Title: Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Developer: Natsume Atari, Rabbit & Bear Studios
Publisher: 505 Games
Release Date: May 10, 2022
Available On: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X X/S
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

In an effort that would make Gretchen Wieners proud, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising tries its best to make fetch happen.

This action RPG is meant to be a prequel to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which Suikoden creator Yoshitaka Murayama led prior to his death in February, set to release on April 23. While Hundred Heroes garners a lot of anticipation, Rising is a pared down version of this new world meant to whet the appetite.

Rising is classified as an action RPG, but played more like a Metroidvania with many of the game mechanics centered around fetch quests and town building. Everyone will likely experience gameplay differently.

The real question, however, is does it work? Does this prequel get you excited for Hundred Heroes and its more traditional approach to RPGs? Despite its imperfections, it did accomplish the job for me.

Synopsis: Welcome to New Navaeh

CJ arrives in New Navaeh, a remote village on the continent of Allraan, in search of treasure. A recent earthquake devastated the town, unveiling hidden ruins and monsters in the process.

In order to obtain treasure, CJ assists acting mayor Isha in helping the town recover from the recent earthquake. Along the way, CJ teams with Garoo, an anthropomorphic kangaroo with a large sword, as the two uncover treasure and mystery.

CJ and crew do find treasure, but also get wrapped up in collecting raw lenses and Rune-lenses, the source of power within the world. This leads the party to deal with an ancient sorcerer and his evil designs.

As mentioned previously, this game is meant to be a prequel to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. As such, the developers say Rising introduces characters that will play a role in Hundred Heroes as well as the world of Allraan.

Analysis: A Simple Game With Simple Mechanics

It’s important to remember what this game is and is not.

Players should not go in expecting the world or anything remotely close to what Hundred Heroes might be. What they should expect is to dip their toes into the world with a simple game.

That’s the key to Rising, it’s simplicity. Everything about this game is simple from its combat to its world map to its side quests.

You will become strongly familiar with the few areas you visit. Combat doesn’t really change as you go through and side quests have you fetching items for villagers. Even the town building is simplified as you are merely upgrading buildings after fetching the necessary items and not actually laying out the town.

Character and Graphics: The Heart and Soul of The Game

All of that said, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising shines with its characters and its graphics.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much heart the characters had and how witty the writing could be around them. As simplistic as this game is, the characters are surprisingly deep.

You think you know each of these characters at the onset, but as the plot chugs along, you find out more about them and their motives. This, to me, is a great sign for Hundred Heroes, which will include over 100 playable characters.

The graphics utilize a 2D-HD look and was an absolute joy to look at every time. The game is a side-scroller so the 2D-HD look helps add depth to the world.

One cool detail was the game would place some objects closer to the screen than the main line of play, adding in greater depth. I would be running through a forest when a tree would block my characters for a split second because the tree was closer than CJ.

This was a neat detail, but would hamper playability at times, particularly during combat. Still, the world felt alive as the wind would rustle trees in the background or you would hear water rushing in an underground river.

Fetching Around The Clock

That brings us to the quests themselves. If fetch quests aren’t your thing, then this game may be difficult for you to stomach.

CJ collects stamps every time she helps a villager so there is a goal that will appeal to completionists. That said, you can still do the bare minimum when it comes to these quests and still get a good experience of the world.

I don’t mind fetch quests but this did drag at times just given the sheer amount of them.

As the game wore on, you did have the option to buy needed items, but that felt even more dull than tracking them down. At least in tracking down items, you could build your experience and potentially level up.

I think my biggest complaint about Rising is the large amount of fetch quests. It felt like a cheap way to elongate the game.

Even with those dull quests, the game didn’t overstay its welcome. Sure, the fetch quests dragged, but the world was such a joy to be in that I would look past that most of the time.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

The question that’s crucial to all of this is how well Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising prepared the player for Hundred Heroes. I think it did a fantastic job at that.

Despite its flaws, I found myself more excited than before to return to Allraan and New Navaeh. The promise of many of these characters playing a role in Hundred Heroes left me with a lot of intrigue.

While Rising is far from a perfect game, it was still enjoyable and had a lot of heart. Gameplay may not be for everyone and that’s OK. I haven’t played Hundred Heroes at the time of writing so I can’t say how necessary Rising is to that game’s enjoyment.

If you can stomach large swathes of fetch quests, then Rising is the perfect way to prepare for Hundred Heroes. It will allow you to dip your toes into this world just enough that it leaves you excited.

We’re in the home stretch for Hundred Heroes so now is the time to try out Rising and up your hype meter.

Featured Image: 505 Games (via Nintendo)

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