Tokyo-based development studio Rabbit & Bear Studios has just announced Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which is an ambitious new role-playing title set to release in 2022. Rabbit & Bear Studios is a brand-new company established by the key creators of another well-known RPG franchise – the Suikoden series.
The production for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is led by industry veterans such as Yoshitaka Murayama (scenario writer from Suikoden I and II), Junko Kawano (designer for Suikoden I), Osamu Komuta (director for Suikoden Tactics), and Junichi Murakami (designer for Castlevania: Art of Sorrow, credited in Suikoden V).
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is set on the continent of Allraan which is a melting pot filled with numerous nations and their unique cultures and diverse values. The game’s backdrop is set amidst the conquest of the Galdean empire to locate magical objects known as rune-lenses. This search for the magical artifacts will lead them straight to Allraan, where the lives of Seign Kesling, a young and gifted Imperial officer, and Nowa, a boy from a remote village, will intertwine. In speaking with Gematsu, Murayama shared more about what features Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will have that are shared with the team's previous projects. “Eiyuden Chronicle is about war, or more importantly, the intention and feelings of the 100 heroes who fight that war from a variety of perspectives and for a variety of different reasons. . . And of course, the drama that can only occur when a group of different people from different walks of life come together and must wage a war of life and death,” Murayama explained.
Gameplay-wise, something that fans should look out for is the studio’s focus on creating exciting and balanced gameplay that thrives on great decision making. “Some characters are good [at] some things and bad at others. But if you combine them with other characters that can strengthen their weaknesses, you can end up with a really balanced team," Murayama added in the interview. "And based on that delicate balance your team make be more apt at mining or adventuring which will affect the overall game progression loop.” He added the one of the game’s "core loops" is finding new ways to experience the different variety of characters at the player’s disposal.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is currently on Kickstarter and is seeking around $500,000 in funding for a PC release, with a stretch goal to unlock next-gen console versions (including the Switch if it is available). The campaign will run from today, July 27, to August 28.
