Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the religious successor to Konami’s celebrated Suikoden collection, a beloved JRPG franchise spanning over seven entries, together with 5 mainline video games and two spin-offs (one by no means localized within the West). Developed by Rabbit and Bear Studios, the crew aimed to create a love letter to the JRPG style, stuffed with the long-lasting quirks and design philosophies one would anticipate from a mid-to-late 90s JRPG.
Funded as Kickstarter’s #1 undertaking of 2020, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes entered growth with immense hype and expectations. The objective was to revive an period of JRPG greatness many believed had handed. With the passing of collection creator Yoshitaka Murayama, many questioned if the sport might stay as much as its lofty ambitions and function a becoming remaining legacy.
Is Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes a worthy successor to Suikoden? Does it honor Murayama’s imaginative and prescient? Or is that this a Kickstarter dud? Find out in our Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes overview!
This is a overview coupled with a supplemental video overview. You can watch the video overview or learn the complete overview of the under:
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
Developer: Rabbit & Bear Studios
Publisher: 505 Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: April 23, 2024
Price: $49.99 USD
The first JRPG I ever skilled was the unique Suikoden. A good friend came visiting and spontaneously popped it into my PlayStation. I used to be solely eight years outdated and had no level of reference to match this sport to, apart from probably Super Mario RPG on the SNES or the unique Pokemon.
Once the sport started, my thoughts couldn’t fathom how mind-blowing it was to see all these totally different, uniquely designed heroes preventing with swords, staves, axes, and magic. Having a celebration of six characters was essentially the most spectacular side for me. Once I noticed a battle play out, it instantly hooked me on the chances of what a turn-based RPG may very well be.
The character sprite work was charming, and it was enjoyable to see how their animations performed out, particularly throughout a “unite assault”. JRPGs turned my favourite style from that second on. This path has led me to elucidate my time and expertise with the sport that goals to be its successor.
As the sport opens up within the first city, a symbolic scene unfolds: a big hen makes an attempt to seize a smaller one. This units the participant on discover that no problem is just too massive, even when hope appears misplaced. It foreshadows the concept that even the underdog can prevail.
We then meet Nowa, a younger and keen fighter, who wields two uniquely formed swords that resemble hooks. Nowa’s journey instantly “hooks” the participant’s consideration as he wastes no time becoming a member of “the watch,” a form of metropolis mercenary guild that helps individuals in want with small duties, usually involving monster culling or escorting vacationers.
While not essentially the most inspiring method to start a JRPG protagonist’s story, it serves as a stepping stone for Nowa to finally purchase a city or fortress, permitting him to handle the various recruits which are central to the anticipated Suikoden-like expertise.
Enlisted within the watch, Nowa’s first mission has him meet Seign Kessling of the imperial military. This seemingly small escort mission will quickly explode into a unusual, character-filled journey of discovery, liberation, and the whole lot one would anticipate from a Suikoden-like sport. Though the opening mission itself isn’t as intense because the collection favourite Suikoden II, it units the stage for the inevitable political turmoil to come back
Commencing the primary act, the participant takes management of six heroes. While the quantity appears substantial, the fight choices initially really feel considerably underwhelming. As the sport progresses, new options are launched, however none will probably be unfamiliar to Suikoden veterans.
The weapon improve system stays just about equivalent: pay a small price that will increase with every subsequent improve. Higher improve caps change into out there in additional cities because the story progresses, however reaching the best cap requires particular gadgets much like the hammer key gadgets from Suikoden IV.
The rune system, now referred to as the “rune/lens” system, looks like a welcome enchancment. Each character has a novel Lens with a number of slots for a wide range of rune classes. This permits for a extra pleasurable tinkering expertise when creating builds for the 100+ recruitable characters.
You can experiment with each the hard-coded runes some characters possess (like Nowa’s thrilling 8-fold assault rune Swinging Slash) and the various equippable ones. Unite Attacks additionally return, however in contrast to Suikoden III, they don’t improve to increased ranges by way of repeated use.
A system I discover myself wishing for in Eiyuden Chronicle is the ability proficiency system from Suikoden III. This additional construct system wouldn’t solely give gamers a greater understanding of how characters function but in addition what stats and fight capabilities to concentrate on. It would additional improve the micromanagement and theory-crafting elements that JRPG followers love. While Eiyuden Chronicle lacks this characteristic, the improved rune system is a welcome addition in comparison with its predecessor.
The fight system shares similarities, however with new additions that add selection to the battles. One such characteristic is the paradoxically named “gimmick” system. This system implies that sure boss battles have a particular command that may flip the tide in your favor, or towards you should you’re not cautious.
For instance, one boss battle includes a large crane that drops large ball bearings on a 3rd of your get together. Failure to make the most of the “gimmick” command successfully will trigger the ball to fall and harm your heroes. However, with correct timing inside the flip queue system, you may command the crane to maneuver over the boss as a substitute, inflicting them to take the harm.
Many bosses have a variation of this characteristic, however in some instances, the hints are unclear and may really feel random. For occasion, one other boss encounter includes a magical beast that submerges into the sand, providing you with a fifty-fifty likelihood of choosing the precise spot to assault. There have been no clear hints on this encounter. If there have been, they have been obscure, leading to a complicated expertise with the gimmick mechanic. When the hints are clear, it’s very satisfying to outsmart the boss!
Shortly after the primary mission, parting methods with Seign and hot-pants Hildi, the hero is given his first style of freedom by exploring close by cities, out of doors dungeons, and even fishing. Several characters could be recruited by finishing numerous duties scattered across the area.
Tasks vary from fascinating to quite mundane, with some being as uninspired as fetching 5 wild boars. It’s fairly noticeable when the sport places effort into character recruitment in comparison with when it doesn’t. Some characters be part of the get together after a cutscene, whereas others require an merchandise, and a few could have you full an obligation for them in a dungeon.
A constructive instance is recruiting a younger mage who prefers the time period “magical woman.” This includes a novel boss encounter in one of many zones, using her quirkiness with large magic hammers summoned from magic tomes, referencing the sport’s Gimmick system.
Another main addition to the fight system is the usage of conventional MP as a substitute of spell slots. This permits gamers to make use of any spell they like with out being restricted to restricted makes use of of their strongest spells. However, as anticipated, stronger spells value considerably extra mana than weaker ones. Fortunately, mana factors could be replenished with consumable gadgets.
Arguably a very powerful addition to the fight system is SP, which addresses a crucial difficulty from the earlier sport. Unite assaults and highly effective rune skills can now not be spammed with impunity, and the dreaded “unbalanced” debuff that locked characters out for a flip is gone. Instead, SP is required to carry out these highly effective tandem actions, drawing from every participant’s personal SP pool. This limits their use however makes them really feel extra strategic and priceless to implement on the proper second.
One of my favourite design elements in Eiyuden Chronicle is the strong issue system you select at the beginning. Similar to Dragon Quest XI‘s Draconian issue, Eiyuden Chronicle presents punishing modifiers like enemies not dropping foreign money, restricted escaping, elevated spell prices, and store inflation. These are usually not really useful for freshmen!
The sport additionally presents Normal and Hard mode choices. I selected Hard and caught with it. What makes this method improbable, is that should you attempt to decrease the problem or flip off challenges, you may’t revert them. This ought to be the usual for video games with issue sliders! It prevents gamers from simply weakening their problem.
However, there’s a caveat. The sport throws some very tough boss fights at you whereas these challenges are energetic. Sometimes, you might get soft-locked – unable to return to a protected zone and alter your get together composition – earlier than a very powerful encounter. This scenario pressured me to decrease the problem to Normal simply to progress, shamefully stripping away my Hard issue badge.
The voice appearing could be inconsistent, which isn’t unusual for English performances in JRPGs. My expertise with Eiyuden Chronicle‘s voice appearing has been principally constructive. While some characters’ voices didn’t initially match their look within the art work, they grew on me as I discovered extra in regards to the characters. Seign Kesling’s voice is an effective instance of this.
The music, whereas not one thing I’d actively take heed to exterior the sport just like the soundtracks for Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, successfully serves its function of setting the temper. It isn’t memorable, however it additionally isn’t offensive both. It merely exists in a bland limbo.
The use of SP for particular actions provides a layer of strategic depth, requiring cautious useful resource administration, particularly in longer battles. For instance, Nowa and Seign’s joint AoE assault requires SP from each characters, in contrast to Riou and Jowy’s comparable unite assault in Suikoden II, which is free and may simply clear most common enemies. This distinction encourages extra tactical use of skills in Eiyuden Chronicle.
Mini-games are plentiful in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. While not as in depth as current titles as seen in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth or Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, there are nonetheless a handful to take pleasure in with numerous rewards. Most importantly for fishing fanatics, fishing is included!
After receiving your first rod early on, you may seek for docks scattered all through the areas. Rod in hand, you may solid out into these reservoirs, doubtlessly catching scrumptious creatures for city constructing, assortment, or perhaps a new recipe. After all, a terrific man as soon as mentioned; “JRPG wants fishing”.
Unlocking the fortress/city constructing characteristic brings pleasure to Suikoden followers. This inclusion opens the sport up, encouraging exploration of off-the-beaten-path zones to recruit potential heroes who will be part of your trigger towards oppressive imperials. These imperials search management by way of war-minded improvements and crafty politics.
What separates this fortress/city constructing from its predecessors is the architect’s constructing tree. This web-like roadmap visually reveals gamers the heroes wanted to assemble numerous amenities like armories, logging farms, rune retailers, and extra. However, constructing these amenities requires not solely vocational heroes but in addition numerous supplies like logs, treasured minerals, hunted meat, and fish.
Donating these sources helps fund building and bolsters the battle effort. As the fortress progresses with extra work and sources invested, it’s going to degree up, unlocking much more on your heroes.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes presents itself as a contemporary turn-based RPG with a novel mix of 3D environments and 2D sprites, paying homage to Octopath Traveler. However, the expertise by no means looks like a late 2000s sport.
At its core, it’s a mid-to-late 90s RPG brimming with attraction, discovery, and a scarcity of recent conveniences like quick journey. This throwback design reminds gamers that the very best journeys usually require some frustration to be really significant.
Random battles generally is a bit prolonged, however a sturdy auto-battle system with customization choices helps mitigate that. While quick journey and saving aren’t available always, save factors are strategically positioned, particularly in dungeons. Additionally, the choice to save lots of on the world map is at all times accessible.
There are not any obtrusive flaws in Eiyuden Chronicle. While some may miss the ability/proficiency system from Suikoden III, the builders embraced the philosophy of “much less is extra.” This sport undoubtedly delivers loads, however it does so with out overwhelming the participant.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes completely captures the whole lot it got down to obtain. While the “love letter to JRPGs” phrase will get thrown round loads lately, and typically makes me cringe regardless of my adoration for the style, I’ve at hand it to Rabbit & Bear Studios. They made a promise and delivered with in wonderful methods I by no means thought attainable – Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a love letter to basic JRPGs.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was reviewed on PlayStation 5 utilizing a code offered by 505 Games. You can discover extra details about Niche Gamer’s overview/ethics coverage right here. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is now out there for PC (by way of Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
