Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

Eiyuden Chronicle Rising is a game propelled by charm. Charming characters, charming artwork, a charming soundtrack -- one I often found myself humming along to. On the surface, it does a lot right. Dig beyond the topsoil, though, and all you'll find is an idle clicker RPG with an action game bolted onto it.

In fairness, the game does seem to be aware of its own mundanity. You spend most of your time completing fetch quests for villagers, who give you worthless stamps in return, and the main character, CJ, absolutely loves collecting stamps. In a way it almost feels like the developers are calling me out -- like CJ, I'm completing in-game tasks merely for the sake of completing tasks. Next round of gold stars is on me!

The action-based combat is fairly simple, but it's not all bad. The midgame, from about the 2-hour mark to the 6-hour mark, is a high point, as you gradually gain new abilities and integrate new characters into your party. But by the time the game is only at the halfway mark it completely stops evolving. The steady drip of new mechanics dries up, leaving you with little to look forward to besides elemental re-skins of enemies you've already faced.

Despite all my misgivings, however, I was happy to spend some time with this one, and I do look forward to the real, actual Suikoden-inspired game that's dropping later this month. Rising only hints at the political intrigue and struggle that Hundred Heroes is sure to deliver. Hopefully all the little personal touches I added to my weapons and items make the transition intact.