Summed up, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is an easy and simple motion/RPG. It’s straightforward to get misplaced in its tranquil cycle of accumulating stamps by way of fetch quests and fight. Nonetheless, Rising doesn’t have a lot substance. The entire expertise is bland and commits numerous RPG transgressions, which is disappointing. Particularly because it’s a prequel introducing the Eiyuden world forward of Eiyuden Chronicle: A Hundred Heroes – a non secular successor to the Suikoden sequence. If this can be a signal of what’s to return, I’m involved.

Rising’s protagonist, CJ, is a younger adventurer who needs to make a reputation for herself as a treasure hunter. She units up in a city that pulls adventurers far and huge for its invaluable close by sources; consider the Gold Rush. Throughout her trek, she groups up with a grumpy and feisty kangaroo appropriately named Garoo and a pointy and stylish magic person named Isha. The principle story primarily serves to get you shifting to your subsequent vacation spot, serving up just a few revelations about why mysterious, harmful threats have appeared. Total, the narrative could be very predictable and generic.  

With a dry story, the shortage of bonding moments between the characters upset me. Just a few charming interactions play out in CJ and Garoo’s banter, and I took nice delight within the look of a magical lady named Mallore, which is a transparent homage to Sailor Moon. Nonetheless, there’s not a lot depth to those personalities, they usually really feel extra like character outlines than absolutely developed people. Sadly, this makes it exhausting to really feel any connection to them.

An enormous side of Rising is its town-building function, which helps you to assist numerous villagers arrange their outlets to draw individuals to the settlement, making it extra affluent. You’re continuously leveling up numerous shops, corresponding to a tavern, inn, apothecary, weapons store, and extra. At first look, the town-building looks as if a enjoyable extra wrinkle, however its tedious fetch quests make it one of many recreation’s greatest letdowns. You trek to the identical areas after which again once more to the hunt giver, who often asks you to acquire a specific amount of a useful resource or find an individual for them.

The town-building shortly turns into an extended record of chores. On the one hand, they aren’t all that troublesome to finish. Then again, they’re senseless and don’t supply a lot satisfaction for the hassle. The outlets get some new inventory, and the city will get a little bit extra crowded, nevertheless it’s such a hole sense of development. Each effort earns you stamps, which showcase your city completion stage. After doing a bit of those, I misplaced curiosity in prioritizing the facet content material, however then realized I used to be under-leveled if I didn’t interact with it because the quests supply a substantial amount of expertise. That is irritating, as you’re compelled into boring pursuits with no substance and little or no in the best way of storytelling. A facet quest ought to really feel non-obligatory, not required.

Dungeons are damaged up into quick romps, which I appreciated as a result of they didn’t really feel bloated and lent themselves properly to quick play classes. That was till I needed to preserve backtracking to the identical dungeons, preventing the identical minibosses repeatedly. The sport is linear total, which isn’t a difficulty if the exploration is attention-grabbing. That’s not likely the case right here; dungeons have very minimal hidden paths, and their major attraction is choosing up uncommon gadgets that you should use in crafting, gear upgrades, and cooking. Their total design can also be very fundamental, tied to totally different components (e.g., ice, earth, hearth). On the very least, the ultimate bosses of every dungeon are visually interesting and supply an honest problem. Certainly one of my favorites was the furry ice twins, who might flip the ground to pure ice, forcing you to remain within the air with double jumps and combos till it lifted.

The motion fight is one other space of the sport that’s simply sufficient. Your social gathering members and their assaults are tied to totally different face buttons on the controller, and for those who swap to a different character at simply the best time in the course of an assault, you possibly can chain highly effective combos. As you stage up, you unlock newer skills, corresponding to totally different leaping assaults like air and fast steps, alongside upward and downward assaults. Sadly, I by no means felt a rising sense of energy or satisfaction from these; the hyperlink combos had been extra fulfilling and lethal. Nonetheless, every little thing managed properly, and I didn’t run into any glitches or critical technical points throughout my time with the sport on Swap.

The two.5D artwork fashion deserves its personal reward. Rising is a vibrant and welcoming journey, with stunning hand-drawn visuals that add a pleasant private contact. The graphics have this retro vibe harking back to Suikoden, whereas nonetheless modernizing simply sufficient to really feel like an thrilling visible improve. The character portraits are detailed and alluring, and the little particulars within the landscapes pop, corresponding to grass swaying within the wind or blistering snow falling.

Rising was created to reward followers for reaching a Kickstarter stretch objective, nevertheless it’s not simply an add-on, it’s a full recreation, working round 20 hours. Natsume Atari took level as developer, with enter from Rabbit & Bear Studios, the masterminds behind Hundred Heroes. Sadly, the expertise falls quick as each ingredient of it’s simply satisfactory or run-of-the-mill. Nonetheless, its artwork fashion is a shiny spot, making me looking forward to the principle recreation that’s nonetheless to return.

Fairly visuals can solely get you far, nonetheless, and Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising doesn’t supply sufficient entertaining or distinctive content material to maintain it from being something greater than a satisfactory RPG. On the very least, it introduces the Eiyuden world and a few characters concerned in Hundred Heroes, however that’s little or no incentive for placing up with tedious gameplay and boilerplate characters.