Fairy Tail is one of the biggest anime IPs out there that has stretched into the games industry. We’ve seen major releases from publishers like Koei Tecmo and even smaller titles like the recent Fairy Tail: Dungeons. The next game set to hit the scene is Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc, another title published by the Kodansha Game Creators’ Lab. It’s well-known that sports games are a dime a dozen, but this is one any anime fan won’t want to miss.
Beach Volleyball Havoc takes a page out of many games, including Mario Tennis, other Mario sports games, and Windjammers. You’ll immediately notice the vibrant 2D-pixel art style, which helps set the game apart in such a packed genre. However, what ultimately sets Beach Volleyball Havoc apart from other similar titles is how wacky it can get. If you’re a newcomer to the world of Fairy Tail, don’t fret—there is little background needed. The characters are all simply attending an annual beach volleyball tournament that doesn’t go as planned.
Each time you boot up Beach Volleyball Havoc, there’s a nice presentation that catches your eye. Upon loading in, the game greets you with Natsu relaxing on the beach, sipping a drink while he’s under a beach umbrella. Pressing start brings you to what the game calls the Request Board, which is the main menu. Then, when you go to the main mode, Wreckin’ Match, all the characters are either at the snack bar or hanging out on the beach tables while they’re waiting for their turn to compete in the volleyball tournament.
I’d like to add that I was expecting to see only pixel art, but the character selection screen surprised me with all the colorful characters from Fairy Tail drawn in a lovely watercolor look! The stickers on the wood bulletin board also give it that fun and carefree vibe. While the overall presentation is minimalistic, I think it works for a small game like this because it still gets that fresh Summer feeling across. Especially since the art on the selection screen really ties it all together.
As for the game itself, it claims this is a completely normal game of beach volleyball, but it’s anything but. The controls are pretty straightforward since all you need is to move around the volleyball court, jump, and the ability to pass and attack the ball on the ground and in the air. The goal, of course, is to drop the ball on the opponent’s side of the court to get a point, and the team to get four points is the winner.
If there’s one word that comes to mind when I played Beach Volleyball Havoc, it’s curveball. Sure, I knew going in that there would be more than just a simple beach volleyball game, but I never thought it’d practically be a mix of beach volleyball and Mario Party! Every time you and the others make successful passes to each side of the net, the ball releases Lacrima. That Lacrima fills up your magic gauge. Once it’s full, the following serve you pull becomes a magic attack only the likes of Mario Tennis and other fantasy sports games have seen.
Once you or a teammate uses up the shared magic bar, your attacks are back to normal, but it doesn’t take long at all to get your magic back. Every time you or the opponent’s team scores a goal, the magic gets a boost in what the game calls Enchant Time. When this happens, each opposing team gets access to more magic to use in battle that basically acts as buffs to you and your teammate and debuffs for your opponents. Spells like Turning your opponents invisible, changing the ball’s trajectory, and summoning all sorts of wacky characters can make these matches very frantic quickly. This, of course, is all while still having access to your base magic.
It’s these mechanics right here that give Beach Volleyball Havoc that arcade pick-up and play nature that small games like this one need to keep players coming back for more. Beyond this, there are a whopping 30+ characters to choose from, all of which have their own unique magic, which makes for all sorts of replayability when trying out each character. Regardless of your favorite, whether Gray, Natsu, or any of the characters, you’ll be in for a good time! Whether it’s exchanging banter with each other, winning and losing, or simply moving around the court, the personalities of characters like Natsu and Lucy are all here and accounted for.
To touch on modes, the only mode available in Beach Volleyball Havoc is Wreckin’ Match for the time being. In there, you can choose from options for one to four players. There are a few Versus options for two-player modes, where you can square off against a friend, or you can opt to play together as a co-op team. As of now, there’s no native online play within the game itself, so the only way to play with your friends is through Steam’s Remote Play Together feature.
As an added bonus, once you pass a certain threshold of wins, you’ll unlock beautiful fan art from the Fairy Tail community! There is plenty of art to unlock, though I’m not sure how much fan art there is; 20 is an estimate based on the achievements. I tried to find out the details behind the fanart, but I couldn’t find much info other than the fact that the artists with English names were from the community itself. All the pieces of fanart are appropriately credited, so either way, I’m definitely not complaining.
Overall, my main critique of Fairy Tail: Beach Volleyball Havoc lies in the fact that there is not much else to do besides play volleyball matches against friends and AI opponents. I would have appreciated a short and sweet campaign or some fun challenges involving the characters’ differing spells to get players more invested. In short, there’s little here to hold my attention for the long term, so it’s hard not to feel the apparent lack of single-player offerings.
Despite this, Beach Volleyball Havoc is a fun game to check out if you want some bite-sized fun to squeeze in when you have some free time. I wasn’t sure what to expect walking in, but I came out pleasantly surprised and satisfied. I’m looking forward to seeing if the developers craft more content for the game in the future, but if not, I’ll be patiently awaiting the next game from this wonderful indie initiative at Kodansha.
Disclaimer: Kodansha provided Final Weapon with a Steam copy of FAIRY TAIL: Beach Volleyball Havoc for review purposes.
