Eiyuden Chronicle Devs Open Up About Murayama's Passing And Going Beyond A Suikoden Successor

As the variety of online game remakes, remasters, and non secular successors grows, so does the hesitation surrounding these initiatives. Though some may see these video games as loving homages to the artwork and tales that made us who we’re, it is simply as straightforward to see them as makes an attempt to bottle lightning–or maybe, extra precisely, nostalgia. So, how do these video games set themselves aside? Well, as Rabbit and Bear Studios’ debut title Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes–a non secular successor to legendary RPG Suikoden–proves, having a group of veteran builders united beneath a beloved sequence’ creator is a superb place to start.Rabbit and Bear Studios launched again in 2020, with 4 ex-Konami builders at its helm: character designer Junko Kawano of Suikoden fame, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow director Junichi Murakami, Suikoden and Silent Hill’s Osamu Komuta, and Suikoden’s creator, the late Yoshitaka Murayama. The group got here along with a really clear goal: to create the sport the 4 of them had all the time dreamed of constructing, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.Nowa and Lian tackle their comrades.”All of us are ex-Konami, so we’d meet up and drink together sometimes,” Junko Kawano advised GameSpot. “One time when we were drinking and talking to each other, we sort of realized that we’ve reached a good age, and that we really wanted to develop a game that we were deeply interested in together. So we decided to form the studio.”After the studio had been fashioned and the group cemented their imaginative and prescient for the title, they determined to launch a Kickstarter to assist fund the undertaking. Though the studio opted to not explicitly consult with it as a non secular successor to Murayama’s Suikoden sequence within the description, followers rapidly made a connection between the group’s imaginative and prescient and the critically acclaimed sequence. Within three hours, Rabbit and Bear raised over $500,000, exceeding the preliminary aim they’d set for themselves.In the times that adopted, stretch objectives have been added, with the promise of a companion recreation being launched if the studio hit its astronomical finish aim of $4.5 million–it did, and Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising was launched on May 10, 2022. However, large crowdfunding success–and the burden of being an assumed non secular successor–comes with numerous stress.”Since I am the person least involved with Suikoden, I think I’m also the one most outside of all the pressure. It [was] probably the easiest for me,” artwork director Junichi Murakami stated. “However, I know a lot of the people at Konami. I understand the feeling and the weight of that title. Even if I am not directly related to that title, I know I am making a game with those members. I feel that pressure.”The goal for us was actually how a lot we might understand the factor that Murayama-san needed to attain. In that sense, I imagine Murayama-san was truly beneath the best stress,” Kawano added.Yet for as much pressure as Murayama had placed upon him, Kawano, Murakami, and Komuta made it clear he was driven by a very specific vision for his next–and regrettably final–project. From the very beginning of Eiyuden Chronicle’s development, Murayami knew who the game’s protagonists would be. He had a clear idea of what they would look like, how they would fit into the world, and how their stories would collide and conclude. He conveyed this all to his team, who then set out to bring his visions to life while also showcasing the experience and artistry they had acquired over decades of working in game development.”I began by studying concerning the setting made by Murayama-san. For the principle characters, he gave me the data first. So I knew this could be their age, this was the sort of weapon they might carry …Even a few of the hair colours have been predetermined,” Kawano said. “I took all the data I obtained from Murayama-san and got here up with totally different variations of those characters. And then he stated, ‘Yes. Now preserve going.'”Nowa and party members stand by a fountain.As the latter half of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes name implies, the team–and particularly Kawano–then created over a hundred recruitable characters for the game. Throughout development, it became a group effort to balance these characters–ensuring each one had an interesting design and role in Eiyuden Chronicle, while also making sure the game’s core thread and main cast weren’t buried underneath it all. It’s a delicate balancing act that, Komuta says, can be “troublesome to strike.””As for the characters associated to the principle story, Murayama-san had decided their tales so the spine was already established,” Komuta told me. “However, for the characters apart from the principle characters, the timing during which they be part of, their background, and the way that particular person develops, was extra open. There was a setting, however we needed to truly deepen the story and the design.”Thanks to Murayama’s fantastical setting, the sheer amount of characters that needed to be designed, and Rabbit and Bear Studios’ own creativity, the team was able to dream big while filling out Eiyuden Chronicle’s roster. From Mellore, a self-proclaimed magical girl adorned in a Sailor Moon-esque uniform, to Kawano’s favorite character, a luchador named El Alicante, Eiyuden Chronicle has quite the colorful cast–and I’ve yet to even mention the giant, sword-wielding kangaroo.That’s not to say, however, that there aren’t plenty of realistic or edgy characters in Eiyuden Chronicle as well. It might come as little surprise given Murakami’s history with the Castlevania series, but his favorite characters were a pair of “cool-type” women he created.”Mio and Hildi are my favorites. Mio is a girl samurai warrior after which Hildi is the assistant commander to Seign, and I truly created each of them on my own. Both of them are girls with a “cool-type” character as a result of…” Murakami gave a coy smile, and I watched as both Kawano and Komuta began to laugh. “I like cool girls.”Similarly, Komuta shared that his favorite character was also a strong woman: General Elektra.”Originally, Elektra was not imagined to take part in battle, however as a result of I favored her a lot, I requested Murayama-san and Murakami-san if we might enhance the variety of characters so we might add her,” Komuta said.General Elektra.Though Murakami might not have been in charge of designing all Eiyuden Chronicle’s characters, implementing them into the game’s hybrid art style fell upon his shoulders–and, according to Murakami, this process was difficult and time-consuming. Similarly to Octopath Traveler, Eiyuden Chronicle places expressive, 2D character sprites atop 3D environments to create an experience that feels lush and modern, as well as in line with its ’90s-RPG roots. Though I found the end result beautiful and extremely natural-looking, Murakami said ensuring that was the case took the team about two years.”Merging these artwork kinds is definitely very, very, very laborious,” Murakami said. “It took us greater than two years as a result of it’s important to make certain all of your 3D angles and digicam work don’t disrupt the 2D expressions, or make them look positioned unnaturally, or clip something… It truly took numerous time to make it appear completely pure.”Merging the old with the new was a recurring theme in Eiyuden Chronicle’s development. Komuta, for example, recalled the team having a conversation around a classic, ’90s-RPG feature that some were worried might be a little outdated: the save point.”We did have a dialogue,” Komuta said. “The save level was truly essential to Murayama-san’s idea, because it offers you a sign of how the situation is progressing. He had a powerful deal with conveying when the sport might naturally be suspended through the use of a save level. But however, with a purpose to strike a steadiness between this basic characteristic and one thing fashionable, we integrated some auto-save capabilities. We wish to have a very good steadiness between the fashionable and the basic.”Some things, however, were set in stone from the beginning–including the game’s music. When it comes to which musicians would create Eiyuden Chronicle’s score, Murakami said that even before launching their Kickstarter, the team was set on two artists in particular: Michiko Naruke and Motoi Sakuraba.”We knew that, alongside the 4 of us, they might actually be the core and one of many strongest appeals of this undertaking,” Murakami said. “In that sense, we knew we needed Michiko Naruke and Motoi Sakuraba to hitch us. We felt they have been artists that actually represented Japan whereas additionally being well-known abroad.”Both Naruke and Sakuraba have an impressive number of well-received games under their belt, with Naruke’s most notable work being her arrangements for the Wild Arms and Super Smash Bros. series. Meanwhile, Sakuraba’s portfolio includes a number of titles from the Tales, Star Ocean, Golden Sun, Dark Souls, and Mario sports series. Together, the pair created a soundtrack both I and GameSpot’s reviewer found “very good,” and truly proves Murakami correct: These artists did contribute significantly to Eiyuden Chronicle’s core appeal.Nowa approaches a character waiting on the docks.Other factors that add to Eiyuden Chronicle’s appeal are simply how much fun it lets you have and its sheer replayability. According to Komuta, the timing in which you add a character to your party can change the script and how the character speaks, enticing players to replay and attempt to grab characters at different points throughout the game.”There are sure scripts you can not hear within the early situation as a result of they’re tied to a personality changing into a member within the latter a part of the sport. So in that sense, if you’re replaying the sport, you possibly can possibly discover these characters of their first place and listen to a unique script when you beforehand picked them up within the second place. For all of these characters, now we have ready these scripts,” Komuta said.Additionally, some of the game’s recruitable characters are optional, meaning it’s very easy to miss them your first time playing. And yet, this is a very intentional part of Eiyuden Chronicle’s design, Komuta said. According to Komuta, “How you discover heroes and members of your social gathering is a enjoyable and necessary a part of the sport.” He then added there is one character in particular, hidden within a hidden dungeon, that he recommends players try to find. “It’s enjoyable,” he said with a laugh.Kawano and Murakami also pointed out that some of the game’s funnier moments–such as the theater and the hot springs–play out differently depending upon your current team composition.”The theater, I believe, is attention-grabbing. In each the Japanese and English variations, the voice forged acts in response to the continued story. You can even have totally different [character] combos and various things will occur in response to these combos,” Kawano said.Keeping in line with his more mischievous statement earlier, Murakami said the onsen–or hot springs–was one of his favorite parts. Naturally, all three of the founders began to laugh.”I believe followers may have enjoyable with the recent spring scene. I need you to truly discover and watch all the scorching springs scenes with all the characters. Particularly after they enter the bathtub.”Nowa and his party members relax in the hot springs.In the few hours I spent with Kawano, Murakami, and Komuta, I can’t count the number of times their laughter filled the room. From the team chuckling while sharing stories about the game’s development, to a near teary-eyed Komuta giggling as I explained that, in English, we call cats kneading “making biscuits,” there was this sense that this team exuded levity and joy. The founders stated that Murayama was perhaps the most joyous of all of them, constantly dreaming, laughing, and inspiring their work. When I shared my condolences and asked how things have been at the studio since his passing earlier this year, I could feel the weight of his loss begin to fill the room.”It was a giant shock to us,” Kawano said. “We have been already within the course of of manufacturing the title and the discharge date had already been decided, so we have been on this ultimate stage and not likely capable of halt manufacturing.””In that sense,” Murakami added. “It was nearly a reduction. We needed to apply and focus ourselves–we have not had time to lament his dying. We must preserve going.”Komuta nodded in agreement with Murakami, before adding in something that warmed my heart.”Fortunately, Murayama-san was concerned within the ultimate changes, so we have been capable of actually full this title.”Before our time was up, I asked the team what they thought really distinguished Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes from being a Suikoden successor. Ultimately, Komuta said that the team’s experience, desires, and approach to creation are what elevates it.”There isn’t any member of workers concerned in improvement who thought we have been simply making a sequel to Suikoden,” Komuta said. “No one was pondering like that, or got here at it from that place. It finally is a completely totally different recreation.”And but, I do not assume it is inaccurate or improper to say that, in some ways, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a non secular successor to Suikoden–and a worthy one, at that. To be one of many handful of studios that may bottle lightning–that can create an expertise that makes gamers fondly recall enjoying considered one of their favourite games–is an unimaginable feat. Yet on the identical time, it is way more than that.Eiyuden Chronicle is a recreation 4 pals determined to make over drinks and jokes about needing to get began earlier than they obtained any older. It’s a recreation that seeks to grant almost three many years of needs made by each Suikoden followers and the sequence’ creators. And most significantly, it is a shining instance of an artist’s ultimate work absolutely realized. It is wondrously cathartic to know Murayama was there to ship the final rounds of edits and adjustments–to know that he was there to witness his imaginative and prescient delivered to life. And but, it’s maybe simply as lovely to see how deeply his goals impressed his three expensive pals, every of whom have spent the previous few months guaranteeing the remainder of us might see them, too.