Our Verdict
Whether or not or not you’re a fan of Suikoden II, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is nearly value your time. Sadly, virtually each excessive level in Nowa’s journey is met with a painful low, making for a disjointed expertise bursting with forgettable minigames and characters.
Suikoden II reigns as maybe essentially the most underrated Japanese role-playing recreation ever made, overshadowed when it was launched in 1998 by the style’s shift to 3D fashions. It has gained a appreciable cult following within the a long time since, with many hailing it as a paragon of the style. Shade none of us JRPG followers stunned when Suikoden sequence creator Yoshitaka Murayama Kickstarted a religious successor that blew previous its stretch targets, making Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes the third-highest-grossing videogame of all time on the crowdfunding platform.
As I wish to critique Eiyuden Chronicle fully by itself benefit, let’s get the way it compares to its legendary inspiration out of the best way: there’s a pure Suikoden II core right here diluted by an overabundance of shallow minigames and bloat. These on the lookout for a Suikoden II successor will, on the entire, be blissful. For these coming to Eiyuden Chronicle with a recent set of eyes, nonetheless, it’s not fairly so simple.
The sport’s narrative revolves round three heroes grappling with the nefarious Dux Aldric of the Galdean Empire. Within the opening hours, I take management of a younger man named Nowa as he experiences for his first mission as a member of a haphazard power of mercenaries tasked with retaining monsters at bay. Setting off with a handful of latest mates, I be part of forces with Seign, the second of the three heroes, as we delve deep into an historical Runebarrow. There, we uncover a robust artifact that units into movement a 40-hour plot of betrayal and warfare.
Eiyuden Chronicle is in some methods a sufferer of its Kickstarter success. It features a staggering variety of minigames as a result of marketing campaign hitting a number of stretch targets. You may construct a fortress, study a collectible card recreation, and even check your mettle with a Beyblade clone. Whereas they’re elective, they’re additionally disappointingly shallow and unengaging, amounting to little greater than an additional 10-20 hours of filler for completionists to sift via.
Fight-wise, Eiyuden Chronicle calls for mastery over three numerous battle sorts: turn-based, warfare, and one-on-one duels. The turn-based fights see six chosen heroes face off towards foes, utilizing objects and casting magic. The rune-warped beasts I slay all through the journey aren’t seen on the map, as most encounters are random. Fortunately, battles set off sometimes and yield excessive expertise rewards, which erases the necessity to grind and the frustration I really feel from the empty overworld and dungeons. But regardless of their infrequency, I nonetheless reap the benefits of an auto-battle mechanic for nearly each common bout, as there’s little technique required on the conventional problem mode.
The dungeons themselves make up for this lack of problem. All of them function a central puzzle that skillfully straddles the road between satisfying and irritating. Intelligent and compact, each concludes with troublesome boss encounters that I can’t auto-battle my approach via. A limitation on MP-restoring objects hamstrings my capacity to maintain my six chosen heroes wholesome in these bouts of attrition towards forest-dwelling monstrosities and grotesque dragon creatures, resulting in various defeats that make every slender victory really feel well-earned.
Sadly, I can’t say the identical for the large-scale warfare battles. The narrative revolves round Nowa and mates scrambling to construct a military to face towards the Galdean would possibly, and when these armies conflict, I command a handful of legions on a grid-based map. None of them give me any bother as they quantity to utilizing character-specific boosts on the proper time. Worse nonetheless, they’re painfully boring as every conflict between legions takes far too lengthy to resolve.
The one-on-one duels, then again, impress me. They happen at key moments, requiring me to assault or counter my opponent relying on their dialogue. If they appear aggressive, I need to counter. If they appear pensive, I ought to assault. Finally a ‘break’ gauge fills that triggers an superior transfer that wouldn’t be misplaced in an episode of Dragon Ball Z. Outdoors of boss encounters, I sit up for these climatic set items essentially the most.
Within the midst of all that is the hunt to recruit the titular hundred heroes unfold throughout the continent. I discovered about 80 earlier than the credit rolled, although there’s really excess of 100. Many be part of up as a part of the story, however others require Nowa to carry out a side-quest earlier than they’ll tag alongside, starting from the mundane (merely communicate to them) to the obtuse (discover a uncommon kind of fish). Not all are battle-capable, with some offering party-wide help buffs in battle or just unlocking a store within the fortress-building minigame.
With so many heroes, most get little to no characterization exterior of their look and a quirk pulled straight from a laundry bag of anime tropes. The principle heroes and their closest friends don’t fare a lot better. It isn’t till about 30 hours in, proper earlier than a significant showdown, that I study of Nowa and Seign’s familial backstories and motivations. Additional backstory is outwardly squirred away for post-launch DLC, which leaves the principle narrative feeling disjointed with little stress till the ultimate act, which admittedly does then hit the best notes.
I can’t assist however smile as allies reappear, enemies flip to mates, and the Massive Bads tremble within the ultimate few hours. A tacky anime-style music performs at varied climaxes, together with after the epic ultimate duel towards the principle villain that has me fist-pumping because the trio of heroes flip via the air whereas casting magical blasts and making grand statements about believing of their mates.
Because the credit roll, I can’t deny that I loved Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, but I’m keenly conscious each excessive was met with an unlucky low. In the long run, I’m left questioning if all that growth time spent on stretch targets hampered the core of Nowa’s journey, relegating it to being an honest JRPG quite than a legendary one like its inspiration.