Despite Kickstarter crashing intermittently throughout the morning, nothing could stop Suikoden creators Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano’s Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Kickstarter from going live. Within three hours of the Kickstarter launch—despite those periods of Kickstarter being down—the campaign hit its minimum goal, generating over $800,000 as of this writing. You can actually watch that number go up in real time, and there are still 31 days left to go. It’s almost assured that the project will reach its stretch goal of $1,000,000 to unlock a console release, most likely by the time you read this. Created in the vein of its classic JRPG spiritual predecessor, Eiyuden Chronicle looks like a combination of Suikoden and 2018’s Octopath Traveler from Square Enix. Check out the (very brief) gameplay teaser below.
With plans to feature 100 JRPG heroes and a blended 2D/3D art style, Eiyuden Chronicle and its modest original goal of ~$500,000 was shattered immediately. The nostalgia is strong for the Suikoden series, which saw its last release in the PlayStation 2 era around 2006. The game’s story is directed by Murayama, the creator responsible for the scripts of both Suikoden I and II. Said in the Kickstarter release, “Eiyuden Chronicle employs a traditional turn-based RPG battle system where players take command of up to six individual units against either an army, or a single large creature. Choose commands for each of your characters, then watch them carry out your orders in full motion combat.” The Kickstarter page features plenty of additional details about the campaign, characters, world, and gameplay.
The expansive reward tiers clearly caught the imagination of players from all across the world, as many of the limited quantity high-end rewards are now sold out. This includes the “Cat-Tribution” tier that allows the pledger to name one of the many cats found in the world of Eiyuden Chronicle, as well as getting a vinyl soundtrack, art book, beta access, a unique Discord title, and more. Purrfect?
There’s still plenty of time to get on-board for the Eiyuden Chronicle Kickstarter project, as today is merely its opening day and could very well cross the magic number of one million dollars that will unlock a PlayStation 4 and PS5 version. While I’m bummed I can’t name a cat, I’m certainly more than curious about my own potential pledge.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is slated for a 2022 release, most likely on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and the next Nintendo console.
