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Lastly getting to take a seat down and play the discharge construct of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is one thing of a bittersweet second. On the one hand, it’s improbable to lastly have the extremely anticipated JRPG launch upon us, nevertheless, you may’t assist however really feel saddened on the collection creator, Yoshitaka Murayama, additionally of Suikoden fame, now not being with us to see his years of exhausting work repay following his current tragic passing. Whereas the unhappiness of Murayama’s dying within the run-up to his Suikoden non secular successor is plain, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes serves as an incredible reminder of what made the mastermind behind it so beloved within the trade, making it a pleasure to play all through.
A Recreation Of Runes
Being a non secular successor to Suikoden, it doesn’t take lengthy for similarities to lift their heads. The first comparability that may be drawn with Suikoden is within the expertly balanced tone the writing manages to strike all through Hundred Heroes narrative. Half action-packed comedy, half political intrigue, and magic-infused warfare, it’s not that the plot isn’t its personal factor, because it completely is, it’s that it manages to maneuver between the varied themes, irrespective of how tonally dissonant they need to be, with such confidence and coherence that the narrative by no means feels disconnected.
It follows the story of Nowa, a brand new recruit of The Watch, a volunteer military that serves the army wants of the League of Nations, a coalition of smaller territories who’ve banded collectively as a result of, nicely, energy in numbers and that’s precisely what you want when you may have the shadow of the neighboring Empire and its Imperial Military looming over you. Nowa’s preliminary time spent with The Watch performs out in pretty uneventful style, with Nowa’s get together being requested to enterprise out and examine a Rune Barrow that has been reported- historic dungeons full of all method of alien tech – seeking its hidden treasures. Upon reaching the vault, Nowa’s crew are launched to a few Imperial troopers, who’ve their causes for being there, however strike up an alliance with the Watch nonetheless. Issues, it appears are good between the watch and the Empire, till quick ahead 6 months, and the Empire decides to invade Grum, a territory inside the League of Nations and residential to the Watch’s HQ. The Empire’s objectives are clear, to try to deliver the League to its knees whereas framing The Look ahead to the battle and rising tensions.
What follows is a reasonably customary story of a band of unlikely allies coming collectively to uncover the Empire’s true objectives, whereas strengthening themselves to have the ability to sufficiently defend and hopefully topple the Empire, however the coronary heart, stability, and finesse with which Hundred Heroes weaves between comedic, snort out loud moments and situations of political stress and the committing of warfare crimes is admirable. That Hundred Heroes can really feel as breezy as a Saturday morning cartoon one second, whereas swinging in direction of storylines that wouldn’t have felt misplaced in Recreation of Thrones the following, with out feeling in any respect jarring, speaks volumes in regards to the craft on show right here. As well as, very similar to the Suikoden collection, Hundred Heroes is stacked with an enormous roster of memorable, well-written characters, which, together with the superb world-building and lore-filled dialogue, come collectively to create a world that I discovered myself immersed in each step of the best way.
Time To Resist
With the specter of the Empire looming, it falls on Nowa to create a resistance worthy of pushing again towards the Empire’s forces. I discussed the large character roster, and that is actually the place that big solid of characters comes into play, as, once more taking Suikoden’s lead, there are over 100 recruitable allies which can be prepared and capable of be a part of The trigger. Many of those are recruitable get together members that can be utilized in fight and exploration which we’ll get to, nevertheless, there’s additionally a big quantity which can be merely there to feed into the town-building options and warfare battles that you just’ll begin to encounter as soon as the story kicks into full throttle.
You’ll want allies to run the varied services which you could begin constructing as quickly as you acquire entry to a run-down fortress that quickly turns into the HQ of Nowa and his resistance. It’s not an excessively sophisticated system, permitting you to collect assets which in flip allows you to develop essential options similar to weapon and armor outlets, and the power to buy and equip Rune Lens’, that are Hundred Heroes’ tackle Suikoden’s runes, basically appearing as equipable gadgets that grant the consumer additional magical and assault choices in fight. In addition to offering entry to essential gameplay options, the entire town-building facet merely provides to the immersion and the sense that you just’re constructing one thing from nothing within the face of the Empire’s tyranny. There’s one thing magical about seeing your roster broaden with that after which feeding straight into the effectiveness of your city. Battle is a horrible factor, however heartwarming tales do emerge as communities rally collectively to assist each other by means of determined occasions, with the recruitment options and town-building being an important illustration of that.
You’ll additionally want allies to steer items within the aforementioned warfare battles, one other characteristic coming back from Murayama’s beloved collection. Hundred Heroes , at its core, tells a narrative centered round a large-scale battle, so it is sensible for warfare battles to return. Taking the type of a simplified technique RPG, you’ll take command of items with a top-down view of the battlefield, with every unit being led by an ally. Relying on the ally, you’ll have totally different skills that can be utilized within the warmth of battle along with your customary instructions that allow you to command your troops across the battlefield. Enter into the identical tile on the grid that these battles use, and your troops will have interaction with these of the enemy forces, battles taking part in out robotically till one facet has whittled the opposite down sufficient to have the ability to acquire floor.
They’re easy however efficient affairs. One factor I discover JRPG’s battle with sometimes is conveying the sense of large-scale battle by means of gameplay. It’s an extremely troublesome element to nail, as small-scale skirmishes that sometimes underpin the style’s fight programs usually don’t align with the world-ending threats that the style’s tales are identified for. By leaning on warfare battles, Hundred Heroes, very similar to Suikoden, avoids this pitfall and hammers residence that sense that you just’re concerned in one thing a lot bigger and threatening than your small band of get together members.
Provided that I’ve but to the touch on fight and exploration which type the core pillars of Hundred Heroes, you’ve in all probability gathered that it’s an extremely feature-rich expertise. Between all the things I’ve already touched on, and different diversions similar to a deck-building card sport that’s extremely addictive, and chilled-out hobbies similar to fishing, Hundred Heroes is an extremely beneficiant expertise that can suck up hours of your time with out you even noticing.
Frenetic and Acquainted
I’m certain most would agree, {that a} JRPG can have all of the attention-grabbing diversions on the planet, however it will all be for nothing if the general expertise was introduced down by a missing fight system. Fortunately, provided that Hundred Heroes is successfully a Suikoden sport in all however title, followers have completely nothing to fret about in that division.
What meaning in follow is which you could count on to have interaction in acquainted feeling turn-based fight that locations a heavy deal with fast-paced battles that enable for unimaginable flexibility in get together compositions given the huge variety of allies that may be slotted into your get together at will. Need to go for a celebration stuffed with spell-slinging mages, go for it! Or possibly you wish to create a group of six knowledgeable swordsmen who concentrate on bodily assaults and talents as an alternative. The latter possibility in all probability isn’t advisable, however the level is, Hundred Heroes is extremely malleable by way of how one can method fight. This flexibility persists all through, as even these moments the place you might be compelled to journey with a sure get together member might be labored round through the attendant system, which allows you to equip 4 passive get together members who can’t take part in battle, however will nonetheless be counted as a part of your crew for pivotal story beats that require sure allies to be current.
Fight itself performs out familiarly, for followers of Suikoden at the very least, as you queue up your six get together members’ actions initially of a flip, with all turns, each your get together’s and the enemy’s, taking part in out uninterrupted primarily based on the flip order which is displayed neatly on the high of the display screen. With the ability to see the flip order is a godsend, because it allows you to strategize your assault order earlier than you affirm your actions primarily based on which enemy is slated to go first, including a pleasant tactical layer to even the most straightforward of battles. Additional tactical selections must be made relying on who you may have in your get together, as you’d count on, with positional play being an enormous think about how battles play out given the various ranges that every ally’s assaults have. Along with all of this, you’ll have to successfully handle SP, generated by means of regular assaults and used to unleash bodily skills, and MP which fuels the spells of magic wielders. SP is especially necessary as that is the useful resource wanted to lift hell with combo skills, that see get together members mix their assaults to deal devastating harm and debuffs to the opposition.
I do suppose that there might be some individuals who will suppose that Hundred Heroes performs it barely too protected within the possibilities it takes with fight, nevertheless, the purpose of Murayama and his group was clearly to develop one thing that retained all the things individuals beloved about Suikoden, with good refinements being the secret fairly than groundbreaking adjustments in path. It was utterly the proper alternative, as this was clearly a love letter to a collection lengthy trapped previously, and if that isn’t your jam, then there are many options on the market that aren’t so beholden to such a tried and examined system.
The development programs are just like the fight programs in that they stability accessibility with depth to simply the correct diploma. Runes will really feel immediately acquainted to any Suikoden followers, permitting you to combine up your get together’s skills and spells at will. Whereas this iteration of the system nonetheless doesn’t carry the identical flexibility as, say, the materia system from Ultimate Fantasy VII, it’s nonetheless open-ended sufficient which you could fill every character’s a number of rune slots with numerous runes that will let you change up playstyles and create hybrid archetypes relying on what any given battle requires.
It admittedly takes some time for Hundred Heroes fight to disclose its true depths. New rune slots undoubtedly take too lengthy to turn out to be obtainable resulting from degree gating, and the opening hours current the sport as a deceptively easy affair, lowering the deal with development in service of narrative and world-building. However, when you’ve devoted a dozen hours or so, and also you begin hitting the spectacular boss battles that punctuate the expertise and begin messing round with the auto battle system that allows you to arrange the logic in your group to comply with with out instruction, in flip making even fights towards trash mobs extra attention-grabbing, you’ll discover it extremely exhausting to place the controller down.
A Spellbinding World
It’s not all fight although, as Hundred Heroes incorporates a fully beautiful world to enterprise out and discover in. You’ll traverse a stunning world map, dotted with splendidly diversified cities and cities to discover, many with their very own cultures and tales to them, fleshing out the world additional. You’ll wish to go to all these key places within the title of progress additionally, with most of the sport’s hundred-plus roster of characters tucked away off the crushed path, requiring you to have interaction in your curiosity to stumble throughout them. Exploration is the way you’ll collect nearly all of the assets that town-building requires, which means Hundred Heroes at all times looks like an extremely coherent bundle the place none of your time feels wasted.
Exploration is aided by the truth that that is an expertise that not often appears something lower than drop-dead beautiful always. Using the more and more standard 2.5D artwork model, characters are lovingly designed 2D sprites, positioned towards a extra traditional-looking 3D background. The design of the character sprites gave me that heat buzz that solely true nostalgia can present, harkening again to the character design of Suikoden with out ever feeling by-product. Some will argue that the world is a contact fundamental wanting by way of pure constancy, however with artwork design this good I feel to get hung up on one thing so minor can be to promote quick the unimaginable work the artwork path group has come by means of with right here. It’s the cherry on high of an already exceptional bundle.
Conclusion
For followers of Suikoden, taking part in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was at all times going to be an emotional expertise given Murayama’s passing. Fortunately, nevertheless, whereas we proceed to mourn the lack of an trade legend, we additionally get to have a good time his life’s work in one of the simplest ways potential by means of a exceptional JRPG that retains all the things individuals beloved about Suikoden whereas constructing upon it to create an unimaginable finish to an equally unimaginable profession. Trying again on my notes as I sat to put in writing this evaluation, I wasn’t stunned within the slightest to appreciate that the overwhelming majority of what I had written down was optimistic given the immense pleasure I felt whereas taking part in by means of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Any faults are minor, so minor to the purpose the place within the grand scheme of issues, they matter little and can’t even come near overshadowing all the things this sport will get proper. Taking part in by means of Nowa and his companions’ journey looks like a real celebration – a celebration of how unimaginable JRPGs might be when finished proper, a celebration of a legend’s profession, and the celebration of the delivery of a brand new franchise that I can not wait to see expanded upon for years to come back.
Ultimate Verdict: 5/5
Accessible On: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox Collection X/S, Xbox One, PC, Swap; Writer: 505 Video games; Developer: Rabbit & Bear Studios; Launched: April 23, 2024; Gamers 1; ESRB: E for Everybody 10+; MSRP: $49.99
Full Disclosure: A evaluation code was offered by the writer.
