer club led by Shishikawa was on the verge of being disbanded because it had almost no members.
Will Ritsu be able to gather a total of 11 club members and achieve national championship victory at the summer tournament?

Each club member practices individually and gradually improves.
The date progresses one day at a time, and you choose who to spend time with at each given hour.
The favorability level of the chosen person increases as the blue bar below rises, and the favorability level increases when certain conditions are met.
Since raising affection levels significantly increases character stats, it's crucial to raise affection levels to strengthen your team.

Before the match, we set up formations and tactics.
Even within the same defensive position, you can specify roles such as center back, wide defender, and libero.
By adjusting these settings, the areas that are most significantly affected will change.
(This is represented by the numerical values in the central HEAT MAP.)

In addition to these numerical values, you can also configure specific tactics and kicker settings.
Even if we're at a disadvantage in terms of individual ability, let's think of strategies that will lead us to victory through tactics.
If you're not very familiar with soccer, it's perfectly fine to leave the settings as they are.
(I don't really understand it either.)

The match will proceed automatically.
The ball's current location is displayed in the center, and a highlight reel of the play plays is continuously displayed.
You can watch at normal speed, or you can fast-forward by pressing the fast-forward button in the upper right corner.
Winning by a narrow margin against a higher-ranked team is especially rewarding.

My thoughts (No spoilers, but be aware if you want to play with a completely fresh perspective)

Now that you've read the game overview, you might be thinking that this is a pretty serious soccer simulation game.
As you can see in the image above, there are as many as 20 different statuses, and you might think it's difficult to consider all of them when deciding on the optimal position and role.

But there's no need to worry.
You don't need to think about which parameter affects which play style in relation to this status either.
I don't understand what's going on either.
The true genre of this game is an adventure game disguised as a soccer simulation, and the soccer parts can be considered an elaborate flavor element.
This adventure game focuses more on efficiently raising everyone's affection level than on improving abilities through practice.

Of course, the soccer portion of the game is incredibly well-made, and the various UI elements are stylish.
However, if you play this expecting to be a soccer simulation game, you should be aware that it's not quite that simple.
I felt it was important to be aware of this point, so I decided to write about it here, even though I know it might seem rude.

If you're wondering what that means, I encourage you to play the full game.

My thoughts and some strategy notes (spoiler alert)

From here on out, I will be writing my thoughts, including spoilers, without any reservations.
We recommend viewing this after completing the game.

I initially thought it was just for the sake of the character portraits, but it seems they're actually playing in school uniforms.

First and foremost, I want to emphasize that I was completely engrossed in playing the game until the very end.
There will likely be mixed opinions about the game's design itself, and there were some minor details that bothered me.
However, the feeling of excitement I got when I started playing without any prior information and the story unfolded in a completely unexpected direction was something I hadn't felt in a long time.
The game unfolded in a way that was completely different from what I had expected, and more than its overall quality as a work of art, I was thrilled by the sheer enjoyment of the experience itself.

The sudden time loops and Senriyama's descent into darkness came as a huge shock to me, as I had imagined a heartwarming, sports-themed story.
And the final straw was the attack by the two evil rabbits; I was stunned when I encountered the scene described above.
I was drawn in by the incomprehensible plot developments and the sheer intensity of the soccer scenes, and I couldn't stop playing.

Chapter six was difficult because it was hard to raise everyone's affection level to the maximum, and I had to restart several times.
However, along the way,If you raise Ino's favorability to the maximum, you can also raise Hanako's favorability to the maximum.Realizing this specification allowed me to have a lot more flexibility in my schedule.
For characters whose level-up events are scheduled for specific weekdays and times, I think it's a good idea to focus on raising their affection level early on.
If you try to raise everyone's affection level evenly, the timing of events required for leveling up will overlap, increasing the risk of running out of time.

The 10-question quiz in the final chapter, designed to test the player's understanding, served as an interesting solution to the mystery game.
Even settings that might have seemed like mere game-related conveniences, such as "a world where only women exist," are given clear justifications, and reading the "Book of Truth" after clearing the game allows you to deeply understand the overall picture and consistency of the story.

To be honest, I had almost no idea what the story was about until the 10-question quiz (and I hadn't even tried to think about it), so it felt a bit abrupt.
However, as explained in the quiz, the clues were clearly shown throughout the main story.
I hadn't reached the point where I could trust that the consistency was maintained to that extent, so I feel regretful and frustrated about that.

I like Kanzaki-chan because she's strong, tomboyish, and cute.

There are a few things that bothered me, but overall, I felt this game had a dynamism that could only be achieved in a free game.
I think it's a bold move to use the meticulously crafted soccer simulation part as a prelude to the adventure part.

If a game were to be released that focuses solely on the soccer simulation part, like a baseball pennant simulation, I would definitely want to try it.