Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Review – One In A Hundred

In the years for the reason that explosion of sport crowdfunding, a stigma has emerged surrounding these titles. Yes, there have been loads of video games that loved nice success after their crowdfunding campaigns, however extra individuals keep in mind the high-profile flops: video games with huge names and bold guarantees connected that, for a wide range of causes, betrayed the excessive hopes followers held for them. Many of those have been revivals–spiritual or otherwise–of beloved collection from ages previous. Now we have now Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a crowdfunded sport designed to hold the torch of the much-beloved Suikoden collection from the PS1 and PS2–and, with such a excessive pedigree connected, there’s comprehensible trepidation: Will this be a wonderful return to type, or one other disappointment? Fortunately, for us (and the entire backers), it turned out splendidly.Gallery Eiyuden Chronicle begins when a younger man named Nowa joins the Eltisweiss Watch, a small militia unit below the command of Countess Perielle of the League of Nations. On a joint mission with a navy group from the Galdean Empire, the Watch discovers a robust, historic artifact, the Primal Lens, incomes everybody concerned immediate renown. However, it is not lengthy earlier than squabbling between the Empire and League over the system, together with inside energy struggles within the Empire, erupts into an invasion of Eltisweiss and a full-blown conflict. As the scope of the battle expands, so does the story: Nowa rebuilds a resistance military in an deserted fortress, Imperial navy prodigy Seign struggles together with his emotions of obligation, friendship, and loyalty, and a younger warrior lady named Marisa finds her clan caught within the center.The story would not draw back from its similarities to video games within the Suikoden collection. In a number of methods, it outright embraces them: a narrative that branches into a number of viewpoints, loyalties amongst pals being examined throughout conflict, inside political intrigue, highly effective magic runes being a vital plot system, and, most clearly, the self-esteem of constructing an enormous band of warriors to tackle an excellent greater enemy. The story was helmed by Suikoden creator and author Yoshitaka Murayama (who sadly handed away shortly earlier than the sport’s launch), and it brims with the heat, wit, and plot twists that made the early Suikoden titles so partaking and memorable.Throughout the sport, you will be looking out for extra characters to bolster the ranks of the Watch and, finally, assist construct a base for the Resistance military. Some characters are simple to search out and recruit, however others would require some looking or extra effort: You might have to return to a city or dungeon from a lot earlier within the sport, find a uncommon merchandise, play a minigame, or fend off a vicious foe to get somebody to affix the crew. Searching for heroes is a whole lot of enjoyable (and far simpler when you get the fast-travel potential), and the reward of seeing your base develop and enhance with the efforts of your new comrades is immensely satisfying.But the characters themselves are sometimes their very own reward. Despite having such a big solid, Eiyuden Chronicle manages to present every character their very own distinctive voice and character. They do not simply fall into the background as soon as their recruitment arc is over, both; they’re going to touch upon present story occasions whereas they’re in your occasion, chatter as you discover cities, and work together with different characters on the base and elsewhere in your travels. Sometimes they’re going to present up so as to add further aptitude once you least anticipate it, like once they get dragged into judging a cooking competitors.Aside from providing you with quantity of freedom to seek for pals once you really feel prefer it, Eiyuden Chronicle’s story development is much like the everyday JRPG: largely linear with main setpieces and battles to focus on key story factors. You’ll undergo the standard dungeons, deserts, tundras, forests, and mines, typically needing to unravel puzzles to progress. While many of the puzzles are fairly easy, they’ll typically be extra obnoxious than meant attributable to random enemy encounters interrupting issues on the worst doable instances. Still, the dungeon design is strong and exploration is mostly rewarding.Despite having such a big solid, Eiyuden Chronicle manages to present every character their very own distinctive voice and personalityCombat can be closely based mostly on the Suikoden video games: turn-based, with as much as six energetic occasion members at a time, plus a seventh help member who can grant passive advantages like stat boosts or cash achieve. Characters can have each abilities based mostly on SP (which regenerates over time) and MP (which wants gadgets to revive), and every be modified based mostly on the runes that character has geared up. Placement is vital: Some assaults and abilities will not attain far past the entrance row, whereas some less-armored characters work higher within the back–and there are additionally abilities that focus on total rows. One distinct fight component carried over from Suikoden is multi-character group assaults that require two or extra characters with some type of connection to be within the occasion collectively, who can then carry out a tandem specialty assault.Not each character in your military is out there to struggle, however you are still given a really broad choice of occasion members to choose from to struggle the best way you favor. You’re in all probability not going to make use of each single character you recruit in fight, and that is fine–seeing who you click on with and constructing them up usually works nicely. And if you happen to do must convey a personality you have been neglecting as much as snuff, a graduated XP system works to get them to parity along with your high-level warriors shortly. A little bit of auto-battling and they need to be set.Boss battles are the place issues get fascinating. Many boss fights within the sport include some type of interactable gimmick that adjustments the best way you method the battle. These will be objects to cover behind to keep away from injury, background objects that trigger injury to both you or the opponent based mostly on who will get to it first, or perhaps a treasure mendacity simply past a row of foes. Sometimes these gimmicks are actually enjoyable and intelligent, like a boss who will get knocked off-balance when one of many lackeys hoisting them on their backs is felled, leaving it defenseless. Sometimes it is depressing, like needing to guess which facet of the sector the enemy will seem on to hit a e-book and deal further injury, lacking totally if you happen to guess flawed. When the gimmicks are good, they make for very enjoyable fights, however once they’re not, you will be eager for extra simple fight. And typically the boss is just a giant issue spike basically, leaving you in a really dangerous scenario if you happen to are available in ill-prepared.Gallery By far the worst fight expertise, nonetheless, are the large-scale military battles. These play out like a turn-based technique sport, along with your occasion members commanding armies and shifting round a grid, however lack any of the enjoyable and pleasure you will discover in a devoted strategy-RPG. You spend more often than not simply watching issues occur, feeling like you have got little or no management over the proceedings because the armies you moved round, slowly have interaction the enemy. You’re left hoping they’re going to do extra injury than the opposition so you may return to the enjoyable components of the sport as an alternative.Overall, Eiyuden Chronicle hits the retro-RPG candy spot properly. It’s centered on delivering that heat, comforting feeling of a traditional JRPG, and even the entire facet distractions–the card minigame, the bizarre Pokemon/Beyblade hybrid prime minigame, the elevating/racing sim, even commodities trading–don’t distract an excessive amount of from the sport’s prime mission. Add some gorgeously painted and animated spritework and a stellar soundtrack into the combo, and you have got a pleasant expertise that typically falters, although not sufficient to make you place it down. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes won’t be revolutionary, nevertheless it efficiently delivered on its core promise–and that is actually all it wanted to do.