If you’ve heard about Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, then you probably know it’s a spiritual successor to the beloved Suikoden series and is being developed by Suikoden creator Yoshitaka Murayama. It’s set to release in 2023, but there’s Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising releasing this year, and is a spin-off prequel title set in the same world. I was fortunate enough to play a few hours of Rising and this city-building action RPG has its charms.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Hands-On Preview

Compared to Hundred Heroes — which will mainly feature turn-based combat — Rising is an action RPG with Metroidvania level designs. The game starts with CJ, an adventurous treasure hunter hoping to find the biggest treasure in a town called New Neveah, which was ravaged by a series of earthquakes and other disasters. This is where the city-building aspect of Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising comes in as you’ll be tasked to help the townsfolk gather resources outside of town in order to help rebuild certain sections of the town. This results in more options to improve your characters such as a smithy to improve your weapons and armor, an Inn to give you specific buffs, you get the idea.

When you head out to complete a task, it’s the standard 2D side scrolling action adventure with enemies blocking your path, dishing out basic attacks and just waiting to be taken down by CJ’s pair of axes (which looks like modern mountain climbing gear). The combat looks and feels simple at first but there’s potential for it to grow into something more interesting. This was apparent when you meet the second character Garoo, a Kangaroo mercenary that wields a massive greatsword and packs a mean punch.

He’s slower compared to CJ but much stronger, clearly showing that these characters fit a specific role in the team. You seamlessly switch between the two characters as each one is attached to a single button. Pressing one button will bring CJ to dish out her fast attack string, which can then be followed up with another button to quickly switch to Garoo and deliver a massive swing from his sword, serving as the finisher. You can even start an attack with Garoo, and finish off with CJ. It has a nice feel to it, especially when more skills are available to you as I eventually unlocked CJ’s ability to double jump and Garoo able to parry incoming attacks. This is the core concept of the game’s combat system and I was eager to see how deep the combat can go as the game has room for a third character, but sadly the preview I played only gave me a taste of how the combat feels with just CJ and Garoo.

Once your pack is full of resources and the task is done, it’s time to head back to town. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising has a unique visual design as it mixes stunning 3D environments with 2D characters to populate the space. It’s then paired nicely to a series of characters with colorful personalities that leave me smiling every now and then thanks to the funny banter that occurs. Isha the young mayor, the lizardman Hogan, the residents of New Neveah are a likable bunch at the onset, and as I slowly assisted in building one establishment after the other, I was introduced to new characters that bounces off pleasantly with the rest of the cast.

Character progression feels linear as upgrades unlock new mechanics and leveling simply improves a character's stats automatically with no real choice given to the player to alter a certain playstyle, at least, in this preview.

And that’s okay as it felt great to play an action RPG that was light-hearted and not too complex to get into. It really felt like a palate cleanser of sorts, an introduction to the world Rabbit & Bear and Natsume Atari is currently building. Some characters found in Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising will also be in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and playing Rising will earn you items that carry over to the JRPG. It’s not clear on how the spin-off game will blend with the JRPG in a story perspective, but I had a lot of fun with it and was left intrigued to see how they’ll do it.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is set to launch in Spring 2022 for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam).

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