Review: A Disappointing, Disjointed Video Game from a Highly Anticipated Kickstarter Project

A Kickstarter successful does not necessarily guarantee a successful game. Without meaning to, this J-RPG could be the perfect example. Remember, in 2020, it was the most funded video game of the year and had gathered more than 40,000 contributors. And more than 3 million euros. We therefore expected a lot from this software which seemed to be a worthy heir to the J-RPGs of yesteryear, equipped with shimmering 2.5 D designs. Unfortunately, while it has only just been released on PC and consoles, its sentence has come to fall. Despite all the hopes of fans of the genre, this title is bad and riddled with bugs.

A project that fell through

The famous Kickstarter project is Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. It's a J-RPG where the gameplay allows players to recruit one hundred characters, who will then be used by our protagonist to end the war. It directly follows the episode Eiyuden Chronicle Rising, released in 2022, which introduced us to some of these future heroes. Despite a rather classic structure and gameplay, it was able to conquer the fans, which only augured well for the future. Unfortunately, Jason Schreier, an American journalist specializing in the video game industry, has just finished the title. It's really not that good.

I finished Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes a few days ago and I'm sad to report that it's a messy, disjointed game, with tedious activities and an underwhelming story. Plus: a critical bug prevented me from recruiting one of the characters and seeing the true ending, and for the moment it still hasn't been fixed. —Jason Schreier on X.

Nothing to save?

It is therefore a small disappointment for the work of the Rabbit & Bear studio. Additionally, many internet users seem to agree with Schreier and have even encountered the exact same issues. The journalist goes further in his criticism and we feel that he is really disappointed to see this potential wasted. He recognizes the artistic touch of the developers, but that is not enough to raise the level. “The three protagonists have no personality and the big political plot turns out to be nonsense. And it's so crazy. I really wanted to like Hundred Heroes, but alas…. “. This is a hard blow for all Kickstarter contributors, who unfortunately will not have received what they expected. However, the Eiyuden Chronicle license still has time to recover. Even though creator Yoshitaka Murayama recently died, there will indeed be a sequel. Although we don't know much about it yet, we hope that it will have the same financial success as “Hundred Heroes”, but that the developers will do their best to improve this universe.