Surprise, RPG fans! Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has an actual release date. The upcoming RPG from Yoshitaka Murayama, the creator of the Suikoden series, is launching on Nintendo Switch and other consoles on 23rd April 2024.
Today's announcement during the Nintendo Direct came as a bit of a surprise to us. Accompanied by a new trailer, this release date comes just almost two months after Rabbit & Bear Studios had to delay the game to Q2 2024. April falls right in that window, of course, but we're still surprised to get a date so soon.
In an official blog post on the Eiyuden Chronicle website, Rabbit & Bear studio lead Murayama said that the team was "thrilled to finally announce the release date" of the upcoming RPG, stating:
"Having our game featured at Nintendo Direct this year is a real testament to the hard work of our team, but more importantly, to the patience of all our fantastic backers who have had the faith in us to deliver the Action JRPG they’ve been waiting for."
Let's dive into that new trailer, then. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes looks pretty stunning, right? Those Suikoden roots are shining right through, and have done from the start, but the trailer also confirms a widely-loved aspect of the Konami RPG series that's also getting some love in this "spiritual successor" --- town building. In the Suikoden series, you get your own base to build, expand, and manage as you recruit more heroes. And in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, that expands to a whole town which includes your headqaurters.
Of course, this is pretty evocative of the game's 2022 prequel, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, which was set in a single town and that changed as you progressed through the story and did more sidequests. There are also one-on-one duels akin to those from earlier Suikoden titles. So it's got the cult classic series' DNA all over it.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes follows three heroes — Nowa, Seign, and Marisa — who are each dragged into war after the Galdea Empire has found magical technology that boosts the power of Rune-Lens magic.
While we didn't love 2022's prequel, we can say that it got us intrigued about the world of Eiyuden Chronicle, and this turn-based RPG has been highly anticipated by fans for a long time.