Sabotage Studio
Plenty of modern games have endeavor to retake the nostalgic retro vibraharp of early1990s RPGs . And some are moresuccessful than others .
Eiyuden Chronicle : Hundred Heroes , out now , is a spiritual replacement to the democratic Suikoden series . After all , the game was developed by Rabbit & Bear , a studio indite of previous Konami employees who worked on the Suikoden game . With the series having been dormant without any new entries since 2012 , it wasHundred Heroes ’ time to radiate . It sports an splendid history and fantastic worldbuilding , along with a pixel art counseling that invokes those feelings of nostalgia .
Sabotage Studio
But with those strengths come some ’ XC luggage . Its quality of life is lacking , with aggravating resource management , stingy healing options , and a glut of stock random encounters . Those issues hurt my playthrough , which I say was close to a shift inmy reviewearlier this workweek . Hundred Heroeshad the perfect chance to bring the spirit of Suikoden to the mod age , but it instead shows the pitfall of sticking too close-fitting to old secret plan design . The good retro revival charm nostalgia while still agitate game design forward . And there ’s no better counterpoint toHundred Heroesthan last year’striumphantSea of Stars .
Moving retro forward
At a glimpse , Sea of Starslooks like it was pulled straight off from the SNES era . It ’s paint in faithful pixel graphics that does n’t count that far off fromChrono Trigger . The more you labor into its gameplay , though , the more it take issue from that plot . It does n’t have random enemy encounters ; opposition roam the screen door and rush at players to initiate battles . While enemies are quite fast and will quickly furrow you down if they spot you , at least I know when to prognosticate a conflict . InHundred Heroes , I was praying that I would n’t trigger a struggle when I was backtrack to an inn to restore my political party ’s wellness . It ’s the sort of older - school design school of thought that video games have spring up past for the better .
Sea of Starsdoes partake in some sure-enough design quirks withHundred Heroes . Save point do n’t restore HP and MP in the former , just the same as the latter . The freehanded difference inSea of Starsis that there ’s usually a campsite within close propinquity that can be used to restore stats . InHundred Heroes , you ’re often thrown into consecutive battles of up to four with no chance to bring around in between . SomeSea of Starsbosses will actually fully heal your company up before you press them . I like the bosses inHundred Heroeswere that nice to me .
Little details like that , or the lack of them , add up . MP restoration is rarified inHundred Heroes , so I always feel discouraged from using any of my magical persona . There was no point in casting powerful spells when my warrior could visit more damage than my mages . While I was capable to buy plenty of heal potions from shops in homework for long dungeons and magnanimous battles , I was n’t capable to find MP - restoring ones in any stores . I only obtain a few of them as point set down from come through battles .
It ’s a design decision that might have been common in ’ 90 RPGs , butSea of Stars ’ more originative approach shows the subtle mogul of innovation . In that game , MP can be regained from attacking enemies with strong-arm hit . It almost feels like an idea born more out ofDoom(2016 ) , where players can only heal by going on the offence . This system sum up a level of strategy to wrick - ground battles , where I ’d frequently switch between normal and military police - eat up attacks in decree to hit right enemy failing .
Accessibility demands changes
It ’s not just that these ideas makeSea of Starsfeel smoother to wreak without sacrificing its retro vibe . Their big boon is the availableness and accessibility they bring to a writing style that miss those feature film in the nineties . Relics , which can be regain throughout the game , act as as equipable availability options that let player tailor the gameplay to their needs . They can be toggled on and off at any time . For instance , the Amulet of Storytelling provides 100 % motorcar heal after combat , and the Guardian Aura reduces all incoming damage by 30 % .
Some relics even make the game harder . The Dubious Dare increases terms taken by 40 % . These kinds of options were n’t present in older RPGs , but their inclusion inSea of Starshelps it reach out to prominent audiences . Hundred Heroeshas some modifiers of its own , but they all survive only to make the game more challenging , like not allowing healing items to be consumed during battle . Now that I ’m old with adult responsibilities , convenience is a much giving factor than when I was youthful .
player who grew up with these games in the ’ 90s may be reckon for these nostalgic experience , but that does n’t think of that they ca n’t be develop . In aninterview with NPR , creative music director Thierry Boulanger say that he did n’t want to repeat what made some retro games frustrating .
“ If the audience were to go back and actually replay those games , they might mean less fondly of them , ” Boulanger explain . “ The idea forSea of Starswas to remove that tedium and get players to feel like they ’re move forward , all the metre . ”
With Konami design to releaseremasters of the first two Suikoden gamesin a single parcel soon , the studio revealed that it ’ll come with new quality of life features , let in the power to fast - forward engagement . Ironically , Hundred Heroesdoesn’t even have that feature , which is a shame . Perhaps Rabbit & Bear could updateHundred Heroesthrough patch and include some more quality of life features , but those might be more likely for a sequel ( the studio has reassert that it ’s aim to expel a follow - up ) . If you ca n’t wait that long , Sea of Starswill give you that nostalgic retro hole without the frustration .
Sea of StarsandEiyuden Chronicle : Hundred Heroesare available on PC , PlayStation 4 , PS5 , Nintendo Switch , Xbox One , and Xbox Series X / S. They ’re also uncommitted on Xbox Game Pass .
