Eiyuden Chronicle smashes Kickstarter goal in 2 hours

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a new JRPG including talented developers from the much loved Suikoden series, has very quickly smashed its Kickstarter goal of AU$714,231, currently at the AU$2,846,222 mark and climbing.

Eiyuden Chronicle is described a brand new, high quality JRPG from Yoshitaka Murayama (Suikoden I&II) and Junko Kawano (Suikoden I&IV), in their first collaboration in 25 years. It will feature a traditional 6-character battle system utilising painstakingly created 2D sprites and gorgeous 3D backgrounds, and a deep story with 100 characters intricately intertwined.

Originally targeted for PC release, the stretch goals have already been met, meaning we can also expect this beautiful JRPG to hit consoles including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Just check out these screens.

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The team creating the game have a real love for JRPG’s, and plan on celebrating the genre with this project. “This is our chance to bring fans back to the days of the classic JRPG. As someone once said, true classics never die, and we want to recapture that era in every way possible, while taking advantage of modern technology to perfect the art form.”

“The JRPG genre holds a near and dear spot in a lot of gamers’ hearts. Whether it’s the amazing games from S-E, or the other amazing titles that made the genre what it is today, most people have great memories of playing RPGs. During this campaign, we want to celebrate JRPG’s place in the annals of gaming history.”

The combat looks stylish as heck, too. I love the way the camera seems to dynamically shift around the battlefield for specific abilities during full-motion combat during boss battles, and the rendering of the 2D characters on the colourful back-drops is just a beautiful styling choice. Over time, heroes will also learn special AI abilities that they will perform on their own in battle, adding to the strategic element of combat. Check out a brief snippet of gameplay:

Along with being a celebration of JRPG’s from a studio that clearly cares about the genre in a deep way, you can expect lots of cats to be in the game. Feline lovers, put your paws up. If you’re considering backing it now, you’d be rewarded of course – and DLC that is unlocked via stretch goals will be given to all backers for free, including “several pieces of content that will be deep enough to warrant being paid DLC at a later time”.

As with most crowdfunding projects, the release date for this one is a while away; currently Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is slated for release in October 2022.