“Don’t decide a e book by its cowl.” A small youngster dressed as legally distinct 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 realized the adage applies to Hundred Heroes itself as a lot because it did to regardless of the youngster was speaking about. It would’ve been after I met a cleric whose vices included violence and foul language; however every time it was, it inspired me to miss the misgivings Hundred Heroes’ poor first impressions raised in me, and there have been loads. Hundred Heroes adheres a bit too intently to outdated design conventions, however the power of its writing and characters makes up for its short-sightedness.
Rabbit and Bear have been severe once they promised a contemporary Suikoden-like. You play as Nowa, a member of the Eltisweiss Watch mercenary corps dedicated to retaining the peace. What begins as a piddling collection of errands for close by villages quickly turns into one thing extra severe as Nowa and the Watch get drawn into conflicts that threaten their beliefs and all the world. Additionally, like Suikoden, Hundred Heroes divides its time between world exploration, the place you choose up quests and new characters, battles, and dungeon crawling, the latter of which is principally an excuse for extra battles.
Hundred Heroes additionally sticks fairly near Suikoden 2’s fight with a number of refreshing expansions. Your staff consists of as much as six lively characters with expertise you may increase with runes, which grant totally different skills and buffs, and every character will get a number of rune slots that enable for intensive customization. The system is satisfying in itself however comes into its personal when you begin linking character assaults and forming distinctive combos.
Because the title suggests, recruiting the sport’s 100-plus heroes performs a giant function. Some be part of robotically, however the extra attention-grabbing ones have a quest related to them that offers a bit extra perception into their character and place on the earth. They usually play a minor function within the story after that, however their detailed sprite animations and voiced strains nonetheless make them really feel like a part of the story and never an afterthought.
The setup sounds too acquainted, however regardless of author Yoshitaka Murayama drawing clear inspiration from his earlier works, Hundred Heroes by no means feels spinoff and ultimately surpasses its supply materials. It owes a lot of its character to that sturdy solid of brilliantly written characters and a willingness to embrace humor and the ridiculous as a approach to lower deeper with its severe themes of autonomy and fairness.
In addition they save Hundred Heroes from itself. Gradual traversal, an empty world map, and tedious dungeons make Hundred Heroes extra irritating than it must be, however the promise of a brand new character vignette or extra plot development was at all times sufficient to maintain me urgent ahead.
Hundred Heroes expands Suikoden’s base-building function with new guilds and teams to your social gathering members to kind. At a look, that looks as if busywork, and it’s. However it additionally represents one thing deeper. Your fortress is a microcosm of Hundred Heroes’ themes, a small society of people that look, act, and assume nothing alike however who respect one another and struggle for the proper to dwell freely, with out hate.
In battle, a strong AI system allows you to program instructions and let your social gathering take care of weaker enemies primarily based on the way you’ve custom-made their runes. Boss fights are simply advanced sufficient that they demand your full consideration, although, thanks in some half to the gimmick function. These dwell as much as their title, for higher and worse, reminiscent of making you guess the place an enemy will transfer or forcing you to assault a selected object. They’re a pleasant change of tempo at first however rapidly outstay their welcome.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an effective reminder of why the RPG style left some elements of its Golden Age behind. It’s additionally an affidavit to what makes the style particular and the ability of fine storytelling to maneuver and encourage. Admittedly, inflexible adherence to archaic constructions makes these first impressions robust to look previous, however a artistic battle system, intensive social gathering customization, and top-notch writing make up for the retro jank.