Summary
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroeshas finally released in all its sprite-based glory. Playing through the Eiyuden, it has become abundantly clear that it is more of a direct successor to Suikoden 2 than any of the other Suikoden games ever were.
From the battle engine to the aesthetic to the minigames, the Eiyuden team really went back to their roots. But Suikoden 2 isn’t just any old game, it is a fondly remembered classic that frequenly tops the lists when RPG fans rank their favorite games in the genre.
Since both Suikoden 2 and Eiyuden have three unique styles of combat, we’ve decided to cover all three separately in their own categories.
Party-Based Combat
This one almost feels unfair. Eiyuden’s combat engine is built directly on top of Suikoden 2’s. Eiyuden maytechnicallybe part of a new franchise, but in gameplay terms, it is an iterative sequel to Suikoden 2. So, the slick row-based system established by Suikoden 2 is present, but Eiyuden also adds a number of unique elements on top of the already existing systems.
For example, Eiyuden added different weapon types, which means that the different weapons characters use serve different purposes now. This iteration helps to provide an additional element of variety to the gameplay and makes team construction more interesting. Eiyuden also added the turn order tracker, which adds another strategic wrinkle. Both of these elements help add depth to an alreadygreat combat engine.
Eiyuden Wins This Round With Its Fantastic Evolution Of Suikoden 2’s Battle Engine
Duels
Gameplay-wise, Eiyuden departs a little from the Suikoden formula, in that you need to build up your ability to break by countering. So, there is a touch more to it than the rock, paper, scissors approach used by the Suikoden games.
That being said, the core idea is the same. Use the things your opponent says to predict their attack and counter it. Where Eiyuden really wins out is in its presentation. The Eiyuden duels are extremely flashy. Sometimes to an absurd degree, but you know what? We’re not going to hold that against them.
Eiyuden’s Flash Duels Win This Round
War Battles
Suikoden 2’s war battles play like a limited version of Shining Force. They are simple and to the point, but generally feel pretty good. Eiyuden, similarly, draws heavy inspiration from the SRPG genre for its war battles. While we applaud all the moving parts attached to its war battles, the difficulty is just overwhelmingly underwhelming. Not that Suikoden 2’s war battles were difficult, but while playing Eiyuden’s war battle we never felt for a moment that we could lose.
The Eiyuden war battles aresoeasy that you don’t even have to bother concerning yourself with unit types, organizing your squadrons, or even concerning yourself with positioning. you’re able to just push your troops forward and utilize the commander’s skills to guarantee victory. If these battles had offered more of a challenge, and given us more of a reason to engage with all the elements, we would have given this round to Eiyuden. Easily. But as they are now, the very simple approach in Suikoden 2 just feels better executed.
Suikoden 2 Wins With Its Incredible OST
Minigames
Once again, this feels extremely unfair. Suikoden 2has a number of great minigames… and Eiyuden straight-up takes the best one (the Iron Chef minigame, for those wondering). It’s not that Suikoden 2 doesn’t have any great games that Eiyuden doesn’t have; Chinchirorin, for example, is a Suikoden exclusive, and who doesn’t love rolling dice?
However, Eiyuden just has so many great games that it overwhelms Suikoden 2’s offerings. It adds its own fun card-battling game and its own unique version of Beyblade. Hell, Eiyuden even has Suikoden 3’s theater minigame (another absolute classic). Suikoden 2 has fantastic diversions, but Eiyuden learned from Suikoden 2, took its best stuff, and then added to it.
Eiyuden Wins The Minigames Round
Music
While Eiyuden has a truly excellent score, it just can’t match the quality of the ageless whimsy of Suikoden 2’s fantastic soundtrack. This isn’t a slight against Eiyuden’s wonderful music, there are plenty of tracks that will earworm their way into your skull, but Suikoden 2’s OST is legendary, and legends are hard to kill.
We thought we would highlight a few of our favorite songs from each game. Some standout tracks from Eiyuden would include the rousing opening track Departure of Heroes, the Arenside theme, which is a top-tier village theme, and Flags of Brave, which is the one track that features a vocal performance. Our favorite pieces from Suikoden 2 would, of course, include Victory, which feels like the game’s theme song. The piano-centric Reminiscence is also a wonderful piece. Finally, we have to mention the song that features organs goinghard: Gothic Neclord.
Suikoden 2 Wins With Its Top-Shelf OST
Graphics
With the level of care involved in its animations, and how alive the world felt, Suikoden 2 was rightfully once considered to be the king of sprite-based RPGs by some. Eiyuden clearly uses Suikoden 2 as its inspiration, but it goes so much further with the number of unique sprites and animations on offer. The amont of work that went into Eiyuden is impressive, and the scope of it all boggles the mind.
There is a touch of wonkiness when it comes to the scale of a location or two, and every once in a while a polygonal asset will stick out like a sore thumb, but none of that is enough to take away from how breathlessly gorgeous Eiyuden is.
Eiyuden Wins With Its incredible Pixel Art
Characters
What has always been a marvel of the Suikoden games is how great the characters are across the board when there are so many of them. However, Eiyuden goes tit-for-tat in this category, managing to assemble a similarly strong lineup of heroes.
We tried comparing the different archetypes, and seeing who would come out on top, but the truth is, both casts are filled with lovable, charming, and cool characters. You won’t have a hard time assembling a party of characters you love in either game.
Since both games have superb casts, this is a draw
Villains
While Eiyuden has a number of villains who fill their roles admirably, they don’t stand out in a big way. We’d say they are pretty par for the course when it comes to RPG villains. There are a few interesting twists here and there, some characters show themselves to have a little more going on, but for the most part, the villains aren’t a strength when it comes to Eiyuden.
The villains in Suikoden 2, on the other hand, are the best in the genre. Full stop.
We can’t even callmostof the Suikoden enemies “villains”; they are antagonists, most certainly, but they are complex and often sympathetic. One of the chilling elements of Suikoden 2 is the realization that you don’t hate most of the people you are fighting against. If anything, you respect them. Andwhen the Suikoden 2 villainsarevillains, you’d better hold on to your butt.Luca Blight is ruthless, brutal, and terrifying. He is such a villain’s villain that you can see other games desperately trying to imitate him and failing in the process. This is a clean win for Suikoden 2.
Suikoden 2 Wins With Its Best-In-Class Villains
Story
Eiyuden has a great story. It is uplifting, funny, and consistently engaging. It is more of a romp than anything else and is contagiously optimistic. It has a few heavier moments here and there, and while one of the more tragic moments lands solidly, Eiyuden’s story is very clearly at its best when it is joyous and uplifting.
Suikoden 2, on the other hand, is similarly funny, and lighthearted, right until it isn’t. Suikoden 2 is Murayama’s magnum opus, and it feels perfectly balanced. It has some of the hardest-hitting moments in an RPG, yet it never degrades into melodrama. It has an incredibly strong emotional core, and it uses it effectively throughout. Eiyuden has nothing to be ashamed of, it has a great story that provides a ton of fun moments, but Suikoden 2 is, once again, peerless in this regard. Over twenty years later, no one has been able to unseat Suikoden 2. We aren’t convinced that anyone will do it in another twenty either.
With Its Powerful Narrative, Suikoden 2 Wins This Category
Suikoden 2 Wins
While Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is anexcellentRPG that will surely be remembered fondly, Suikoden 2 is still an all-time great. When judging the two titles against each other, there are a number of areas where Suikoden 2 falls a little short in comparison, but even inthosecategories it still shines. More to the point, the strength of its narrative and antagonists cannot be understated. Suikoden 2 is still a great game that has aged gracefully.
