Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes Reviews
A joyous adventure and fitting swan song for one of Japan's great RPG directors.
A big throwback RPG that doesn't meaningfully mess with Suikoden's 30-year-old formula.
One you get past its slow start, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes mostly succeeds in weaving the stories of multiple countries and characters together into a sprawling epic.
Murayama and the rest of the fine folks at Rabbit And Bear did it. They've created a masterwork. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes may have one foot firmly planted in the past, but make no mistake, its other foot is lunging forward into the future.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a good reminder of why the RPG genre left some parts of its Golden Age behind. It’s also a testimony to what makes the genre special and the power of good storytelling to move and inspire. Admittedly, rigid adherence to archaic structures makes those first impressions tough to look past, but a creative battle system, extensive party customization, and top-notch writing make up for the retro jank.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a retro-JRPG throwback that delivers with great characters, an engaging story, and fun gameplay progression.
The crowdfunded spiritual successor to the acclaimed Suikoden RPG series, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes marks the final work of Yoshitaka Murayama, who created the Suikoden Series, and led Eiyuden Chronicle's development.
A turn-based JRPG that accommodates those familiar with Suikoden or those who don't know what a Suikoden is. Embrace the old-school quirks and there's a wonderful journey to be had here.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the epitome of a flawed gem-the kind of game that does a lot of things right and we're sure will command a dedicated legion of fans, but has legitimate problems that are tough to overlook. The expansive narrative, gorgeous spritework, and addictive combat all help make it an easy recommendation to any classic JRPG fan, but bear in mind that it can feel dated in its design philosophy and that the Switch version has a lot of performance problems, at least at launch. If you can get past those issues, this is an enjoyable and immersive RPG that mostly achieves what it set out to do.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a truly memorable experience that absolutely will stick with you when it's over.
What could have been the best strength of Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is its greatest weakness. With the amount of things to do, types of gameplay available, and sheer number of heroes to recruit, the game feels unfocused and inconsistent. Some of what it does, it does very well, but it doesn't quite overcome the negatives. Those who truly love classic JRPGs like myself will find plenty to feast on, but those who don't should go Nowa near it.
While Suikoden II and IV remain on another level, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes takes the formula of these classics to some extent and repurposes it in a JRPG that is certainly interesting but perhaps not as beautiful and accomplished as we would have hoped.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Maybe Hundred Heroes doesn't have me ready to run outside screaming about miracles, but I'm plenty satisfied and ready to go back and fill in some old, classic JRPG blind spots. Well, after I replay Tierkreis.
Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes is a great journey back to the golden age of the JRPG and a tribute to all the good things Suikoden gave us. With nostalgia as its flag, this game manages to overcome its lack of innovation to deliver a great adventure that will take you back to simpler times.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
As a Suikoden successor, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is faithful to a fault.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an enjoyable JRPG that old-school and new JRPG fans alike will enjoy. It has dozens of playable heroes to recruit and sidequests to complete, the combat system is intuitive and satisfying and the 2D-HD graphics are pleasing to look at. While the storyline, characters, and mini-games are relatively simplistic and there’s lots of micro-management required, these issues do not deter from the game’s positive qualities.
The dialogue is warm and chatty, and while the storyline and voice-acting have the unsophisticated quality of a Saturday morning cartoon, this only compounds its evocative PlayStation-era appeal. Murayama, who fell ill during the final stages of the game’s development, did not live to see its release, dying in February this year, aged 55. Eiyuden Chronicle stands as a monument to his singular design sensibilities, and a testament to the power of a determined community, both within the game’s fiction, and by its very existence.
Eiyuden Chronicle - Hundred Heroes is a large-scale and colorful JRPG with interesting characters, addictive plot and unique missions. And only the slow pace of the narrative can scare away players
Review in Russian | Read full review
I'll be honest - as a fan of Suikoden, I really wanted Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes to be good and perhaps serve as something of a renaissance for a forgotten branch of JRPG design. At times, it still feels like it could be that, with a great story, remarkable cast of characters that is impressively deep, and flirtation with pixel art greatness in some of its designs. Unfortunately, those qualities are drowned out by a frankly anachronistic approach to RPG mechanics, a glacial pace, and some serious performance issues, at least on Nintendo Switch.
Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is a good, deliberately old-fashioned JRPG with all the pros and cons. As a love letter to Suikoden it hits the mark despite some uncertainties, but the biggest problem at the moment are the bugs we encountered during the review, some very serious and impossible to ignore. Wait patiently for the bugfixes.
Review in Italian | Read full review