Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a retro-JRPG throwback that delivers with great characters, an engaging story, and fun gameplay progression.
By
Heidi Kemps
on April 25, 2024 at 11:59AM PDT
In the years since the explosion of game crowdfunding, a stigma has emerged surrounding these titles. Yes, there have been plenty of games that enjoyed great success after their crowdfunding campaigns, but more people remember the high-profile flops: games with big names and ambitious promises attached that, for a variety of reasons, betrayed the high hopes fans held for them. Many of these were revivals–spiritual or otherwise–of beloved series from ages past. Now we have Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a crowdfunded game designed to carry the torch of the much-beloved Suikoden series from the PS1 and PS2–and, with such a high pedigree attached, there’s understandable trepidation: Will this be a glorious return to form, or another disappointment? Fortunately, for us (and all of the backers), it turned out wonderfully.
Eiyuden Chronicle begins with a young man named Nowa joining the Eltisweiss Watch, a small militia unit under the command of Countess Perielle of the League of Nations. On a joint mission with a military team from the Galdean Empire, the Watch discovers a powerful, ancient artifact, the Primal Lens, earning everyone involved instant renown. However, it’s not long before squabbling between the Empire and League over the device, along with internal power struggles in the Empire, erupts into an invasion of Eltisweiss and a full-blown war. As the scope of the conflict expands, so does the story: Nowa rebuilds a resistance army in an abandoned castle, Imperial military prodigy Seign struggles with his feelings of obligation, friendship, and loyalty, and a young warrior woman named Marisa finds her clan caught in the middle.
The narrative takes inspiration from the Suikoden series with multiple plot viewpoints, friendships tested in times of war, political conspiracies, potent magic runes driving the plot, and the grand idea of assembling a host of warriors against a vast adversary. The narrative was led by Suikoden creator, Yoshitaka Murayama. It is filled with the warmth, humour, and twists that made the early Suikoden games so captivating and unforgettable.
In the course of the game, players seek to augment the ranks of the Watch and later help establish a base for the Resistance army. Some characters are straightforward to recruit, while others demand a bit of questing or extra efforts such as revisiting an old location, discovering a rare artifact, winning a mini-game or defeating a strong adversary to convince them to join. Looking for heroes is an exciting experience and once you unlock the ability to fast travel, considerably simpler. Besides, seeing your base evolve and grow with the contributions of your new allies is extraordinarily fulfilling.
However, the heroes themselves are often reward enough. Despite the crowd, Eiyuden Chronicle manages to give each character a unique voice and personality. They remain relevant even after their recruitment arc ends, contributing to the current story events, chatting during town explorations, and interacting with other characters at the base and during your journey. Occasionally, they even surprise you with unexpected appearances, such as being pulled into a cooking contest.
Despite allowing considerable freedom in friend-acquisition, Eiyuden Chronicle’s narrative progression echoes the typical JRPG style – it is mainly linear with significant events and battles highlighting key plot points. Standard landscapes include dungeons, deserts, tundras, forests, and mines, sometimes even requiring puzzle solutions to progress. While most of the puzzles are relatively simple, random enemy encounters could sometimes interrupt and exacerbate them. Nevertheless, the overall design quality of the dungeons remains high and exploration tends to be rewarding.
Eiyuden Chronicle, despite its vast array of characters, ensures that each individual is given a distinct voice and personality.
Combat is largely inspired by the Suikoden games, being turn-based and allowing for up to six active party members. There is also the possibility for a seventh member who can provide passive enhancements such as stat boosts or increased gold gain. Characters can utilise skills based on SP (which regenerates over time) or MP (which requires item consumption to refill), and these can be altered pending on the runes each character is wearing. Placement is crucial in combat, as certain attacks and abilities can only reach certain rows, and there are also specific row- targeting abilities. The game also retained the multi-character team attacks from Suikoden, where two or more characters with a connection can perform a combined special attack.
While not every character in your army can engage in battle, the game provides a substantial selection of party members for players to choose from. Finding characters that resonate with your playstyle and developing them is a rewarding experience. If you ever need to level up a neglected character, an incremental XP system enables them to catch up to your more powerful warriors swiftly. Toss in a touch of auto-battling, and their progression will not be an issue.
Where the game gets truly exciting is during boss battles. A majority of boss engagements come with an interactive twist that alters the battle’s dynamics. These can take form as damage blocking objects, detonatable background objects, or even a treasure hidden behind a line of enemies. Encounters can range from clever and enjoyable like a boss becoming defenseless when a henchman is defeated, to frustrating challenges like predicting where an enemy will appear to perform a powerful attack. But invariably, these unique elements challenge players to rethink their approach each time. However, for those not properly prepared, these encounters can quickly turn into formidable difficulty spikes.
By far the most disappointing experience in combat comes from the large-scale army battles. These battles unfold like a turn-based strategy game where your players command armies and navigate around a grid. However, they lack all the thrills and enjoyment you would expect from a dedicated strategy-RPG. Most of your time is spent simply observing events unfold, seemingly having little say in how the conflict plays out. The armies that you deployed engage the enemy slowly, leaving you hoping they inflict enough damage than the opposition, allowing you to return to the enjoyable portions of the game.
In summary, Eiyuden Chronicle effectively harnesses the charm of retro-RPGs. Its primary aim is to provide that familiar, comforting sensation of a classic JRPG, and even with all of the secondary diversions – including a card minigame, a strange Pokemon/Beyblade-esque top minigame, a breeding/racing simulator, and even commodity trading – they do not overly distract from the main objective of the game. Add beautifully designed and animated sprites and a fantastic soundtrack to the mix, and what you have is a pleasurable experience that has its share of stumbles, but not enough to make you stop playing. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes may not be groundbreaking, but it has succeeded in delivering on its essential promise, which was all it really needed to achieve.
