505 Games
Eiyuden Chronicle from developer Rabbit and Bear Studios is a bold take on a classic experience brought forward to modern times.
Unabashadedly a spiritual successor to Suikoden, Eiyuden Chronicle is giving fans exactly what they want in this regard. It is, after all, one of the highest-funded games on the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter ever.
For those out of the loop, that means a character-heavy RPG with recruitable party members in the triple digits. It means a lengthy, engrossing tale with simple-yet-deep mechanics and high replayability.
Whether Eiyuden Chronicle lives up to the Suikoden tier is dependent on execution after multiple delays, but the early signs point toward one of the year's landmark RPGs.
Graphics and Gameplay
The journey through Allraan with a diverse range of characters and races is a stunning 90s RPG throwback done right.
Allraan and its kingdoms and regions consistently stun in variety and depth. The colorful art style and direction make it easy for the world to feel lived-in, especially with so much detail packed into the environments, from humble caves to vast deserts and beyond.
The game quite literally takes after its namesake (Hundred Heroes) too, as players can recruit more than 100 characters. Each of these are incredible sprites that are not only visually interesting, but well-animated as they navigate the world and combat—the latter of which comes with eye-popping animations and effects. Battle itself is rarely unappealing visually, with some really fun camera zooms and special effects for the big attacks.
As a whole, there's a throwback feel to the art design and even battles, yet it is impressively mixed with 3D in a way that will have players forgetting to blink.
As expected of a game of this ilk, there is a fantastic soundtrack that players will hum along with pretty quickly. But it also nails the voice acting and dialogue. For the latter point, the ambient dialogue while exploring and within scenes is very, very good and engaging in a way that colorizes personalities and relationships.
When it comes to user interface (UI), the apparent lack of a questlog will be an issue for players, especially when attempting to remember how to recruit more than a handful of characters. And the lack of camera control in dungeons can cause frustration, as it's just one of those problems it would've been nice to see left in the past.
Depsite those UI shortcomings, it is an otherwise impressive performer in this regard. There is so much information for the game to pack onto the screen and in menus, yet it remains visually appealing and informative throughout.
Speaking of those dungeons, not all are straightforward combat and walking, as some boast engaging puzzles that block progress. Thankfully, the map embedded into the UI is rather well done and helps guide the player to different elevations when necessary.
Combat, of course, is the proverbial meat on the bone. The turn-based battles include up to six party members and run the expected gamut of features, such as the environment itself helping to determine character placement. Different character types excel in certain spots, like putting healers near the backline to keep them protected.
Otherwise, the expected checklist items—players can use basic attacks or special moves via the rune-lenses while managing MP or SP. The former needs to rejuvenate after use and the latter builds over the course of a fight.
There are also combo attacks that players can use, mixing and matching with different characters to interesting results. Those are especially important during the heavy-feeling boss battles that shake up the monotony of just running through rank-and-file parties of normal enemies.
In a fun twist, players can also partake in one-on-one duels, which feature dialogue, tough decisions and some seriously cinematic battlegrounds that are worth the wait.
The inverse to this, impressively enough, is a war mode meant to emulate a much bigger conflict. Think, a grid-styled segment where players control troops and attempt to achieve win conditions. It is, if nothing else, a fun side mode to have that breaks up the typical gameplay.
While some of this is very by-the-books stuff, that's what the game sets out to offer. And it all comes together splendidly to create that necessary approachable-yet-complex-with-depth feel that makes or breaks an RPG. Plus, it's simply a blast to play, both because of the combat and the wealth and depth of characters players will stumble upon throughout the journey.
Story and More
Saying a throwback effort like Eiyuden Chronicle hits on the expected tropes isn't such a bad thing.
The quick summary? The Galdean Empire discovers technology that improves rune-lenses' magic, then begins to expand while seeking out items that will push this advantage over the world even further. A trio of "core" protagonists eventually meet, and well, longtime RPG players can fill in the blanks.
What's really important is the execution. The way the main characters riff off of each other amid the story and alongside the staggering number of recruitable characters out in the world is downright fantastic. If players find the narrative itself lacking, they might be too engrossed in the relationships to notice.
It sure helps that the game consistently explores the splendid cultural backdrop on the historic relationship between humans, beastmen, elves and others via the main narrative and even environmental storytelling.
Eiyuden Chronicle goes beyond just recruiting as a major aspect. Completing the tasks to "earn" another party member is fun in its own right. But there's also the ability to build out a town, which is its own side content that will eat up much of a player's time.
This doesn't go unexpected places, but it sure offers some rather staggering depth and fun. For example, different facilities unlock varying things for the town, whether it's the sheer size of the location or things it can do, etc. Not only is it engrossing, it's just nice to have something for all characters recruited to do, narrative and immersion-wise.
Players have full control of the immediate party, too. Players can customize party members via runes, which means tweaking magic, abilities, stat boosts, auto-skills and more. Within towns, the usual suspects like blacksmiths upgrading character-specific weapons means full control over a player's favorite party members.
There's a rather surprising bit of attention paid to auto-battle options, too. Players can go off the deep end here when it comes to party member behavior, which is nice because it's sometimes worth it to just let the party auto-battle instead of retaining full control over the random amount of encounters.
Beyond simple difficulty levels, players can choose different modifiers atop those levels, such as being unable to escape battles, prohibiting the use of HP recovery items in battle and other things that create unique challenges for those seeking more. There are some other classical takes in execution, too, such as the (likely polarizing) ability to only save progress at save points.
Conclusion
Eiyuden Chronicle faced the tall task of honoring the old school achievements that created all-timer experiences vs. proper modernization that will keep younger audiences engaged.
Luckily for the game, those old-school trappings have, by and large, aged incredibly well.
That's not to sell Eiyuden Chronicle short, though. It walks the difficult tightrope impressively well, offering up a lengthy, engrossing experience littered with memorable characters, depth, and replayability in a way many games simply can't. For older gamers, it's a nostalgia trip to the PS1 or PS2 days in the best possible way, too.
Serving as a proof of concept that throwback experiences can be heavyweights in 2024 and beyond, Eiyuden Chronicle manages to stand out in the RPG-heavy calendar year, an impressive feat even if it doesn't squeak into Game of the Year conversations (though it probably should).