Rabbit & Bear Studios have crowd-funded their Suikoden veteran developer-made Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes by over $3 million USD via Kickstarter, becoming the 9th most funded video game on the platform.
As stated in our prior coverage, the 2.5D JRPG’s development team includes Yoshitaka Murayama writing the story (Suikoden, Suikoden II), Junko Kawano handling character design (Suikoden, Suikoden IV), and Osamu Komuta handling “system design and direction” (Suikoden Tactics, Suikoden Tierkreis).
The Kickstarter campaign launched July 27th, and sought $500,000 USD. Despite issues with the entire Kickstarter website going down, the campaign soon blew past that in a matter of hours, achieving over $1 million USD later that day. As of this time of writing, the Kickstarter currently sits at over $3 million USD with 12 days remaining.
Since our prior coverage, party conversations, character “The Pretty Soldier” Mellore, a psychic detective agency, a trading minigame, “Clock Watcher” Rody, Brazilian Portuguese language support, a racing minigame, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” Gocteau, hot springs, and a monster raising minigame stretch goals have been achieved.
You can read more about Mellore and Rody (via the August 12th update) below.
Mellore
AGE: 12
PROFESSION: She’s a magical girl!
FAVORITE FOOD: Chocolate cake
Mellore is on a grand adventure to become a mage, but what she pictures in her head and what mages actually do are…shall we say…two different things. She’s completely convinced that the spell-slinging “magical girls” depicted in one of her father’s books are what the job is all about.
QUOTE:
“In the name of love and justice… I am Mellore and I call my magic!”
She doesn’t quite get what being a mage is all about yet, but she’ll figure it out eventually…
Rody
AGE: 13
HOME: [sic] Son of a League craftsman
FAVORITE FOOD: Pretzels
A boy who dreams of being a great watchmaker. Is he a little disagreeable? Yes. But there’s something about that sparkle in his eye as he gazes, transfixed, at an elaborate timepiece.
QUOTE:
“Ohh… So that’s what makes it tick… Well, I could put together one of these, easily. Just give me a year.”
Rody seems pretty determined to be a watchmaker. Let’s hope he one day achieves that dream!
Future stretch goals now include the character “Building the Dream” Iris ($3.05 million USD), and Russian language support ($3.075 million USD).
On August 10th, an update revealed the game had become the 10th most funded video game on Kickstarter. An August 14th update would later reveal the game had become the 9th most funded video game. At this time of writing, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is behind Yooka-Laylee, which raised $3.2 million USD.
The August 10th update also discussed the Guild System in more depth. The miners’ guild, woodcutters’ guild, guardsmen’s guild, blacksmiths’ guild, cooks’ guild, traders’ guild, and more will all aid expanding your Fortress Town by doing tasks for you. As the guilds are expanded, detachment parties can carry out work to gain more resources and funds.
These detachment parties will move through the world. “While the more responsible heroes may head straight for the finish line and mine the ore or defend the town that’s in trouble, other heroes may be more inclined to warm a tavern seat or take side trips.”
Depending on who is in that party they could bring home extra resources, or be attacked and unable to fight; forcing them to return empty handed. “Basically, since your characters have a variety of abilities, you’ll want to choose your detachment rosters carefully to maximize your results.”
The August 10th update also provided more information on rune-lenses. Described as “the backbone of all power in the world of Eiyuden Chronicles,” different nations and cultures use them to cast spells, grant supernatural powers, used as symbols, or claim they are “divine gifts” to communion with god.
These lenses are crafted into weapons and accessories, with the Galdean Empire knowing how to amplify their power inside rings called “regules.” The most valuable rune-lenses are passed down families, and some are even “born with them inside their bodies.”
While many heroes will have their own rune-lenses (“no doubt you’ve noticed the back of Marisa’s hand or Perrielle’s hairpin”), some heroes will not rely on them at all.
In our interview with Murayama, we asked if we could expect characters defined by their rune-lenses; like runes in Suikoden. Murayama replied “Rune-lenses are a bit more detailed and specific than Suikoden’s runes so expect them to provide a lot more customization options.”
In terms of gameplay, runes can be affixed to a heroes’ lenses- granting them magic, skills, or improving their stats (“physical abilities”). Each hero has a unique lens, which supports different types, rarity, and quantity of runes.
Some even have lenses with a special rune already in them, which cannot be removed. Others demand specific rune types are affixed in specific positions. As heroes level up, they may be able to affix more runes to their lens.
The update also announced new premium rewards, including naming a beigoma (spinning top mini-game) trainer, Job reward Sets (enamel pins), a Steelbook case, Chibi-Chara figures, and & Snappies plushies (“Snappies have little snaps on their hands, so you can snap two Snappies together to make them hold hands, or even snap one Snappies’ hands together into an adorable hug!”)
Finally, the Character Battle popularity polls on Twitter have concluded; revealing the favorite characters from Japan and America [1, 2, 3]. For Japan, the most popular characters revealed so far (in descending order) main character Nowa, other major character Seign, and second lieutenant Maxim. For English-speaking Twitter users, it was wolfman Garr, forest guardian Marisa, and sharkman Yuferius VII.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will launch Fall 2022 for Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and possibly Nintendo Switch.
