By raising nearly three million euros during its Kickstarter campaign launched during the summer of 2020, Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes proved that players' love for the JRPG was tenacious, and even more so when it was whispered to them Suikoden's name in his ear. So much so that the Japanese developers of Rabbit & Bear Studios took the liberty of delaying the project by releasing a spin-off subtitled Rising in 2022, before serving us the main course. And for once, we are treated to great gastronomy, very inspired by recipes from the past.
It's not for nothing that the label of the Suikoden franchise sticks so closely to this Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. While Konami's license is locked in a cupboard whose key has been thrown into the ocean, the original creator of the series Yoshitaka Murayama decides to set up his own studio to continue his work without having to go through the process. Japanese publisher. An excellent idea that it ultimately did not see through to completion since the Japanese producer unfortunately left us a few weeks ago. Despite this tragedy, Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is released in a successful form which does not fail to recall its main source of inspiration from the first minutes of the game, by resuming the main feature of the Suikoden series: a huge number of playable characters and turn-based combat capable of supporting up to six of them.
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On the storyline side, Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes places us alongside Nowa, a young recruit of the Guard. His first mission sends his team on a co-expedition with members of the Empire, with the aim of finding a primitive runic lens whose power could change the face of the world. Players who have played Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising will find the same lore in the background, with these lenses capable of granting magical powers, while several characters make their return like Garoo, Mellore or even Gocteau. The links between the two titles, however, remain discreet enough not to put aside players who are starting the franchise. with this episode much more complete than its predecessor. If there was still room for doubt, with Hundred Heroes we quickly realized that Rising was in reality only a small taste of what awaited us, with two titles ultimately very different in substance, and even in form.
Where Rising opted for 2D movement and dynamic A-RPG-style combat, Hundred Heroes is much closer to the traditional JRPGs of the 32-bit era with 3D for the environments and turn-based clashes. In the end only the bestiary and the characters (heroes and NPCs) are in 2D, for a result which is somewhat reminiscent of the latest HD-2D productions like Octopath Traveler, but with much less pronounced pixelation. A mixture that works very well here, for a general rendering ranging from very neat to superb and an Xbox Series X version which does not suffer from any resolution issues. The sets and interiors are elaborate and well detailed, while the musical compositions recall more old-school themes for an adventure that ultimately realizes flawless in terms of its artistic direction. The animations are also of excellent quality and in concrete terms we take great pleasure in evolving in this universe full of life imagined by Yoshitaka Murayama.
Overall, there is only one real criticism to make of this Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. By focusing on the plethora of playable characters, the group can consist of six heroes for combat. A figure which contrasts with the standardized productions which have accustomed us to groups of three to four characters maximum. If the idea is interesting on paper while making it easier to rotate and thus avoid leaving heroes in the closet, it shows its limits in the game, and in particular on the preparation time for each turn. Even if the choices are limited to the traditional attack, magic, object defense and escape commands, the system seems particularly cumbersome at first glance. Fortunately, the developers thought of including an “auto” mode which allows you to give control to the game, with the possibility of controlling each person's actions by developing strategies via the menu. Enough to speed up debates that are sometimes too long and tedious, to better regain control during boss phases, which are much more difficult and which have some appreciable variations with the possibility of interacting, sometimes, with elements of the decor. Note the presence of an ATB (Active Time Battle) bar which allows you to better organize the actions to be carried out, particularly when it comes to providing care.
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For the rest, it is clearly a title that will delight fans of the genre. Disposing with excellent rhythm, the game from Rabbit & Bear Studios promises us to travel through various regions, while varying its environments with the snowy mountain, the winding canyon, the forest of giant trees, small villages and big cities, among others. Places connected by a map to navigate freely. Without being extraordinary, the level design of the dungeons is satisfactory, and do not forget to punctuate the progress through long corridors with mechanisms to activate to continue moving forward. Move a mine cart, transform into an unstoppable ice cube to cross a ravine or rotate walls to create a path in a runic temple, everything is done to avoid redundancy, while alternating these phases with encountering enemies randomly. It's simple, and even if we've already seen much better elsewhere (with Sea of Stars to cite a recent title), it's rather effective. No jealousy regarding the playability sinceit is possible to move and navigate the menus with the choice of the left stick or the BMD (multi-directional button) which should satisfy purists.
Without seeking innovation at all costs, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes also wants to be very traditional in its mini-games. In good numbers, we still regret that most of them are not of great interest, and the gameplay is generally very limited. Between the fishing game which relies on your reflexes and the Beyblade-style top battles which provide no pleasure, we are a little disillusioned when the time comes to get our heads out of the fights and dungeons. Same thing with the battle sequences which are not very exciting and which see chaotic clashes stretching out in length even if we underline the desire to have wanted to densify the content of the title. Fortunately, the card game and the reconstruction of the castle are already a little more interesting. Without falling into a pure management game, the possibility of developing the Alliance camp quickly becomes addictivewith the need to find resources and forcing the finding of certain specific partners to allow the opening of various establishments such as the armor shop, the restaurant or even the hot water springs.
And finding as many companions as possible quickly becomes a priority, whether to occupy the various posts in the castle, or to swell the ranks of our small, motley army. Throughout our journey and the scenario, we meet characters who automatically join the existing group, while the storyline regularly requires you to integrate one or more members into the combat phases. Several heroes, however, are optional and therefore missable, and will only join Nowa's cause if the player manages to meet their expectations, again diverse and varied. A face-to-face match to win, an object to recover or a friend to save, we take pleasure in satisfying requests to welcome new traveling partners. Better yet, certain attacks called “hero combo” require several characters with particular affinities or commonalities to be triggered. A point which reinforces this almost visceral need to recruit absolutely all the heroeshelped by the clairvoyant capable of approximately locating those who are still missing.
There probably couldn't have been a better tribute to Suikoden than this Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. Beyond its somewhat sluggish combat, the title from Rabbit & Bear Studios has perfectly imbued itself with what made the strength of the Konami franchise with an incredible number of characters to recruit and a very present scent of adventure. Two elements that make the experience particularly addictive and make you want to return as soon as you release the controller. Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is also a good entry point for players who want to discover the turn-based JRPG genre, and a real essential for regulars.
+
- Many characters to recruit
- Very successful artistic direction
- Dungeons and varied environments
- Old-school, modern adventure
- Addictive castle management
- Very generous in its content
- Overall nice character design
- Two difficulty modes
–
- Fights that lack rhythm
- Several mini-games that are too average