Many opponents’ lifeless bodies can even be juggled for additional hits well after they’ve already been dispatched, which is always entertaining, and each of the three characters possess a unique special ability that can be exploited in various ways. CJ, Garoo, and Isha’s attacks are tied to the Xbox Controller buttons X, Y and B respectively, and pressing each button will not only swap out the current on-screen character with the appropriate ally, but when timed correctly during an attack, that character can be “tagged in” to extend a combo string, maximizing damage and leaving enemies and bosses alike vulnerable to follow-up critical hits. On the bright side, once players have all three principal characters in their party, Rising delivers fairly competent 2D action with mechanics that are easy to get into. It’s truly puzzling to me that Rabbit & Bear went this route knowing that they were crafting a companion piece to next year’s Hundred Heroes, which, despite still being a year out from now, features far stronger character art, uses traditional animation methods and borrows much of its visual design from the more appealing, pixelated tilt-shift presentation made popular by Octopath Traveler. “Beyond the surface details, there are no real emotional stakes to convince us to actually care about CJ, Garoo, or what they’re ultimately after.” Regrettably, Rising also employs weak character art with pixelated edges that clash against the much sharper, more detailed 3D elements in its environments. And, oh joy, they get an even BIGGER stamp card! CJ, who is on a rite of passage to find the biggest Rune Lens artifact that her clan has ever seen, inevitably teams up with the buster-sword wielding “beastman” Garoo (who is half-human, half-kangaroo) to uncover the treasures and mysteries that await in the mines.Īs a consequence, even the simplest of gestures, such as CJ pointing an accusatory finger at Garoo or handing over an item to an NPC, lack the appropriate amount of detail to represent such actions because CJ’s sprite lacks fingers and thumbs, resulting in CJ looking like she’s constantly fist-bumping other characters. In exchange for completing a stamp card (which is essentially a quota of odd-jobs and favours that the citizens of New Neveah need assistance with), Outlanders are rewarded with an official Hunter’s License, which grants them access to the mines and fair compensation for the treasures they find at the local pawn and trade shops. In order to stop New Neveah from descending into chaotic ruin, the acting Mayor, Isha, has enacted a regulatory “stamp card” system aimed at incentivizing honest treasure hunters to assist with the town’s rebuild while also protecting it from bandits. Monsters have also emerged from the mines as well, destroying property, attacking, and sometimes killing some of the town folk. Clearly, my brothers and I were not alone in our admiration for Suikoden, which would go on to spawn five sequels and become one of the most beloved RPG franchises of the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era. I especially remember being drawn to the first game in particular, thanks to its massive cast of 108 legendary heroes (based on Water Margin, the classic Chinese novel that inspired it), the painterly look of the character art, as well as the Super Nintendo-style sprite scaling and special effects that took place during battles on an isometric plane. Even my younger brothers and I played them back in the day, as there were few options on PlayStation for epic, 2D JRPGs on the platform in the early going. ![]() Its first two instalments, Suikoden I and Suikoden II, enjoyed positive reviews and initially-slow but ultimately steady sales on Sony’s fledgling console. ![]() Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is intended to be a companion game to developer Rabbit & Bear’s upcoming JRPG, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which in itself is a spiritual successor to the popular Suikoden franchise, whose history stretches back as far as the original Sony PlayStation.
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