I had a recent opportunity to sit down with the key players of Rabbit And Bear studio to discuss the upcoming release of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. During our discussion, a quote from Eiyuden’s art director Junichi Murakami stood out to me, as he spoke about the lead writer and director Yoshitaka Murayama, who had recently passed away. Murayama-San expressed his dislike for the word “nostalgia,” which seemed curious given Eiyuden’s clear connection to the past as a spiritual successor to the Suikoden franchise.
The game’s sprite-based graphics and its resistance to adopting modern conveniences could foster claims of clinging to nostalgia. However, the more I play, the more I understand Murayama’s perspective. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes aims to remind us of the magic of RPGs and challenges the notion that convenience should dictate game development.
The rallying cry for games to “respect the players’ time” has grown louder over the years, but Eiyuden takes a different approach. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes breaks a modern trend by initially forcing players to travel between locations on foot without fast travel. However, the game later introduces Dash Boots to increase run speed and gradually unveils teleportation magic, emphasizing the rewarding sense of progression.
In Eiyuden, discovering enemy weaknesses and navigating puzzles require player engagement and critical thinking, as the game deliberately avoids spoon-feeding solutions to maintain the challenge. Unlike many modern RPGs, Eiyuden’s minimap provides markers for the primary quest line and skill trees are integrated into the base building system, serving distinct purposes rather than conforming to modern trends. Ultimately, Eiyuden is a game that prioritizes purpose over nostalgia or modernity and strives to be a memorable experience.
