Let’s talk about Eiyuden Chronicle (Hundred Heroes). We know, it will always be tricky to create games that appeal to nostalgia. Eiyuden Chronicle maintaining the atmosphere of a game that existed two or three decades ago while also integrating some of the latest updates that fans have become familiar to in the genre. Which is amazing!
For a role-playing game (RPG), the story is quite basic. Big vile empire discovers a technology that could provide them more power and wants more power. Coming from a little village, our protagonist faces a threat and endeavors to overcome it, defeating the villain along the way. Of course, I’m being sarcastic, but that’s basically the main point of the story. It’s not a bad thing, but honestly, it won’t be taking home any Nebulas very soon.
Variety of Heroes
The massive expanse of this game is what sets it apart. There are over a hundred heroes to enlist, lots of entertaining minigames, and an entire city to construct. This game pushes you to adopt the completionist mindset from the past. Which is something you don’t often see these days. The game aims to assist you in achieving the broad range of the achievements, which is basically “do everything.”
The game’s strict devotion to an antiquated aesthetic turned me off at first. However, when I uncovered features like quick travel, a guide for some collectibles, and passive material gathering, I came to enjoy it. Despite the fact that I dislike it, here’s one thing that I’ll suggest. Make sure you play it for 10-20 hours before make a judgment
Among numerous heroes, one intriguing feature is that they limited you to using a specific composition in the most battle. But, there is a catch-up mechanism here. So you can feel free to experiment and select the one that works best for you. There are plenty of possibilities because you can bring 3 front liners, 3 rear liners, and a support. They can be sent to “attendance” level, even though you are frequently limited to a specific party. Thus, you don’t use them in battle.
Too Much Upgrading and Hard to Shine on this game
On the other hand, there are two problems. First, I didn’t attach myself to too many or studying a lot about them because there’s hardly any opportunity to shine. You may find a brief three-panel history for them, but it’s not enough to catch my interest. Second, it’s terrible that they’re upgrading all the stuff. It can be annoying to fiddle with equipment while heroes are in the party and on the benches. Also, if you upgrade every party member’s weapon at the blacksmith, you’ll have to see the same little animation ten times for each weapon. This monotonous process isn’t so enjoyable. Here, a bulk upgrade method would have been quite helpful.
Somehow, the encounter rate feels kinda low. Honestly, this isn’t all that horrible for most of the times. But, having to spend 60 seconds pacing the battlefield in between battles may be quite annoying if you’re hunting for a certain drop from an opponent. A little later in the game, they can use accessories to fix this, though for me, it still quite low.
Good Music Anyway!
Besides the heroes, I’m also a huge fan of the music and art style. It’s still very much in style to play in 2.5D, and the setting and battle looked fantastic. This game also has a variety of environments, vivid, and bright colors. The duels’ dramatic appearance was also very enjoyable to me. They will never bore you, since there isn’t too much of them. Even so, focusing on a “blur” that placed on the map really made me sick. Well, however, it could’ve done to address performance issues. Trying to put your mind on something that is far away is bad. FYI, This great OST was composed by Michiko Naruke (Super Smash Bros: Ultimate) and Motoi Sakuraba (Dark Souls). When the OST is officially available, I’ll go looking for it myself.
The Battle
Interesting things occur in battles. Once you set up your party’s actions, they happen based on how quickly they can be completed. This is a nice mechanic as it allows you to defeat an opponent or use one of the various “gimmicks” in the game before they have a chance to react. Furthermore, it is important because enemies seem to attack extremely hard and rapidly, and the only ways to recover are via consumables or MP that doesn’t automatically restore. Since you are unable to use a “tent” at save points, you should always be very ready for battle. There’s a significant tactical component to planning as there’s a limited amount of bag capacity, at least until you unlock fast travel, at which point it all becomes unnecessary.
Most of the time, the gimmicks are really intriguing. These are the ones where you turn a switch and then hide behind an object or something similar to get a reaction. Depending on the situation, it could be just opening a chest or avoiding a strong punch, or making sure an attack goes after the enemy rather than you.
Conclusion
Whether you like it or not, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is essentially an ode to vintage JRPGs. The encounter pace, lack of character development, and gear management are just a few of the issues that detract from the overall enjoyment of the experience, despite the breathtaking scenery and soundtrack. Regardless, I will always remember this as a very unique experience. As I’ve said previously, fans will genuinely like Suikoden because not many games are able to fulfill the same desires. You can visit following link if you want to know more about this game: https://eiyudenchronicle.com/
