As an introduction entry to the Eiyuden Chronicle IP and a prequel to the upcoming Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes game, Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising is a 2.5D side-scrolling action RPG wrapped in unique storytelling following the adventure of CJ and her friends as they rebuild the town of New Neveah. It may not be a game that was put on every gamer’s radar, but the traditional JRPG style merging with exploration and even town-building elements definitely is worth your attention.
▍A Happy Go Lucky Story with Distinctive Artstyle
Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising is certainly ticking all the checks of a traditional JRPG with strong stories and memorable characters, starting right with the main character, CJ, a 16-year-old brave girl who hunts treasure to earn quick bucks.
Along her journey, she meets Hogan, a fancy Crocodile Dundee-inspired with a heavy American accent, and rescues him from getting beaten by bandits in misery. As she befriends Hogan, he invites her to the town of New Neveah, a flourishing town that got destroyed by a massive earthquake months ago. And that’s how the great adventure starts as they head to this dull and lifeless town in the process of rebuilding and restoring its former glory.
In this journey, you will meet a bunch of unique characters as you promise to help rebuild in exchange for an approved hunting license. Isha, in contrast to her innocent and gentle appearance, is actually a rapacious mayor, who forces you to take on different quests and help the townspeople in need to gain stamps. Only when you’ve collected enough stamps, you can have a hunting license.
And that’s how you get into the traps of doing chores in order to fill your little stamp book and uncover an ancient secret in the process. The story may not be a big bang in this genre, but the old-school JRPG vibe and characters with vivid personalities complete a light-hearted fantasy that puts a smile on your face.
▍Easily configurable combat system
As for the combat system, Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising follows a rather linear and easily configurable combat system that includes basic attacks, special abilities, jump, and some other skills that can be unlocked after completing the tedium side quests.
The mission-based gameplay requires you to accept copious amounts of main and side quests to rebuild the town, help the citizens, and advance the story. What’s more frustrating is the limited number of enemies won’t refresh automatically, meaning that players have to fast travel back and forth multiple times in order to complete the repetitive chores.
Challenges are rarely found in Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising. Even beginners of JRPG can easily clear the entire story quests without a sweat. The reasons can vary – very few enemy monsters in dungeons, their sluggish speeds, their predictable and slow attacks, or simply their low damage which barely grazes CJ’s body. Death is literally impossible to even the most inexperienced player if you have a health potion equipped, which can be easily found in dungeons.
The characters that you meet during the journey will join your party later as you can switch characters at appropriate times to chain combo attacks, adding another layer to the combat system.
Nevertheless, Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising does a good job at separating the different dungeons and allows fast travel for an instant and smooth journey. The game also supports a Hard difficulty mode which unlocks after the player completes all 12 main quests. But after all those tedious chores, it is rather discouraging for another round of battles. Let’s just hope that this Hard difficulty mode is actually what it sounds.
▍Rather Repetitive and Grindy Gameplay
Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising is definitely a vibrant and fresh-looking game with fluid animations and soothing music. However, there’s only very limited content to look at or listen to when the game at its heart is all about taking and completing the quests. Players will soon realize that what they are doing at the current moment, they will keep doing the same thing repetitively after two to three hours. Though the enemies are different and maybe a little bit stronger, the dull process has made the combat less attractive as time grows.
The game also harbors some old-school city-building elements as you rebuild New Neveah by building infrastructure and helping New Nevaeh’s populace get back to their normal lives. The town building is rather basic and you can expect a lot of looting and crafting on this adventure. The map does provide a lot of areas for you to amass resources, but this time-consuming feature may not be a catch for every players.
▍Is Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising Worth Your Time?
The love and time spent by the developers and story writers are highly appreciated, as they bring forth a group of vibrant characters with lovely personalities. It’s nice to see CJ’s growth from a young and brave treasure hunter to becoming a strong and leading lady who stands up for the citizens of New Neveah and protects them from the dangers ahead. The dull side quest may be a problem, but the visuals and JRPG vibe do help to mask its flaws. More importantly, the fantasy worldview and interesting characters successfully whet players’ appetites for the grand adventure ahead as it continues in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.
