Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

[Jaymann]

This is now out on Steam. Was on my waiting list.

[Moliere]

Also included with Xbox Game Pass today.

[Jaymann]

Downloaded and started. Note of caution: The game pushes you to use a controller. I have one for my PS5 so I plugged it in. I only have 2 USB ports on my laptop and did not want to disconnect my mouse or keyboard. Fortunately I have a USB splitter just waiting for such occasions.

You start right off with a party of 4...

[Jaymann]

Impressions so far:

The graphics are beautiful.
Equipment is somewhat janky. You have 4 slots for equipment, but you can't buy or even see your weapons.
The world looks open, but is actually on a rail.
Combat is turn based, but you can put it on auto for trivial battles. Got to level 4 from chance encounters in the open world.
Loot is sparse. So far only components like wood.

[Jaymann]

The game opens up a bit after the first mission with more towns. You can upgrade your weapons at a blacksmith's, but it appears they will never change. So far have only seen 4 of the 100 heroes.

[Baroquen]

I bought this too, but haven't had much of a chance to play. So far so good, but I'm not past the introductory part of the game yet. Using a controller isn't a problem for me. Hope to get some more time in with the game soon.

[Jaymann]

I now have a full party of six. I followed a guide to find some recruits, but once you do, some blue globes show up to direct you where to go next. Three party slots are locked, so for my 3 optional slots I have a mage, a healer, and an archer. New recruits come in at level 6 so I am grinding some easy exp on the world map before heading into the next mission. More enjoyable at this point.

[YellowKing]

I'm super early in, but enjoying it so far. I love the graphic style. Hardest part to get used to is combat, as I am having a difficult time wrapping my brain around putting all the party actions in first then watching it play out, vs putting actions in turn by turn. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but it's been an adjustment.

[Jaymann]

It's important to look at the turn order. For example, if one of your team is low HP, have someone who has a turn before the boss heal or give them an herb. Of course I ignore this. I have only failed one boss battle so far (as of level 32), and that was my fault for ignoring health and trying to power through.

I have just gotten a party member who can warp you anywhere on the world map - a major QOL improvement. I think it even works without her in the party. Does not work in dungeons, but you can buy herbs that warp you to the dungeon entrance.

Apparently there is an achievement for getting all the heroes (Pokemon - gotta get 'em all). I probably won't get this since one of them involves fishing for a particular fish and ain't nobody got time for that.

Also I thought I saw you could change the difficulty at any time, but this is not the case. Doesn't matter anyway since there is only Normal and Hard.

Edit: One more thing. Some missions require you have certain hero(es) in your party. If they stink you can put them in a support or attendant slot, so they go with you but are not in the active party.

I lied, one more thing. Be aware many heroes cannot melee attack from the back row. This was driving me nuts because I had a sword wielder attacking, but when they inadvertently moved to the back row I couldn't figure out why could no longer attack.

[Skinypupy]

I’m so on the fence with this one.

On the one hand, I love the overall aesthetic and am always a sucker for old school JRPGs.

On the other hand, Suikoden was one of the PS1-era JRPGs that I didn’t really like very much, and I know that’s the vibe this is going for. “Cast of hundreds!” is generally not a selling point for me, as I much prefer a tighter story and smaller cast. Combine that with a few mediocre reviews I read (the main complaint being that some of the systems are a little too old-school) and how strongly I bounced off that weird prequel thing they did, and I’m leaning towards waiting for a sale.

[Jaymann]

Lol, all the things you don't like are the things I love.

A couple more comments:

Now that I have warp drive I jumped off the rails and am grinding exp and items in the toughest places I can handle.

I finally got an unidentified object. When I got it appraised:

Spoiler:

It was a pocket watch. I was hoping for some kind of time altering effect, but it was just a salable item. $7,500, which is nice but

[Blackhawk]

For the curious who don't recognize the title:

JRPG with retro aesthetics (but not pixelated.)

[YellowKing]

I'm about 15 hours in at this point and still having a great time with it.

I've rewired my brain around the combat now and have started to pick out the little strategic nuances. I will say that so far on Normal difficulty the game is very easy, but that's perfectly fine with me. I've found that as long as I explore every map thoroughly, fight all the random battles, and upgrade weapons/gear consistently, I've been more than capable of handling everything so far. Obviously boss fights up the difficulty a bit, and you'll occasionally hit a difficulty spike in a new area, but by and large it's a piece of cake.

The game's simplicity is a refreshing change. No multiple currencies to juggle, slotting gems, or upgrading 20 pieces of gear. You have your weapon which doesn't change and can only be upgraded (and that's level locked so you can only upgrade it so far). You have your helm, your armor, your boots and one accessory. Then you have your rune slots that can either hold runes that give you magic spells, or buff you physically. That's about it so far.

Nitpicks? I'm not a fan of the inventory limit, though it does at least give you incentive to not hoard healing herbs and potions like I'm prone to do. Random battles in easier areas can be a bit of an annoyance, though being able to just auto-play through battles is nice. Other than that no real complaints. I'm enjoying the characters and story, and they did a good job of making the heroes feel unique, even if they're a bit one-dimensional. But hey, that one-dimensionality is nice when you only have to remember "sassy cleric" or "big wolf guy" instead of their name.

[Jaymann]

I finally got an unidentified object. When I got it appraised:

Spoiler:

It was a pocket watch. I was hoping for some kind of time altering effect, but it was just a salable item. $7,500, which is nice but

When you get the pocket watch DON"T SELL IT. You only get one chance to get it and you need it to recruit a hero.

[Jaymann]

I found something about the game I really don't like. Earlier I said there was a hero that required a specific rare fish before you can recruit him. Big deal, I thought, I can live without that one guy. Turns out you really need him. Without him you can't build a fishing spot in your castle. No fishing means you can't set up a guild. No guild means you miss out on several recruits, and it limits how much you can build up your castle. All for the lack of one stinking fish!

I hate game mechanics like this. I can see it if you miss out on a unique item, but halting progress on your castle??? Piss poor game design.

[Jaymann]

Update: I finally got the MF fish. Had to follow a guide to find the one (hidden) spot where it spawns. What made it extra aggravating is both the rarity and that the fishing spot eventually gives you a NO MORE FISH HERE message. Fortunately I saved before fishing so I did not have to wait for the spot to replenish. Still took me about an hour. Since I waited so long to do this, a shit load of construction opened up at the castle.

Now to go back and get the missing recruits.

[Jaymann]

Some tips on combat:

Use Auto sparingly on mid range encounters - it tends to use up your precious resources.

Have a main healer and give someone else a water rune as backup. If nothing else you can use them to top off HP between fights.

Keep your weapons and armor up to date.

There comes a time when you will be forced to group with some specific heroes.

Spoiler:

Seign, Hildi, Valentin, Pohl; Nowa, Mio, Lian, Garr; Marisa, Nil, Wayve (who you get during the mission.

You will want to keep them leveled up plus a few filler heroes for full parties. I found that the Ice Caves are a good place to level. There are varied mob levels and several save spots. Once you know your way around it is easy to navigate.

[Scraper]

There was a prequel released last year. Does anyone know if that's required to play this new one or can we skip straight to the new one?

[Jaymann]

There was a prequel released last year. Does anyone know if that's required to play this new one or can we skip straight to the new one?

No, it is not required, and by some accounts it is an inferior game.

[YellowKing]

Use Auto sparingly on mid range encounters - it tends to use up your precious resources.

You can customize all that on the Battle Plan tab. I have my party set to "Conserve Resources" which will make them fight without using MP or items.

However, if you don't want to use the party presets you can go in and customize the actions of each individual character. If you wanted you could force everyone to only use basic attacks for every auto battle.

[Jaymann]

Use Auto sparingly on mid range encounters - it tends to use up your precious resources.

You can customize all that on the Battle Plan tab. I have my party set to "Conserve Resources" which will make them fight without using MP or items.

However, if you don't want to use the party presets you can go in and customize the actions of each individual character. If you wanted you could force everyone to only use basic attacks for every auto battle.

Thanks for the tip. I thought Battle Plan had something to do with the army battles.

[Jaymann]

Now we're cooking!

Even though I missed out on one of the "easy" recruits (because I sold that dang watch), I was able to get to 100 heroes and take my castle to level 4. Plus through my guild I can send out B level teams on tasks that I don't have to participate in.

I also got the best tank in the game:

Spoiler:

Reyna. She was my toughest recruit so far. You have to do over 1500 damage to her in two turns (even though the guide erroneously says 3 turns). I was over level 50 and still struggling to accomplish. Then I brought in the support guy that sharpens your weapons plus two mages both with Inferno Pillar. Mission accomplished!

I found a Monster Repel Charm that drastically reduces random encounters to make exploration much easier.

It appears I only have about 3 areas left in the main story. But instead of that I am roaming the earth with impunity to level up some newer heroes and try out new skills. For me this is where the enjoyment begins.

[YellowKing]

Are there any hints as to what it takes to acquire heroes that are necessary to finish the game? I don't care about tracking down every hero, but I do want to be able to finish the game without resorting to a guide. If the only way you are able to know you have to recruit Hero X which is required to complete the game is to go look at a guide on the internet, I'm going to quit right now.

[Jaymann]

Are there any hints as to what it takes to acquire heroes that are necessary to finish the game? I don't care about tracking down every hero, but I do want to be able to finish the game without resorting to a guide. If the only way you are able to know you have to recruit Hero X which is required to complete the game is to go look at a guide on the internet, I'm going to quit right now.

I would say any 100 of them would be enough since it allows you to build a level 4 castle. If you don't want to use a guide, just talk to every npc in every town. However, some of the recruitment is so obtuse I gave up even using a guide.

Bonus though: I just got another pocket watch like the one I sold, as a drop. Now I can get that bugger that eluded me (he opens an assessor booth in your castle).

[Jaymann]

Update! I was watching Mortesmal's review, and apparently if you recruit the divination character, they can point you toward other heroes. I used her to find a stowaway in the castle, but did not realize it went beyond that. In-game help!

[Jaymann]

I finished the game on normal. Before the final castle I checked to see which characters would be mandatory then went back and leveled them WAY up by

Spoiler:

doing up to level 10 on the boss gauntlet

so the final battle was relatively easy.

Two things I didn't like:

Spoiler:

In the final castle you get some powerful runes, but there is no way to install them. There are a couple items you need to fully build your castle. One you need to camp in a dungeon you can't revisit and the other I never found.

After completing you can start a new game retaining your gear, level, and heroes you have recruited, so I went with Hard difficulty.

All in all my type of game.