Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Preview - It Seems Okay
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is set to be released at the end of this month, and I had the opportunity to play it beforehand through a preview session. It can be said that 2024 is a year of resurgence for the JRPG genre, which has lost some of its appeal over the years. Somehow, this year we have seen titles like Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Persona 3 Reloaded, and Unicorn Overlord. You could even include Japanese RPGs in that mix, considering titles like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Dragon’s Dogma 2. Therefore, what Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes faces is quite significant. It's an indie title published by the relatively small publisher 505 Games. After playing the demo of this game, I had a somewhat peculiar feeling. I liked what was happening in it, but I felt it might not be compelling enough to persuade gamers, especially the casual ones.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is set in a fantasy medieval world. At first glance, it resembles Octopath Traveler. Its medieval setting seems to be more fantastical and whimsical rather than gritty and hardcore. You can expect familiar tropes such as conflicts of interest, factional power struggles, and a world divided into different territories, which are not uncommon in the JRPG genre. So, it's not surprising that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes follows suit. Consequently, you'll find this game to be both unique and familiar, especially if you're already familiar with the conventions, trends, and setups of JRPGs.
The storyline of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes begins with our main character named Nowa. He joins a sentinel squadron, arriving two days late, which his captain, Lian, will never let him forget. Essentially, the demo couldn't fully elucidate the entirety of the story. However, I can imagine its scope won't be small for an indie title like this. Besides the lively squad leader Lian, who's always ready to assist her teammates, you'll encounter other squad members like the super-cool wolf Garr and the enigmatic swordswoman Mio. Your team is quite diverse, and everyone gets their moment to shine. Overall, this sentinel squad is acting as mercenaries for an empire in the story, and they must retrieve an ancient artifact resembling a lens from the ruins of Runebarrows deep in the forest for some purpose.
The appeal of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is evident even from its name, which carries its ambitious nature. "Hundred Heroes" implies the presence of 100 heroes, meaning you can find and recruit 100 members, allowing them into your team and thus enabling you to strategize and create the best lineup. In this demo, I encountered only 10 characters to add to my roster, but even that felt overwhelming; one can only imagine what having 100 heroes to choose from would be like. Essentially, these characters also come with their own storylines or backgrounds, making it challenging to remember them all. This uniqueness could be both a strength and a potentially fatal weakness if not handled carefully.
Granted, this is just a demo, and I cannot draw conclusions on how having 100 playable heroes might affect the storyline and gameplay. However, fortunately, with only 10 heroes in the demo, everything still felt manageable, and there were limitations in place to prevent the character roster from becoming overly complex.
As for the gameplay, you might find it reminiscent of Konami's legendary RPG series, Suikoden. Indeed, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the spiritual successor of Suikoden, spearheaded by Yoshitaka Murayama, the creator of the Suikoden series. It's no surprise that the entire DNA of Suikoden has been carried over to Eiyuden Chronicle. However, I must admit that I have never played a Suikoden game before, so all I can assess is what's presented in this game rather than trying to compare it to the Suikoden series.
Of course, the battles evoke memories of Suikoden, where your team of 6 takes turns on the battlefield, all moving swiftly. If many members of your team can attack continuously without interruption, be prepared for them to quickly execute consecutive attacks. However, if your team cannot consistently attack the enemy, battles will drag on longer, and the pace of combat may become somewhat disjointed.
While the primal lens, a rare ancient artifact, is a significant factor in determining victory or defeat, common runes seem to be quite prevalent, as everyone in your team possesses one. They provide stats boosts and usually come with a special ability. There are some basic elements of JRPGs here; you have SP that regenerates after each turn, and MP that requires an item to replenish. Additionally, there are friendship-based combo attacks that you can utilize as you grow closer to other members of your team.
And naturally, being a JRPG, there are times when you feel battles are repetitive, and the feature allowing for auto-battling exists in this game. Additionally, boss battles introduce some neat gimmicks, leveraging environmental factors or other elements near the boss to discover their weaknesses. This adds variety to boss encounters and requires players to focus if they want to effectively confront them.
In terms of presentation, the game shines. While it may not look flashy at first glance and may exude an indie feel, don't underestimate it. If you've played Square Enix's JRPGs like Octopath Traveler or Live A Live, what Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes presents here is far from ordinary. I genuinely admire the visual style the game brings. Personally, my excitement for this game stems from having played its prequel, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, which also boasted a similar visual style. For traditional JRPG fans, this art style might evoke a sense of nostalgia for the PS1 era, a retro homage that refuses to fade.
Everything now feels like a modern twist on classic elements, preserving them for contemporary standards. It's akin to a remaster or, more accurately, a remake of classic JRPGs in a way that retains their essence. Of course, it's a complete 180 from how Square turned Final Fantasy 7 into the Final Fantasy 7 Trilogy Remake. The cities and towns are visually appealing and interesting, though they seem not too vast to explore. However, since the demo's scale is quite small, I can't assess the overall world design of the game yet. Nonetheless, the dungeon exploration aspect isn't entirely convincing. I particularly appreciate the art direction for creating visually pleasing and diverse environments, though there's room for improvement in terms of uniqueness and challenge. The character designs are quite beautiful and distinct, with pixelated models accompanied by 2D illustrations, giving a retro and heavily anime-influenced vibe. For those who appreciate Japanese aesthetics, this character design style will be a major selling point.
In addition, I haven't touched much on the music, but suffice it to say that it's quite good. Even with the indie scale, most of the dialogues in the game are fully voiced, and the voice actors deliver their lines excellently, making for an immersive experience essential for an RPG like this.
Ultimately, based on my experience with the demo provided by the publisher, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes brings both potential and risks. It might be a must-play for fans of the legendary Suikoden series, but for those who haven't played this series or JRPGs in general, it might be challenging to find enough compelling elements to be drawn in. JRPGs, in general, tend to be relatively selective in their player base, and only titles like Shin Tegami, Persona, or more recently, Like A Dragon, might help bridge the gap for casual gamers. Therefore, it's very likely that this game will find its niche audience in a modest manner.
