Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Consider – An Aged Star Rises

“Don’t choose a e-book by its take care of.” A tiny boy or lady dressed as legally distinctive Sailor Moon chirped this trite little phrase at me about an hour into Rabbit and Bear’s Suikoden successor Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. I’m unsure once I acknowledged the adage applies to Hundred Heroes itself as significantly because it did to no matter what the boy or lady was chatting about. It would’ve been instantly after I glad a cleric whose vices bundled violence and foul language however anytime it was, it impressed me to neglect the misgivings Hundred Heroes’ weak 1st impressions raised in me, and there had been an important deal. Hundred Heroes adheres a bit means too intently to outdated design and elegance conventions, however the energy of its composing and folks helps make up for its small-sightedness.

Rabbit and Bear ended up extreme after they promised a gift day Suikoden-like. You interact in as Nowa, a member of the Eltisweiss Try mercenary corps dedicated to preserving the peace. What begins as a piddling sequence of errands for shut by villages shortly turns into one factor further vital as Nowa and the Take a look at get drawn into conflicts that threaten their beliefs and the total setting. Additionally, like Suikoden, Hundred Heroes divides its time in between earth exploration, precisely the place you select up quests and new characters, battles, and dungeon crawling, the latter of which is basically an excuse for much extra battles.

Hundred Heroes additionally sticks actually shut to Suikoden 2’s overcome with a a number of refreshing expansions. Your group incorporates as much as six vigorous characters with strategies you possibly can enhance with runes, which grant distinct talents and buffs, and every particular person character receives fairly just a few rune slots that let for in depth customization. The method is satisfying in alone however comes into its particular person while you begin linking character assaults and forming distinctive combos.

Because the title implies, recruiting the sport’s 100-plus heroes performs a big function. Some join instantly, however the far more attention-grabbing varieties have a quest related to them that provides a bit extra perception into their temperament and placement within the planet. They often play a slight objective within the story after that, however their in depth sprite animations and voiced strains proceed to make them really really feel like element of the story and never an afterthought.

The setup appears additionally widespread, however no matter creator Yoshitaka Murayama drawing very clear inspiration from his earlier is efficient, Hundred Heroes by no means feels spinoff and ultimately surpasses its useful resource product. It owes considerably of its identification to that sturdy solid of brilliantly revealed individuals and a willingness to embrace humor and the absurd as a solution to cut back deeper with its essential themes of autonomy and equity.

Additionally they assist save Hundred Heroes from by itself. Sluggish traversal, an vacant setting map, and wearisome dungeons make Hundred Heroes additional discouraging than it must be, however the assure of a brand new character vignette or much more plot development was continually greater than sufficient to protect me pressing forward.

Hundred Heroes expands Suikoden’s base-developing attribute with new guilds and teams on your get collectively associates to kind. At a look, that looks as if busywork, and it’s. Nevertheless it additionally signifies a factor deeper. Your fortress is a microcosm of Hundred Heroes’ themes, a compact trendy society of people who glimpse, act, and assume little or no alike however who respect each different and battle for the suitable to live freely, with no hate.

In battle, a strong AI system allows you to software program instructions and permit your get collectively take care of weaker enemies primarily based totally on how you’ve got custom-made their runes. Supervisor fights are simply elaborate ample that they demand from prospects your complete focus, whereas, many thanks in some aspect to the gimmick aspect. These live as much as their title, for superior and even worse, this type of as producing you guess wherever an enemy will shift or forcing you to assault a exact merchandise. They’re a nice modify of tempo at initially however instantly outstay their welcome.

 

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a superb reminder of why the RPG style left some parts of its Golden Age driving. It’s also a sworn statement to what helps make the type unique and the electrical energy of excellent storytelling to shift and encourage. Admittedly, inflexible adherence to archaic constructions helps make these 1st impressions robust to look previous, however a inventive battle course of, substantial event customization, and major-notch producing make up for the retro jank.