Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was provided by 505 Games for review. Thank you!

Ever since it was announced, I have been waiting for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. It looked like a fantastic RPG, one that is essentially a spiritual successor for the Suikoden series, and I was blown away by the visuals. Now, the time is here, and Hundred Heroes is upon us. And while there are some pros and cons to the classic style of gameplay, they are going for; this is overall an enticing and engaging experience that kept me glued to the screen until I reached the finale.

Quick Note: Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a prequel that sets the stage for Hundred Heroes, but it is NOT required to enjoy the story of this game.

As we mentioned in our Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Review, which is the prequel/companion title to Hundred Heroes, I want to start by discussing the gorgeous visuals. I can't explain enough how much I enjoy the 3D world with 2D sprites. It is similar to what Square Enix has done with Octopath Traveler, and I think it is just wonderful. The world and lighting are phenomenal, the reflections make some surfaces look immaculate, the architecture is unique, and it works wonderfully with the great character designs and animations.

Unlike the prequel, the story of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes starts off stronger. You take control of Nowa, a meddling young boy from a remote village, who starts the story working with imperial officer Seign Kesling on the hunt for a Primal Lens. This rare artifact is said to hold monumental amounts of power. Throughout the journey, you will encounter and recruit over 100 different heroes to foil the evil plans of Dux Alric and stop a war. As he does this, his story overlaps and encompasses two others, Seign and Marisa.

Following the main story will take you to new places and see new sights, but you will have to go out of your way to find everyone, and it is a treat meeting each person. Even though the cast is large, and a lot of the heroes can sometimes not really feel fleshed out due to the bloated cast, it is quite enjoyable to meet each one. I also like how the story unfolds and how they tell some smaller and more personal stories sprinkled throughout, which can give us key information about the lore behind the world and why everything is happening as it is now. I didn't really feel lost or overwhelmed during my time, and that's a huge plus for a game of this scale.

Then we have the gameplay loop, which takes a much more traditional turn-based take on an RPG. You will choose six different heroes you choose to fight against enemies, three members in front and three in the back, and choose between using a normal attack, different abilities called "Rune Lens," and ways to defend yourself or use items. There's also a bar at the top to see who's turn is next, adding another layer of strategy to it. Your abilities can use either SP or MP, which can be utilized for more physical and magical abilities each character has. You also do have Hero Combos, which are essentially team attacks that can do big damage when you have two compatible team members on the field.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Hundred Heroes' combat system, even if it made it way too easy to just use the auto button for each normal battle. I liked fine-tuning my team with specific heroes, putting the more tanky and damage-dealing ones in front with the rangers and healers in the back, but I ended up doing this and then using the auto option to let the team take care of each fight by themselves. The only ones I didn't use this on were bosses, which do take a bit more strategy to it. Each boss battle has a unique "Gimmick" that you can activate. This can range from choosing books with hammers coming out of them or hiding behind rocks to evade a huge attack. It keeps things interesting for those battles.

There is some variety throughout, though. There is a Fire Emblem-esque mode where you need to position your leaders in specific spots to counter the enemy, and you will even help rebuild a castle that acts as your home base. It was a nice way to unwind from the consistent stream of JRPG-esque battles that often happen and appear out of nowhere. The heroes you recruit can even man some of the shops at the Castle, which is pretty cool to see. And I ended up enjoying the side quests offered here most of the time.

I would have loved to see some quality of life changes though, especially in the beginning. There is a lot of backtracking while trying to recruit your first members, and there's no fast travel. You do unlock it later, but I would have saved a lot of time if I could teleport to places I had already been to and to different buildings within cities. It would have been nice to see what stats were increased when leveling up, instead of the numbers going up by themselves, and some of the combat mechanics can feel a bit dated, but with its connection to the Suikoden series, I am not surprised.

But, based on all of this, it really does feel perfect to play on the Steam Deck.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Save Data Transfer Note

If you have played the prequel, you can actually transfer over your save and unlock some cool goodies by doing so. Unfortunately, on the Steam Deck, this doesn't work as the saves are in completely different file paths. Luckily, there is a way to fix this, and you can check out our guide on how to do it!

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes - Steam Deck Performance

For the most part, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes runs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck. In a majority of the dungeons and general areas, it can perform quite nicely at higher framerates like 60 and 90 FPS. But, there is an issue: the framerate will drop automatically in areas it deems a little too draining on the system. In some areas, this meant 90 going to 60, and in even larger areas, it would drop down to 40-45. Otherwise, it runs quite well, and I have two different groups of settings for the game!

Recommended Settings

For me, stability wins out in the long run, so my recommended settings focus solely on what would give the most stable experience overall. In this case, we will be setting the framerate to 40 FPS and the refresh rate to either 40Hz or 80Hz (depending on the LCD or OLED Steam Deck model). We can keep the settings, which really just consist of Shadow Rendering, on the high setting while the resolution sticks to 1280x720.

Thanks to the framerate being so low, we can also maximize battery saving! In dungeons, we can get a sub-10W battery drain, while the overworld can max us out at 15W. We can set a 10W TDP limit as well to make sure it doesn't go over, but the game doesn't drain more than it needs, so it isn't necessary. So, with these settings, you should get a full, stable experience while also keeping the battery drain down to a low point, a win-win!

60 FPS Settings

Then, we have 60 FPS settings for those who want to play at 60. If you are okay with the overworld going down to 40 and some spots in towns slipping down, then you are going to have a good time! Most, if not all, of the battles, kept 60 FPS, even when some bosses would bring battery drain into the 20W range. So, with this in mind, I would recommend setting Shadow Rendering to Low and no TDP limit to ensure the most stable experience. It won't be enough; there will still be spots in the game that will drop, but this will limit them as much as possible.

Accessibility

Hundred Heroes does offer some changes we can make in the settings. We can change voice and display language, vibration, and camera controls. We can also change audio sliders!

The game doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, so there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. But we do have controller and cloud save support! There are no HDR settings.

Conclusion

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a nice throwback to the good ol' JRPG days, even if it feels a little bit dated at times. It has an intriguing story that is told well; the combat systems are enjoyable, even if a bit too easy and reliant on auto-battling, and the visuals are absolutely stunning. It handles juggling a large story about multiple countries at war very well with tons of different characters, and while not all of them get the time in the spotlight they deserve, it's nice to have them around.

And while it may feel a bit hard to play this on a desktop, the game really feels perfect to play on the Steam Deck. 60 FPS may not be completely stable all the way through, but 40 FPS feels amazing and gives a ton of battery life, making it a wonderful portable experience.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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