Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a game developed by Rabbit & Bear after a successful Kickstarter they began several years ago. The late director was one of the key figures in the Suikoden series, and Eiyuden is regarded by many as a spiritual successor to that franchise. They raised a couple million dollars in the process of this Kickstarter, enough to warrant them making a prequel spin-off entitled Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising which stars three of the side characters from the main game. I played Rising for free when it was available on PS Extra and I liked it quite a bit. Enough for me to look forward to the release of the full game. Hell, I even got a platinum trophy out of that one. It was a lot of fetch quests but the characters were endearing and it was a fun little world that Rabbit & Bear had developed in the JRPG vein.
Fast-forward roughly a year and I started Hundred Heroes. The story is nothing new. There are three protagonists, but really one main one that does most of the legwork and leads the charge. Literally, that is. The premise revolves around an empire that is trying to take over a small collection of separate nations (called the League of Nations, I guess they're not United... yet) who have to form an alliance to hold the imperials at bay. The main protagonist of the three, Nowa, is a young 17 year old kid who is looking for adventure and can't help but "meddle" in other issues he comes across. One of those issues he comes across is in the form of Seign, another young man but from the other side of the fence. Seign is a child prodigy, officer of the empire, but even he can see the forest for the trees when it comes to his imperial superiors. And lastly, one of the people guarding the secrets of the forest and the mysterious primal lens, a source of magic and power in Eiyuden's world, is Marisa. The three of them come together and create a force to be reckoned with as they traverse plains, deserts, forests, and waterways in attempts to push back against the empire's land-grabbing. As I said before, it's a story with nothing too innovative. That said, it does something unique with the incorporation of over 100 companions to traverse the plot with.
The Good
I figured here would be the best place to start hitting the "good" since I just mentioned the characters. They are probably the best thing that Eiyuden has going for it. Some characters add more to the story while some are just there, but at the end of the day the gameplay is increased by incorporating so many different variations to your lineup. Individual fights are fun, and varied, because every character is a specialist in something that makes them unique.
Combat in Eiyuden is fun and engaging, while maintaining a fairly hands-off approach (if you want to). You can just set it to auto-battle on virtually every engagement except for bosses (not recommended... trust me), and as long as you had preprogrammed your fighters to act in accordance to your wishes, they'll steamroll virtually all competition. And with teams of six involved, it's rare that the entire crew would be wiped out. Even if they are, you can just hit the rematch and try a new strategy out.
While individual battles are fun, the big sprawling ones are even cooler. You control entire battalions of magic wielders, swordsmen, cavalry, or archers depending on who makes up your captains. My only true qualm with these battles was that I didn't lose a single one. Everyone on our own side seems just a little bit OP, and when you use your specific skills and strategies it's even more so. Nevertheless, seeing two armies rush at one another across the battlefield brings out that little William Wallace in all of us... even if they are animated characters.
The animations are great in every sense. From the old-school bit designs of the characters waltzing about to the background art of every locale, Eiyuden was made with plenty of heart. Each one of them looks different as well, which can't be said for every game I've played recently. I'm looking at you, Diofield. Those differences help to flesh out each one of the characters enough. I say enough because... Obviously not all of them are going to be fully 3-dimensional characters in terms of their personality, but they all have a gimmick that works in their favor to bring their contribution to Nowa's expanding alliance.
The Bad
Now time for the bad.
I've already covered that the narrative isn't really anything all that groundbreaking. It's not bad, it just... is. If some more time had been spent on that instead of the focus on scores of characters, perhaps there could have been a stronger story here. I know that Rabbit & Bear had the potential because I have to say that I think the narrative for Rising was actually better than Hundred Heroes.
That's probably the main disappointing factor for me regarding this entry. I had high hopes going in because I thought the entire story behind Rising was pretty refreshing, but they didn't build on that traction to get a better result out of Hundred. Whereas I would probably give Rising a solid 8, Hundred falls just beneath it.
One of the most glaring aspects of that particular issue lies in the fact that Rising's cast was not utilized to the best of Rabbit & Bear's writing ability. They were something of an afterthought, and should have been given more screentime. Not only that, but we weren't even shown New Nevaeh and how much has transpired in the town after our progress (and imported save) from Rising. That's a missed opportunity, but not the only one that Rabbit & Bear does in Hundred.
As I'm writing this, all three DLCs for the title have been released. None of them are available to play until the moment right before the very final battle. Each one represents a prequel of sorts focusing on a particular character or two, but not a single one adds anything all that meaningful to Eiyuden's tale. These could have been worked into the narrative in a much more impactful way, especially as they currently only serve to completely halt the game's momentum just to give us a bit of unnecessary background.
My Ruling
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a solid entry into the JRPG genre. It's not going to rewrite any rules, or shatter any records. However, it represents a good beginning for Rabbit & Bear, albeit a lackluster ending for Yoshitaka Murayama after a full career in the industry. With just a few tweaks and listening to their audience, I'm sure that things could move in a more positive direction.
I hope that Rabbit & Bear will continue in the future. Eiyuden could easily serve as the ground level for an upward trajectory.
7/10
Good Enough
Comments
Post a Comment
Have a comment? Let me know!