A spiritual successor to Suikoden that in turn is an interesting proposal that takes us back to the classic facets of the Japanese RPG.
The JRPG genre is generating growing interest this year thanks in large part to the appearance of both new playable proposals, such as Granblue Fantasy Relink or the recent Unicorn Overlord, and remakes of classic games from other eras, these being cases such as Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth , offering a variety that is not at all negligible, both in terms of designs and different types of gameplay.
Despite this, nostalgia for the return of franchises that return to the classic style of the outstanding games of yesteryear, especially from the 16 and 32-bit era, is noticeable with some recent proposals, such as Sea of Stars . With this, today we are finally presented with Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes, the long-awaited game from Rabbit & Bear, a studio made up of former developers of Konami’s Suikoden series, including the sadly deceased Yoshitaka Murayama , whose proposal apart from being A spiritual successor to said series, it is presented as a title dedicated to JRPG fans.
The plot revolves around Nowa and his adventure that will begin as a simple militia recruit on a joint mission with the Empire, later becoming the leader of the resistance against its machinations, with Doge Aldric operating in the shadows seeking Take advantage of the potential of Tumulorrunes , artifacts that have great magical power, for your benefit. Nowa, along with his companions, will travel through various locations and live adventures to recruit new members and confront this threat.
One of the highlights of the game is, without a doubt, its extensive cast of characters, offering a wide variety of characters and personalities to recruit throughout the extensive adventure that the game offers while showing their character during the game scenes or talking to them. While many of them will join simply as the adventure progresses or by finding them and asking them to join, others, however, will need to meet certain requirements , such as completing a secondary mission having the character as a guest in the group, bringing a quantity of certain materials or an object, having a specific character in the group or even leading to the realization of some mini-games.
It should be noted that each character will have a different performance depending on their capabilities , with characters that work better as support in the rear line or others with medium or long distance attacks while others will stand out being in the front and in some cases even requiring space. of two space slots to be able to be within the group. As they gain experience through battles, they will gain levels allowing them, at certain points, to unlock new runic abilities and slots in which they can equip new ones that fall under certain types, which may be magical, skill-based or ability-increasing. parameters. This aspect can only be customized through rune shops where you can purchase and change equipment in this aspect.
Each character will be able to carry four pieces of equipment , including head, torso and legs along with a slot for accessories, and can obtain new ones through the stores available in each city or by opening chests throughout the game. Each character will have a predetermined weapon that can increase its level by smithing and paying the corresponding amount of basquas (in-game money), greater with each improvement, resulting in an increase in power and, at certain levels, the change of the name of the weapon. weapon.
Throughout the adventure, you will have to select the combat group , with a maximum of six combat members, being able to decide which characters will accompany Nowa among those available at any given time. At certain times it will be necessary to bring specific characters to advance the plot, who may be included in the group within the combat group or as assistants, who will have no effect on the battles. As the game progresses and new characters are recruited, a support character can be included , which will not enter combat but will provide special effects with its presence, such as collecting more materials at the mining, wood or collection points. hunt, increase the level of attack and defense in combat or be able to change group members at save points.
The development of the headquarters will also be an important part of the game, starting with a ruined fortress that will have to be improved through the site plan options. In it you will see the range of the fortress, which when increased will expand the options of available improvements and drastically increase the population, while the improvements will allow you to build different locations that will allow you to accumulate materials or have different functions , such as rune shops, equipment, accessories, blacksmithing and even an inn to rest or thermal baths, along with some that will allow access to information on both the game’s lore and the game. To do this, it will be necessary to gather the required materials and basquas, although in certain cases it will be necessary to gather special materials, of a certain rarity, and recruit specific characters, who will be the ones to manage the functions, making the appearance of the fortress improve in the long run. considerably.
The mini-games offered by the game are varied and offer interesting challenges, ranging from simple activities such as fishing to others such as kitchen battles, beigoma or card games. These last two will have some importance since they are the ones that will require the most dedication and improvements. Card battles will allow you to face opponents, having to achieve combinations of cards, placed in three different positions on the board, to achieve a higher score than the opponent. In each turn a discard is made to remove new cards from the deck, trying to achieve the necessary combinations with which to take advantage and that provide extra points. Beigoma , for its part, consists of confrontations against opponents using tops with different characteristics and types that offer certain advantages and in some cases involve weaknesses. Some of them can be obtained in stores while others will be obtained as rewards in certain battles. The battles will consist of three rounds in which to take into account the opponent’s capabilities, the rotation force when throwing and also the opportune moment to attack the opponent, creating friction fights, ultimately achieving new tops, skills and improvements. .
Apart from the basic combats on the field and boss battles, wars against the units of the Empire will also take place in which you will have to control the different units independently to defeat the enemies and emerge victorious. In some cases positions will have to be safeguarded to avoid defeat while in other cases the defeat of a specific unit will have to be avoided. Each unit will have commands that include movement and change of orientation as well as skills that can be used, limited to a number of uses, having effects that will help in combat either by increasing the attack power of the unit or adjacent allies or by reducing it. said ability or defense against enemies. Depending on the circumstances, two abilities can be activated in the middle of the fight, rage and morale, the first being associated with the damage received and the second with the advantage over the enemy in the fight, providing advantages that will help tip the balance in favor.
In general, the playable section of the game is notable . Although the frequency of the combats, being random, can be a bit burdensome at certain times (along with some difficulty peaks in some confrontations), the game is really enjoyed as long as the options offered by the possibilities of the combat system along with the combinations of characters, along with the development of the main plot (which is interesting at every step) or the different mini-games it offers, varied and that maintain interest during the game. Without a doubt in this aspect the title is very complete.
In technical terms, the game knows how to combine the 3D style with scenarios with pixel art style characters, achieving a mix that does not clash and is even striking in terms of the effects of the different attacks, heroic combos, wars and the animations of the characters, They make the game shine with its own light. To this we must add the character designs and the variety offered by the scenarios, which are at a quite notable level.
For its part, the sound section offers a selection of varied tracks, ranging from calm themes such as the world map to battle themes that are epic and some vocal themes that add emotion to certain confrontations. Without a doubt, the mix of compositions contributed by three prominent composers such as Motoi Sakuraba (Tales of, Star Ocean), Michiko Naruke (Wild Arms) and Takeshi Yanagawa (Shenmue) results in a high-quality soundtrack . On the other hand, the game offers the option to select between voices for English and Japanese.
CONCLUSION
Without a doubt, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes lends itself to being a title to take into account within the genre as well as a worthy successor to the Suikoden saga, thanks in large part to a captivating technical section along with a high-quality soundtrack and a gameplay that offers an extensive number of hours between its main plot and secondary activities, controlling an extensive cast of characters that shine with their own light.