PlayingEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroesbrings to mind nothing so much as the most-acclaimed game in the series that inspired it,Suikoden 2. From the early plot beats, to casting of characters, to mechanics,Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroesdutifully nods at its predecessor, but that leaves the question open: can it stand on its own?
There are times when I’m not sure about that, and other times I think it can. Having played about seven hours of the backer playtest, points can be seen where it seems to be playing it overly safe, spots where it’s working, and spots where it seems to be a case of going a bit overboard on the fanservice (no, not the skimpy clothes type).
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes seeks to iterate on a formula
A lot of the core mechanics that I tried are clear descendants of theSuikodengames. You have a group of up to six party members, battling opponent groups of up to the same size, with ranges and everything intact. Runes are more focused on abilities and character customization this time around, though they also cover spellcasting as well. Enhance runes let you adjust stats, while skill runes give special skills, and so forth.
It feels like a natural evolution of the format, providing a general view of what a lot of the combat elements in the game are like. They are similar to Suikoden, with a twist on some, or a bit of innovation added in. One character lets you block and charge an attack, while another can make a small shield, others can raise evasion, and the default is just reducing some of the damage with a block. With only a handful of characters in the early chapters, I’ve already seen that the tools that Rabbit and Bear have put in place are going to be explored.
Review: Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising manages to be more than the sum of its parts, becoming a likeable adventure.
The early playtest does a good job of introducing elements for players to learn about them, with hints at plenty more to be seen as the game goes on. The first dungeon you explore serves as a tutorial of sorts, while the second adds more elements and lets you experiment with things. The third adds more complex elements to the dungeon, and was a respectable early game dungeon with decent enemies, and a core puzzle-esque element that’s introduced and built upon as you advance through the dungeon, before culminating in a challenging boss fight.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes promises a rich cast and story
The story feels very much like a riff onSuikoden 2in the early going. While the politics haven’t taken off yet in full force, the stage in the early parts of the game are being set, and you have a mixture of likable and detestable antagonists being organized. You can map some of the characters in feel toSuikoden, andEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroesfeels like it might be playing it too safe. There’s a lot of room left here, but the early parts play up the resonance withSuikoden 2.
Characters can be hit or miss so far inHundred Heroes. Some of them are going to be love or hate I suspect, like Mellore and her Magical Girl act much like it was for her inEiyuden Chronicles: Rising. Other characters are perhaps less flamboyant and thus less likely to lend themselves to that sort of marmite test. It might take a bit for you to be able to assemble a squad of characters you highly like, but you should be able to put aside for the most part those you dislike, and have them just follow along for story moments if they are needed.
So doesEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroesmanage to stand on its own? It’s perhaps too early to say. Its gameplay is a nice evolution ofSuikoden’s mechanics, introducing new ideas of its own. Characters have personality and take advantage of the large cast to be distinct and be the type that some may love or hate.
Where I’m left wondering though is the storytelling. I’m hoping that as the final story that Murasama ever created, that it’s just resonance and not a numbers filed-off redo ofSuikoden 2, much as that games is incredible. Perhaps I’m making too much of a few elements that bring it to mind, and some color coordination, butEiyuden Chroniclesdeserves to set its own path respecting what came before while charting unknown territory.
There’s also plenty yet to be seen, as this only covered the earliest parts of the game. Elements like how it handles large scale battles, how well it manages to hold its plot together and various other parts of the game still await to be discovered in the full release later this month.
This preview was done using a backer key by the author, who backed the project when it was on KickStarter.
