Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Beta Impression

Murayama’s magnum opus feels like it’s going to be special.

The wait for Rabbit & Bear Studio’s flagship RPG, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, is almost over. A beta version that covers the opening hours of the game is available on PC for Kickstarter backers. After watching the opening video and playing through the first section of the game it was clear: Yoshitaka Murayama’s magnus opus feels like it’s going to be special.

Sadly Yoshitaka Murayama will not be able to enjoy Eiyuden’s success, as he passed away in early 2024. The founder of Rabbit & Bear Studios and the creative force behind the game’s script, Murayama leaves behind both grateful fans and a legacy of cherished RPGs. Murayama was also responsible for creating the Suikoden franchise, as he worked on the first three mainline games, a Suikoden card game, and the two Suikogaiden side-stories.

Speaking of Suikoden, the similarities and homage seen within Eiyuden Chronicle is clear and evident in almost every aspect. From the six-party member battles, to a running sprite seen during loading screens, to recruiting a large assortment of unique and colorful characters, Eiyuden Chronicle channels Murayama’s Suikoden in everything except the name. Eiyuden Chronicle benefits greatly from the quality of life improvements that have become commonplace since Suikoden’s run, such as auto advance dialogue, fully voiced English or Japanese language options, difficulty options, and map markers, among other niceties. Eiyuden Chronicle blends the best elements from old and new-school style RPGs into a brand new adventure.

There is an overworld, and it is glorious.

The beta starts off by introducing the players to the main character, Nowa, a new recruit to a militia group called the Watch. Nowa joins with Seign, a high-ranking officer of the Empire, as they investigate rumors about Rune Lenses in a nearby forest. After some story sequences play out, the beta then transitions six months into the future where Nowa is granted lead of his own small group as he then is able to go out and explore the world, recruiting characters and engaging in side activities like fishing. Murayama’s writing shines with every new character introduced and every new personality the game introduces adds to the worldbuilding seen in the small portion of the beta.

It’s here where players can see more of Suikoden’s influence as character’s level up weapons at the blacksmith shop, equip runes that offer different properties, and perform tasks and mini games that may lead to new characters joining Nowa. While six characters participate directly in battle, Eiyuden Chronicle also has room for an additional support character to offer unique traits to the team during exploration, as well as three slots for story-related attendants to accompany Nowa in his journey.

The cast seems lively and colorful in this new world brimming with potential.

Enemies are randomly fought while out on the world map or in dungeons, and in battle the characters can use physical or magical skills to turn the tide. Characters can learn unite attacks, dealing boosted damage to single or groups of enemies. As characters level up, more rune slots open up which offers players more customization for characters. There is also a system for auto battles where players can customize each fighter’s strategy in battle depending on what conditions are met. There are basic, healing, buff, and debuff actions available which offers a decent amount of customization available for players that simply want to automate combat. Battles are fun, if not a tad slow, but there is a certain charm that replicates that old-school RPG experience.

While most of what was available to test out during the beta was a positive experience, the game is not without its issues. Numerous bugs and glitches have been found during the beta run, though the backers have been reporting every bug and hopefully the developers can address these issues prior to the game’s full launch. It’s clear that there is a massive amount of love for the project and many are doing what they can to make it as much of a success as possible.

There is a lot to love about what is present in the beta, and though there’s so much left out, it’s exciting to see what lies beyond. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has been something that a lot of RPGamers have had on their radar and the wait to enjoy this game is almost over. The game will release on April 23, 2024, for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, though Switch owners will have to wait until May 21, 2024, for the physical release of the game.

This article is based on the Beta version of the game distributed to backers of the Kickstarter project.