Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the non secular successor to a basic JRPG referred to as Suikoden, and it got here to be due to a really profitable Kickstarter marketing campaign. As somebody with little information of Suikoden, I went into Hundred Heroes considering it was going to be a dense, old school, and barely impenetrable time. And sure, a few of it’s annoying and obtuse and can nearly actually swimsuit veterans who take pleasure in these quirks, however it has a surprisingly straightforward going nature. Hundred Heroes accomodates new gamers like me with fight that is easy to understand and a narrative that is emotional and sprawling and completely price your time.
When you’ve not performed Suikoden, or Hundred Heroes’ prequel Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, there is not any want to fret. The sport’s story stands by itself as a sprawling continent-wide struggle that is not solely welcoming to newcomers, however informed in a method that is manageable for people like me who wrestle to maintain up with who’s preventing who and for what.
There’s this land referred to as Allraan, proper. And there is these people referred to as the Galdean Empire led by a conniving king referred to as Dux Alric. He isn’t very good. Why? As a result of Allraan is house to those issues referred to as Rune Lenses (highly effective magic issues) and he needs to harness their energy for evil. You play as Nowa, a member of a band of beneficiant mercs. Nowa will get caught up in Dux Alric’s evil plans and decides – a pushy chief who nearly actually has a crush on Nowa will get concerned, as nicely – to place a cease to it. To dismantle Alric’s plans, Nowa should journey round Allraan amassing a military of highly effective heroes. One-hundred-and-something, to be semi-precise (the sport’s title, regardless of sounding definitive, is inaccurate).
I do not need to spoil the story, however I’ll make the spoiler-free remark that Nowa’s journey folds into two others: an Empire lad referred to as Seign, and a forest dweller referred to as Marisa. Whereas it’d sound overwhelming, it is all delivered by the use of smaller, extra private tales that assist you to perceive the larger image. For example, you be taught extra in regards to the origins of the Rune Lenses not from a prolonged spiel, however from an precise swap in perspective and a hands-on quest that rigorously complicates issues with out ever straying into tangle territory.
The primary story is what steers you to new locations with quest markers, so you’ve got ceaselessly obtained someplace to journey. For essentially the most half, exploration sees you progress by means of areas of Allraan, the place you will bounce between bustling cities stuffed with Chinese language-inspired structure, cutesy ice villages, and Shi’arc infested desert oases. Like say, the unique Last Fantasy 7, these locations exist as blocky bits on a condensed 3D map, which you will run between as titan-sized Nowa avatar to present off the impression you are protecting nice distances.
A sample does set up itself pretty shortly, within the sense that you will go to some cities, get entangled in that area’s story, then inevitably end up travelling to a dungeon. Right here you both navigate some corridors to get from A to B, otherwise you navigate some corridors with bonus puzzling. Hooray!
Early on there are loads of forest paths that lie between you and thriller issues, and these are largely positive, with some chests to crack open and assets to reap. Some dungeons, the place you have to activate glyphs to rotate paths, or discover keys to open colored doorways, can grate a bit, although. I discovered their mixture of empty corridors and traditionalist puzzles slightly tedious, made all of the extra irritating when my to-and-froing was interrupted by fixed random encounters.
It is to be anticipated, proper? Eiyuden is old-fashioned: you have to save at particular factors (there’s an autosave characteristic, though it is rare sufficient to make me distrustful); you are ceaselessly dragged into fights wherever you go. JRPG stalwarts will not thoughts this stuff, and can little doubt take pleasure in scraps that crash onto your display like YouTube advertisements. I’ve grown used to them, however I want there was a velocity up button to whizz by means of the less complicated duties throughout journey.
Fights themselves are turn-based, with a bar stuffed with each pleasant and enemy portraits letting you recognize who’s subsequent. At first of your flip, you cycle by means of your celebration of six and choose every of their strikes one after the other. Click on “end” and fight commences, with everybody doing their factor; rinse and repeat. It is clear and straightforward to understand, with added technique in the way you place your celebration members. Three members go on the entrance, whereas three go behind them (one additional exists as a assist buff that does not battle), so it is essential you pop burly lads on the entrance, for instance, whereas squishier rangers or spellcasters can do their factor from a comparatively secure distance.
As soon as I arrange my celebration, although, I go for the “auto” button – which simply lets everybody do their very own factor – for 90% of the fights. Even together with some bosses. Actually, I respect the auto operate’s energy in making it simpler for the story-oriented participant who need to crack on with minimal fuss, however I’ve discovered its efficiency exposes the fight’s limitations.
Communication is what it comes all the way down to, I feel. Apart from when your heroes take their turns, you may’t inform who the enemy goes to focus on and with what. Your choices are to spam the identical few strikes time and again, often ready on your SP bar to replenish so you may carry out a flowery Rune Lense-powered transfer. Typically your characters leap to take hits aimed toward another person, seemingly of their very own accord. Typically they’re going to stun enemies, seemingly out of nowhere. Results and the like aren’t communicated sufficient both, if in any respect (most are buried in an in-game menu), so even with out the auto system fights tackle an auto-battler really feel: a double shot of attrition with a splash of randomness.
There’s additionally no system the place you exploit enemy weaknesses to construct up additional turns like Shin Megami Tensei 5, or in-depth buildcrafting to offset some turn-based fatigue like Last Fantasy 8‘s Junction system. As a substitute, Hundred Heroes’ equal is hero combos, the place sure matey celebration members can carry out tremendous duper strikes, like Nowa and the plucky Lian who can expend 2SP every to rinse enemies with a slash and a punch. They’re splendidly animated and seeing giant numbers pop up is nice, however man, it does not add some other dimension to fight apart from, “I suppose I will wait a bit so I can use it once more”.
The distinction with Boss battles is that they typically have “Gimmicks” that take higher benefit of your turns. One battle towards an enormous crab has you expend turns to hit its legs, toppling it and exposing its pale stomach for a spherical of extra highly effective smacks. Others have you ever wrestle over a lever that causes an infinite boulder to crash onto whoever it looms over on the finish of the flip. A handful make for essentially the most memorable fights within the sport by putting extra weight in your actions.
Fight is switched up a bit by altering your roster. In your journey throughout Allraan you will recruit plenty of buddies, primarily by exploring areas till you bump right into a extra vibrant character mannequin than everybody else round, a bit like if you spot a cosplayer getting off the tube. Some do not take a lot persuading, whereas others demand you battle them, or fetch them issues. It is endlessly thrilling if you add somebody new and rejig your optimum setup. For example, I’ve a specific fondness for a beer-bellied man who calls me “COUSIN!!” and hurls cannonballs. A shinobi who hurls shurikens is my ranged go-to, as she’s capable of evade assaults like no-ones enterprise. And I’ve levelled one healer from the beginning who’s able to raging, which turns her from a healbot to an authorized Tyson Fury.
However whereas having heaps and many heroes means nice selection in who does 90% of your auto-battling, it is a bit of a disgrace that selection can solely be injected at inns or save factors (at save factors if you’ve got obtained a particular seventh assist character outfitted), the place swapping mid-combat – even from a small pool, versus everybody – may’ve made adaptation extra fascinating. Usually you decide to a setup, then remorse your determination, otherwise you decide to a setup and persist with it, as a result of some heroes are clearly higher than others. I’ll say that the sport handles levelling your heroes nicely, as underleveled people get tons extra EXP till they’ve caught up, so new heroes aren’t instantly written off.
Climactic story moments are sometimes decided by a distinct type of turn-based battle that additionally encompasses your heroes, albeit in a method that is not all that clear. Issues go a bit Hearth Emblem in Conflict, a mode set on a grid the place you attempt to anticipate your opponent’s strikes by positioning your chief chips in advantageous spots. As soon as the flip begins, the digital camera zooms in on an automatic battle the place you see dinky troops swipe halberds and tussle with fireballs. It is unclear, as a result of regardless of with the ability to swap battalion leaders to confer advantages to your troopers, there’s little or no information on how your varied different heroes really contribute to the battle because it’s taking place. I discover I simply type of transfer some items and the battle resolves itself, or it goes a sure method as a result of the story predetermined it.
As somebody who’s not the largest technique head, so I admire the sport’s relaxed nature in letting me press a button, watch the motion unfold, and, sometimes, take the reins. However, as with the turn-based fight, some people who like pure, complete management over the stats might rue its relative simplicity.
Off the battlefield, Heroes discover a house in your Fort, which exists as a centerpoint on your military, and a settlement you put money into over the course of the sport. It is an infinite factor, a bit like Yakuza’s Dondoko Island, that might have its separate mini-review. However I’ll say that it is a beautiful place to see your buddies get collectively, a simple solution to harvest assets extra reliably afterward, house to enjoyable minigames (cooking, racing, Beyblade) and its improvement acts as an embodiment of your progress.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has some old-fashioned habits, and they are often troublesome to stay with at first, however as soon as you agree into these quirks, it is a story you will wrestle to place down. The sense of journey is magnificent, as you march throughout snowy valleys, lush jungles, and dusty deserts, sweeping up buds alongside the way in which. And also you usually partake in moments that’ll genuinely shock, ceaselessly maintaining your quest from getting stale. Anticipate one-on-one fights, cinematic track, and races of some description. When you’re a fan of Suikoden, it is a no-brainer. And for those who’re a fan of JRPGs or wrestle a bit with old school issues, I might nonetheless urge you to present it a shot. It is a actually beautiful grasp.
This assessment was primarily based on a assessment construct of the sport supplied by the builders.
