A dodgeball RPG with a story to follow
Dodgeball Academia puts you in the shoes of Otto, a rookie student at an academy where dodgeball is everything. The game runs across eight episodes and mixes main quests, side quests, and school minigames into a full RPG story mode. Between matches you explore the campus, which is described as vast and full of life, and uncover secrets hidden in the walls of the place where you live and train. Friendships and rivalries form as you go, all aimed at building the best dodgeball team.
Building your team and playing matches
Progression works like a party-based RPG: you level up Otto and unlock and upgrade other characters to diversify your team, with a customizable party progression system. Matches themselves are action-packed and use a fighting game style of play, so you face challenging enemies and bosses on the court rather than playing a realistic sports sim. The game is tagged as singleplayer, so the story mode is a solo experience.
Playing with a friend
Two people can play together in a competitive local versus mode, taking each other on directly. Remote Play Together is also listed as a feature, which lets a friend join in over a connection rather than sitting at the same screen. The versus mode is separate from the story, so it is the way to go when you want a straight contest instead of continuing the campaign.