Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has a lot weighing on its shoulders. The new turn-based RPG has to deliver to crowdfunding backers, fulfil its promise of being an ode to ‘90s great Suikoden, and prove that its all-star creative team still have the stuff. That's enough pressure for anyone, but recently it's been further burdened by the death of its director Yoshitaka Murayama. It's amazing, then, that I couldn't feel an ounce of all that weight during my time playing, because Eiyuden Chronicle is as sturdy and vivacious an adventure as anyone could ever hope.
Mainly following Nowa, a young man thrust into leadership of a rag-tag alliance fighting against the empire, the setup reads almost like parody. How clichéd can you get? It also probably gives anyone familiar with Murayama's series a serious case of déjà vu. The setup was tropey even then, but what's important isn't radical originality or constant tells it with supreme confidence.
