4Gamers – Hands-on Preview | Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes feels like a diamond in the rough

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the spiritual successor to Suikoden. Strong JRPG shoes to fill. In this first look at the game, we explore the story of young Nowa, who joins the Eltisweiss Guard, and Seign, who is part of the Galdea Empire's army. The two meet during a mission and end up in trouble together. By escaping the dangers of ruin together, a friendship grows between the two. Unfortunately, it would be too easy to stop there. The Empire has developed a technology that can amplify the magic of runic lenses and wants to grow its power. What will happen when the two meet again on opposite sides of the battlefield?

The title of the game talks about one hundred heroes and you can take that seriously. At the beginning of the game, you will get the chance to have about ten different heroes fighting for you. These characters are all unique and the wide range promises to offer something for everyone. Unfortunately, the filmmakers risk some characters fading into the background. We meet an unforgettable priestess with an anger problem and a magical girl who decides to play that role herself. On the other hand, we also meet a samurai who we only know has a mission, or an archer who believes we have to prove ourselves to him. So the question is whether each of the 100 heroes will be given enough space to tell their story.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an ambitious game in terms of its story and characters. Unfortunately, it also starts very slowly in the early hours. On the other hand, the characters know how to have fun pranking along the way and we encounter some very charming archetypes. So Nowa seems like a standard JRPG heroine, but exaggerated. With the power of friendship he can conquer the world, even if those friends behind him groan at his naivety.

The power of friendship is also literally translated into the combat system. As you can expect from this genre, we are once again treated to a turn-based type of combat. At the start of a round, you can choose the actions of each of your teammates, keeping in mind the order that will take effect once all actions have been chosen. You can attack, use runic arts, or use different types of defense depending on the character. Boss battles sometimes involve tricks. For example, you can avoid a powerful laser beam by hiding behind obstacles, or you can hit a mole to defeat the boss. If two characters have a strong bond with each other, you can have them work together to perform an extra powerful attack. If you like toy cars, that's an option too. By giving each character the correct instructions in advance, the AI ​​will behave the way you prefer.

Unfortunately, the exploration in the game isn't as exciting as it could be. In dungeons and towns, you'll have to deal with fairly linear maps where branches always lead to a predictable outcome. The overworld map has opened up again, but it also looks incredibly empty. Furthermore, exploration sometimes becomes more tedious due to a combination of too much and too little explanation. So, sometimes you get advice that you have already implemented, but on the other hand you can also get very vague instructions like “We have to find the thing that does the thing.” We were also sometimes missing the quest log for smaller side quests or fetch quests.

Where Eiyuden is effortlessly compelling is in terms of graphics. The famous 2D-HD style that we also know from Octopath Traveler shows its best side again here. Beautiful animated backgrounds and fun sprites work together to give the player a great experience. Unfortunately, we're left with a camera that sometimes chooses the most uncomfortable angles to view in dungeons and towns. In addition to the visuals, there is also strong voice work. The music enriches the sometimes empty world, and the voice actors bring the characters to life.