Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Preview – This Week in Video games

Welcome again, of us! One other April Idiot’s Day has come and gone, one other probability for unfunny folks at gaming studios to make one other “Hey, would not or not it’s humorous if we made a relationship sim for our recreation!?” gag for the pile of joke-visual novels we have seen through the years. As an apart, whereas I have not had time to get too deep into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 these days, I have been enjoying F-Zero 99 in my spare time. It is loads of enjoyable! It is a disgrace so many people are turned away from its battle royale nature, particularly for the reason that recreation would not actually have a battle go that I am conscious of. It is only a enjoyable F-Zero racing recreation, and the current replace that provides a ton of mirror tracks (with distinctive obstacles) is a ton of enjoyable. It is value a glance when you’re on the fence.

That is…

Gotta Go Quick… to IHOP

So, as I discussed final week, I went to the Sonic Symphony! It was a ton of enjoyable; seeing so many Sonic the Hedgehog followers introduced collectively by our love of Sonic was superb. There was an Amy Rose cosplayer within the row in entrance of me along with her mom cheering her blessed coronary heart out; what an expertise. I cheered myself hoarse as soon as they performed Reside & Be taught. There’s been loads of ink spilled through the years about how Sonic has “fallen from grace,” however contemplating how a lot pure love the franchise will get, I believe there are loads of franchises which might be jealous of how “badly” Sonic the Hedgehog is doing.

Talking of Sonic the Hedgehog! IHOP is at the moment internet hosting a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed menu. Sure, significantly—it wasn’t an April Idiot’s gag. It is fairly primary: Dr. Eggman’s eggs benedict, Shadow the Hedgehog’s chocolate “chaos” pancakes (as a result of they’re darkish, see?), Tails will get a plate of two pancakes, two eggs, and two slices of bacon (as a result of two tails), Sonic will get some blueberry pancakes and Knuckles… will get a hen sandwich? Eh, they cannot all be winners, I suppose. It appears random for a Sonic promotion at IHOP, particularly since we’re just a few months out from Sonic Superstars and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will not be for one more couple of months.

There’s additionally a brand new DLC for Sonic Superstars, and uh… it is an IHOP-branded maid outfit for Amy Rose. It is much like these cute LAWSON promos a ton of anime will get in Japan, solely it is IHOP. To get it, you should purchase it off of IHOP’s rewards retailer, the Stack Market (snrk) for 5 Pan Cash (pfft). This implies you should purchase $25 of meals at IHOP to afford a limited-time-only fast-food-themed outfit for Sonic Superstars. That is data in my mind now. Sometime just a few years from now I will be on my sofa with my associate, remembering this and sharing the data with them and we’ll sit in silence, bearing the load of this info. Sadly for worldwide Sonic followers, the deal is simply legitimate within the US—hopefully, your pancake-loving American associates can spot you a code.

Closing Fantasy VI Celebrates Its thirtieth Anniversary

We’re seeing loads of anniversaries for giant video games and characters within the gaming business. This week noticed one other momentous one: Closing Fantasy VI hit the large 3-0 after its unique launch on the Tremendous Famicom on April 2 of 1994 (its American launch was in October of the identical 12 months). It is onerous to not give the RPG its props. It was the tip of an period whereas serving as the start of a brand new one for a lot of others.

The SNES-era Closing Fantasy video games have been one thing else. Closing Fantasy IV wowed followers with its gripping, emotional story of Cecil’s redemption and his love triangle with Rosa and Kain. Closing Fantasy V gave us a number of the most enjoyable and fascinating job mechanics in your complete sequence (which itself is the supply of the beloved Closing Fantasy V 4 Job Fiesta charity. Closing Fantasy VI was one thing of a wedding of each. From the second you boot up the sport, you may be having fun with a dramatic story. Few intros are as gripping as Closing Fantasy VI‘s, beginning with these foreboding organs segueing the dramatic march via the snowstorm set to Terra’s theme. This can be a totally different story completely: Sq. Enix guarantees a darker story than we’re used to, and boy does FF6 ship.

That is Sq. Enix firing on all cylinders: Nobuo Uematsu‘s music, wringing each final drop of energy out of the SNES’s iconic orchestral soundboard. Yoshitaka Amano‘s beloved character designs. Even now, watching Closing Fantasy VI‘s intro looks like one thing particular, momentous. I am getting forward of myself, however that is one time the place I will insist that the GameBoy Advance port is lesser purely on the benefit that the GBA’s sound system cannot ship on the total weight of FF6‘s music. The grasp of this scene alone is one thing we would not see matched till… Closing Fantasy VII‘s beloved intro on the PlayStation three years later. Sometimes, Amano’s “emblem” for a Closing Fantasy consists of one thing central to the sport, like Meteor for Closing Fantasy VII or Yuna performing a Sending for Closing Fantasy X. VI‘s emblem is Terra using the Magitek armor—one of many first belongings you see within the recreation. And but… what else might you employ for the brand? A lot of the sport’s tone and story comes again to that lonely slip of a woman trudging via a blizzard in that mechanical hulk…

‘And we’re simply speaking in regards to the intro. The remainder of the sport simply… would not let up. Though Terra Branford is the primary character we see within the recreation, Closing Fantasy VI is not particularly her story. For a lot of the intro, Terra has no company: she’s underneath the thrall of a Slave Crown. The thief-cum-treasure-hunter Locke steps in to play hero and rescue her from the Empire’s grasp… however this is not particularly his story both.

There are the dual princes, Edgar and Sabin—you’d suppose their royal standing would make them the celebrities of the struggle towards the Empire, however they’re not a central focus both. Is it Cyan, the world-weary samurai who sees his whole fort drop lifeless after the monstrous Kefka poisons its water provide? Nicely, no, however he helps. And it isn’t the wild little one Gau or the comical Mog. Celes, a dwelling magical weapon, guides us via the start of the story’s second half, but it surely’s nonetheless not her story particularly. Setzer the Gambler comes alongside for the journey. Umaro and Gogo’s involvement is difficult. Shadow the ninja, we’ll get to him. Relm the pictomancer (whose class is inspiring a brand new job in Closing Fantasy XIV and her grandfather Strago, uh, they be a part of fairly late.

The difficult reply is that none of them are the primary characters in Closing Fantasy VI. In a weirdly Dragon Quest-esque take, a lot of the heroes in FF6 are vignettes of the world they stay in. Their involvement could also be roughly concerned with the battle at hand, however everybody has a minor stake. A part of that is by design: whereas FF6‘s story is the battle of the rebellious Returners and their battle towards the magic-obsessed Empire, midway via… the Returners fail. The mad Kefka Palazzo kills the emperor, seizes management of all magic on this planet, and destroys the planet. The catastrophe scatters the occasion, leaving Celes to wander the World of Break and collect the heroes collectively once more earlier than they strike Kefka at his blasphemous tower. Or not—the latter half of FF6 may be very open-ended, and it is attainable to not regain any of the characters when you select.

There is a humiliation of riches to be present in Closing Fantasy VI within the type of its many secrets and techniques, from hidden weapons to the hidden Desperation strikes (lots of which function inspiration to assaults in current video games like Closing Fantasy XIV) to the omnipotent Magicite—the crystalized stays of murdered Espers. Nothing is extra iconic of FF6‘s secrets and techniques than the backstory of the enigmatic Shadow, which you may solely discover instructed in mysterious snippets unlocked generally if you fall asleep at an inn with Shadow in your occasion. And, after all, one scene even requires he be lifeless for his reference to a sure different occasion member to be established.

That is earlier than you contemplate the wealth of mechanics behind every character, from Sabin’s preventing game-inspired instructions for his martial arts strikes (inspiring FF8‘s Zell Dincht years early) to Gau’s esoteric technique of studying expertise from monsters on the Veldt. And, after all, there’s the aforementioned Magicite and the knowledge it bestows upon your occasion members, letting all of them study their spells. In loads of methods, Magicite was the precursor to the Materia system in Closing Fantasy VII and the Guardian Drive/Junction system of Closing Fantasy VIII, letting you customise your character as you see match.

That is additionally ironic, as Closing Fantasy VI can be the final mainline Closing Fantasy to debut on a Nintendo console. For plenty of causes, Sq. broke it off with Nintendo and shacked up with Sony for the next Closing Fantasy titles, beginning with the watershed Closing Fantasy VII. It is robust in charge them. Closing Fantasy VI was later ported to the PlayStation with distinctive CG cutscenes… however the cutscenes really feel extraneous. No, FFVI is a SNES recreation via and thru. And whereas FFVII and FFVIII are rightfully applauded for his or her tone and tales, a lot of that originated with FFVI.

If you have not performed Closing Fantasy VI, please achieve this—it is by no means too late. It is not onerous to trace down today, courtesy of the Pixel Remasters. There is not very similar to it, and there is a lot superb stuff in that recreation that’s certain to stay with you, from the music to the characters to iconic moments like Celes’ iconic opera efficiency (which was hysterically parodied by Metaton in Undertale. It is a 30-year-old recreation now, however as everyone knows, the age of 30 is in demand.

Xbox Customers Deal With Scunthorpe Drawback in Closing Fantasy XIV

It has been considerably turbulent instances for the Xbox port of Closing Fantasy XIV. Like with any MMORPG, FF14 requires folks to speak. MMO parlance can already be fairly onerous to select up on, however it may be quite a bit worse if random segments of your phrases are bleeped out! It is known as the Scunthorpe drawback: some video games understandably have delicate content material filters as a result of some edge lords will do something to sneak in cusswords or slurs into their dialogue. The issue is when the offending segments are a part of in any other case inoffensive phrases, so the British city of Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire turns into “S****horpe.” And that is what new Closing Fantasy XIV gamers have needed to take care of! For no matter motive, Microsoft‘s phrase filters are fairly strict within the MMO.

So, random segments of phrases are being bleeped out. This contains completely innocuous segments of totally different phrases. Therefore, “harvest dance” turns into “harve** *ance” (the embedded tweet has just a few extra examples within the thread). Worse but, Closing Fantasy XIV‘s personal nomenclature can journey moderation; there was at the least one occasion of gamers getting banned to be used of the time period “free firm,” which is what Closing Fantasy XIV calls guilds. Apparently, Microsoft‘s companies appear to think about it “solicitation.”

Closing Fantasy XIV remains to be solely in Open Beta on Xbox’s platforms, so hopefully, these points will get ironed out… hopefully. It is unhealthy sufficient that the Xbox ports of FF14 drive gamers to pay an additional cost for XBox Reside to play on-line on prime of FF14’s month-to-month price.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Preview

I wish to preface this with a little bit story: my expertise with Suikoden is that I’ve by no means performed any of the Suikoden video games. Means again within the ’00s, an area Gamestop had somebody dump a bunch of their outdated PS1 video games—and in doing so, they traded in some severe treasures, together with an outdated PS1 copy of Rhapsody: A Musical Journey and Persona 2: Everlasting Punishment. I, after all, picked these up as a result of they have been each $20 a pop (Rhapsody simply goes for ten instances that quantity today). However there was additionally a replica of the unique Suikoden together with these two video games, and I handed on it. I had heard superb issues about Suikoden, however the American field artwork left me not sure. It is alright field artwork, what with the Drew Struzan-esque artwork, but it surely did not promote the sport’s vibes or tone. Figuring out I would remorse the choice for years after, I left Suikoden on the shelf. Hey, two out of three ain’t unhealthy.

All this to say, I’ve by no means performed Suikoden—I largely know of it; its sweeping scope, its large solid of 108 heroes apiece, its difficult political storytelling, and its wealth of strategic gameplay. I knew it was primarily based on the Chinese language epic Water Margin (also referred to as Outlaws of the Marsh and All Males Are Brothers). And I knew you could possibly switch your save from the primary recreation to the second. I additionally know that the sequence largely dropped off after the third entry, with followers and critics alike exhibiting increasingly more cynicism in direction of the sequence with its subsequent video games and spin-offs. After Suikoden Tierkreis on the Nintendo DS in 2009, Konami did not do a lot of something with the Suikoden sequence. A set of the primary two video games on PSP was launched solely in Japan. And that was that.

So, as was the type again in 2020, it was determined to crowdfund a religious successor. Yoshitaka Murayama, co-creator of Suikoden, created a brand new recreation studio named Rabbit & Bear Studios and crowdfunded the creation of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Eiyuden Chronicle is scheduled for launch later this April, however I used to be fortunate sufficient to sit down down with a preview copy of the sport. Sadly, Yoshitaka Murayama died this previous February; he unfairly will not be round to lastly see us play the sport he labored so onerous on. However—man, has it been well worth the wait.

With all that stated, Eiyuden Chronicle is Suikoden. I would not say I like phrasing it like that as a result of it feels dismissive of the hassle put into Eiyuden Chronicle. The profitable religious successors we have seen handle to ship on a easy factor: give us extra of the sequence we’ve not seen in ages. And in a means, that is all they should do. Folks miss these excessive beats, they miss the instances “when the sequence was good”. Heck, they may miss the sequence, interval. And but—that is to not say that this sequence has rested on its laurels. There’s extra to Eiyuden Chronicle than status and nostalgia. This is not only a recreation with the Suikoden coat of paint tossed over it; that is the Suikoden expertise you have been lacking for thus lengthy.

Eiyuden Chronicle tells the story of Nowa, a younger man who joins his nation’s Watch. The Watch is only a group of jack-of-all-trades doing regardless of the native populace wants of them. Nowa joins at a clumsy time, nonetheless: the Watch is commissioned to hitch the neighboring Empire’s troopers in investigating a close-by wreck. The placement of a Primal Rune, an historic artifact harboring untold energy, engenders unity and cooperation between the League overseeing the Watch and the neighboring Empire. Nonetheless, it rapidly turns into clear that the Empire is eager on making the most of the event to encroach on the League’s boundaries. The place Nowa joined the Watch to make use of his expertise to assist his fellow man, he now finds himself on the cusp of preventing a battle.

Immediately, Murayama’s writing shines. Whereas my time in Eiyuden Chronicle did not let me meet wherever close to the hundred heroes promised by the title, the few we met shine with Murayama’s writing. Every character has a novel voice. Even when they’re simply goofy bit-players, they really feel wealthy and multifaceted. Nothing is straightforward in battle. Though we have probably seen these archetypes in a Suikoden recreation, they really feel welcome. I wish to imagine in these characters. I wish to know extra in regards to the goofy trio of bandits. I wish to know extra in regards to the surly desk jockey overseeing the Watch. I wish to see the insidious armored Dux descent into whole Luca Blight-style depravity. It is what I am right here for. And Eiyuden Chronicle is aware of that. There is no wink-wink-nudge-nudge in regards to the goofy magical woman character. There is no eye-rolling at Nowa’s idealism. You got here right here for an RPG—you are getting an RPG.

So, how are the techniques for this RPG? So far as we have been allowed with Eiyuden Chronicle, they have been satisfying. Battles require a little bit of technique and forethought: a bar on the prime of the display exhibits the order of actions for each energetic participant, be they your occasion members or the enemy. You management as much as six heroes at a time and should use their skills to defeat enemy monsters or troopers. You’ve a variety of heroes with whom to strategize—and strategize it’s essential to as a result of you’ll be able to’t simply slap of us into a celebration willy-nilly. Some characters have vary limitations with their assaults, whereas others have funky skills requiring some thought. One among my favourite characters to make use of was a delinquent whose guard additionally functioned as a cost capability to spice up the ability of his base assaults. However this man’s kick was a close-range assault—he was completely nugatory in a sure boss struggle as a result of I foolishly stored him within the again row, and he could not attain a factor. This may be devastating if a struggle has a sure Gimmick, too; some fights could have interactive parts forcing you to decide on between attacking or participating with a Gimmick. One struggle towards an enormous golem requires you to look at for when the golem fires a beam of magic, forcing your occasion to take cowl behind rubble within the space to keep away from harm. One other struggle towards an enormous magical mole requires a little bit of guesswork in your behalf as you employ one in all two large magic tomes to summon large hammers to strike the fitting gap, hopefully gorgeous the mole. Gimmicks are an ideal wrinkle in lots of fights, and I’ve at all times regarded ahead to them.

Then there are the runes themselves. Every character unlocks slots for brand spanking new runes at sure expertise thresholds. Whereas their new Rune slots can solely accommodate runes of a given tier, every Rune can modify a personality’s stats and even grant them wholly new skills. These rune expertise can be mixed in battle if a given pair of characters have attained a level of understanding with one another, giving extra incentive to experiment with occasion layouts.

Lastly, there are the visuals to Eiyuden Chronicle—and so they’re a feast for the eyes. Character sprites are massive and expressive. Maps are luxurious of their particulars; whereas the world is typically portrayed from a set digital camera perspective, the sport will mechanically regulate the digital camera as you progress to offer you an excellent take a look at the world round Nowa whereas guaranteeing the place you are going. Maps are additionally very clear; they’ve markings indicating the place you are purported to go, ensuring you’ll be able to’t get misplaced within the labyrinthine mazes. Sure enemies in battle are full-on 3D fashions as a substitute of sprites, and so they’re all of the extra spectacular for it, though even the weakest enemies impress with their vivid animations.

To carry it again round, that is the Suikoden recreation followers have been ready for. It may need a brand new title, however the coronary heart is there. Extra importantly, the love and fervour are there; the sport boots up with a dedication to RPG followers in every single place, and actually Eiyuden Chronicle appears to ship on that. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes launches this April 25 on Nintendo Swap, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection X|S, and Steam—and I am excited to play extra as soon as it lands.

Let’s wrap up with some fast tidbits

If you happen to want one other expansive RPG with tons of participant friction, look no additional than SaGa: Emerald Past! In anticipation of its April twenty fifth launch, there’s now a playable demo out there on Steam and Nintendo eShop.

With Stellar Blade popping out this April 26, developer SHIFT UP is already hiring for his or her subsequent recreation. Up to now, their new challenge is a cross-platform “AAA city science-fiction motion RPG”…

It has been a bit since Class of Heroes was ported to a contemporary console, so let’s repair that, I suppose? Class of Heroes 1&2 will probably be launched worldwide this April twenty sixth on Steam, Nintendo eShop and PS5. Look no additional when you’re jonesing for a great substitute to Etrian Odyssey!

That’ll do it for this week, I believe. The slew of RPGs would not cease for 2024, and spring is kicking up. Hopefully, the allergic reactions will keep manageable for everybody at dwelling. Be good to one another; I will see you in seven!

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This Week In Video games! is written from idyllic Portland by Jean-Karlo Lemus. When not collaborating with Anime Information Community, Jean-Karlo might be discovered enjoying JRPGs, consuming popcorn, watching v-tubers, and tokusatsu. You may sustain with him at @mouse_inhouse or @ventcard.bsky.social.

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