Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Review: ‘A hearty appetizer for Hundred Heroes’

The final stretch goal for the Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Kickstarter was a companion title that would introduce players to the world and lore before the main game’s release. Rather than take development resources away from Hundred Heroes, Rabbit & Bear Studios partnered with Natsume Atari, and the end result is Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising.

The main thing to keep in mind when heading into Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is that it’s an appetizer. It’s Ground Zeroes. It’s supposed to give you a taste of lore and make you want more, and at $15, it’s priced as such. The key to enjoying this game is to have realistic expectations.

Just a small town girl

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising takes players to the town of New Neveah. This sleepy hamlet was on its way to drying up, and what few buildings were left were falling into decay. However, an earthquake uncovered some nearby ruins, which drew droves of adventurers to the city in hopes of finding treasure. The main character is CJ, a young girl from a tribe of scavengers who must complete a rite of passage that requires her to find a larger treasure than her father did.

However, the inhabitants of New Neveah aren’t fond of outsiders, and access to the ruins has to be earned by either paying an exorbitant amount of money (which you don’t have) or by performing good deeds around town in exchange for stamps. Get enough stamps, and the acting mayor, Isha, will give you an Explorers Pass.

Along the way, you’ll meet up with Garoo, a kangaroo mercenary, and Isha will also join you as a magic-user. The majority of the game centers around the mystery of the Runebarrows ruins and the village’s inhabitants. Not only will you get to know them, but you’ll help to rebuild the town to its former glory and beyond.

We only get to see a peek of what’s going on in the wider world of Eiyuden Chronicle, and I’m uncertain just how much of this game is going to translate into Hundred Heroes. I’m guessing CJ, Garoo, and Isha will be recruitable. Still, it remains to be seen just how much our adventure in New Neveah affects things elsewhere.

Wouldn’t you like to be my neighbor?

During your 15ish-hour journey through Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, you’ll mostly be completing simple quests either as part of the main questline or side quests given by the citizens of New Neveah. The world itself is charming and colorful, and I liked getting to know the town and its inhabitants. However, some players will quickly find the gameplay to be monotonous.

Most of the quests task you to do simple things like talk to a person (or chain of people), gather resources in one of the game’s dungeon areas, or defeat a specific enemy. There are few twists and turns, and the picture only really gets as big as New Neveah and the surrounding area. I enjoyed the intimate feeling of getting to know the citizens of New Neveah and the adventurers that had come there to make their fortune. The game begins with these two groups at odds with each other, and it was fulfilling to watch them learn to appreciate each other.

While there is a main story concerning the Runebarrows and those who want to claim its treasure for nefarious reasons, the spirit of Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising comes from CJ. She’s a bright, young, naive girl who charms a whole village with her energy and willingness to help, and it’s satisfying to see New Neveah grow and flourish due to her actions.

The one drawback of the quest system is that you have to comb each area to find them. A bulletin board in the town square tells you where each currently available side quest is, but you can’t accept them from there. Instead, you have to memorize which NPC is offering a quest and then go find them. This gets a bit frustrating when five or more of them can pop up at a time, especially since they often require you to go to the same place to complete them. For example, quest giver A might want you to go get a pelt from the Great Forest, and quest giver B may request a special rock from the same area. Since these items usually spawn once you accept a request, you might have to go through an area twice if you accidentally forget to grab a quest.

It takes a village

Rebuilding New Neveah is one of the central objectives of Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising. Unfortunately, it isn’t as deep as the system found in Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom. The village starts with only a few dilapidated buildings intact, but you’ll quickly find outlanders that want to build new facilities to support the influx of adventurers.

As the game continues, more and more people will show up wanting to open businesses. This gives a good sense of progression. For example, you’ll help a blacksmith build their forge, which you can use to upgrade existing weapons and armor. By the time you max your current gear out, you’ll find an armorer and weapon shop to purchase new weapons.

Eventually, you’ll have access to all sorts of interconnected places. You’ll be able to get crops and meat from the farm and pasturage to take to the tavern to make hearty meals, and a trading post to purchase any crafting materials you’re missing to upgrade your weapons and armor, and so on. It’s not the most complex town-building system, but it works well enough.

Not so fatal fury

The combat system in Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is fun but underdeveloped. Unlike Hundred Heroes, which will feature JRPG combat, this game is a 2D action RPG. So, the fighting has more in common with Castlevania than it does Suikoden.

Your character has the ability to jump, attack, and use a unique ability. In the beginning, when you’re controlling CJ, this is extremely simple, but when Garoo and when Garoo and Isha join your party, things open up a bit. Each character is mapped to a button, and you can use a Link Attack by attacking and then timing the button press to switch to another character. This can be comboed up to two times (which can be upgraded) and causes much more damage than a regular attack.

Despite the combat being limited to one attack per character, there is a bit of depth that comes from their differences. CJ is agile and hits fast, Garoo swings slow but packs a wallop with his big sword, and Isha does the least damage, but her attacks are ranged. You can also level up and equip accessories to buff your characters, but there’s no skill tree to be found.

I never found the fighting to be challenging by any means, but it’s fast-paced, and the controls are tight. Again, this is an aspect of the game that some players are going to find monotonous while others, like me, feel like the simplicity is refreshing.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Review: The final verdict

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a hearty appetizer for Hundred Heroes. I think Natsume Atari accomplished its mission of giving players a taste of what the world of Hundred Heroes has to offer, and I’ve gotten less enjoyment out of much more expensive games. You can’t ask for much more for a budget title that was created as a stretch goal for a Kickstarter project.

However, some players just aren’t going to find enough meat here to pique their interest. The gameplay does get repetitive, and none of the various systems has much depth. If you aren’t interested in Hundred Heroes and don’t find yourself invested in New Neveah and its inhabitants, you might want to skip this one.