Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

With the Kickstarter long behind, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was easily worth the backing fee, my copy coming in just last Friday. I was skeptical, as stories with enormous casts don’t always fare well in pacing—but great combat, excellent visuals, and an entertaining story about rising from the ruins of warmongering makes for a fantastic turn-based time.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an addictive and emotional JRPG. Everything about this game is exceptional. However, the JRPG elements may frustrate you. Furthermore, the combat can feel repetitive. Yet, if you can overlook these minor points, you will adore every moment.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a slick and satisfying spiritual successor that gives Suikoden fans a great big dreamy treat whilst updating, modernising and streamlining its most retro aspects into a brand-new and exciting adventure for newcomers. With a timely tale to tell, excellent battle systems, an amazing cast of characters and plenty of experimentation and puzzling in its dungeons, this is a big win for Game Pass, and a fine farewell for one of the industry's true greats. Now, isn't that a lovely thing.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a game that looks backwards and thereby creates a demonstrative contrast to modern trends.

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. Its turn-based combat system operates smoothly, even if other modes like its strategy RPG battles can encourage simplistic strategies over critical thinking. And while collecting and experimenting with its titular hundred heroes can be entertaining, you won’t get to know the majority of them because of how much screen time they need to share with this bloated cast. Still, there’s plenty of satisfying side quests and castle building to fill in the gaps, which makes Hundred Heroes eventually feel worth the journey.