It finally came out!! After four years of waiting!! :’D

As backer I got it some days before the early access which was great cause I had one hell of a week and this game helped me endure. Not gonna lie, the intro and the title music made me tear up big time. ;u; Especially considering this was Yoshitaka Murayama’s final work, rest in peace my hero…

It is no secret for anyone that Suikoden 2 is my favorite game ever and no one and nothing has ever topped that off for me over the years. Chrono Trigger is close by however! So no naturally hearing that so many years later the original team will be doing Eiyuden just made me slam my backer money instantly! But yes… four long years later it’s finally here! Show how is it?

It is a bit early to write review given how I’m still early or mid way through? I did play about 30 hours but I’m also slow and I enjoy poking every corner if I can. I’ve played enough suikodens to know if I don’t then I will miss someone on the way :D;;;; However, half way through and … the game is really really … timid? It feels very light. The high stakes don’t feel high at all and the bad guys just kind of exist there being intimidating but other than that nothing happened on scene. You hear they sacrificed some village but you don’t really see that. The village girl who got her parents killed seem fine, nothing like Pilika who cried her eyes off then became mute from the shock after in Suikoden 2 … u_u; Everything just feels like it’s meant to be a rated E or something. No one swears or when they do, it’s very cartoony. Which brings me to the other issue I’m having…

It is… a bit too cartoony. One thing I loved about Suikoden was the characters designs. You could tell which part of the world they belong to, or which nation and it felt like they all belong to the same world just different nations. That’s not really the case in Eiyuden. Sure, Seign’s crew you can tell are part of Galdean Empire with their uniforms but not much else. The characters are so colorful! Which makes them memorable but also … most look like they came out from different worlds (or animes!) I love when a character is a bit of an oddball and they stand out, but when everyone stands out… the more “normal” looking ones begin to stand out xD;; I start to find myself looking for the more normal looking ones to include into my party.

And I guess I have to talk about the localization… Which is a hot topic apparently and I’m really tired of reading about it. I don’t think it is as bad as people make it out to be. I’m sorry. I really don’t think it’s a reason to lash out and attack people over it. Do I like it? I find it okay, but like the characters and their cartoony quirks, I find the localization absolutely the same way – It is too cartoony and quirky. Does it bother me? No. Do I like it? Not really. I don’t enjoy the direct dry JP translations but I wish there was some middle ground. The game has very light tone and the cartoony localization fits which to me again boils down to – I wish the game had more serious tone. Not a grim dark tone but when the stakes are none, it’s a little hard to feel motivated about rising an army and opposing the big bad who is doing something bad somewhere at the other end of the world. Maybe the tone will shift a bit as I get pass the mid point but it’s veen 30+ hours and I miss when every victory felt like impossible odds were overcome like what was the case with previous Suikoden games.

Okaaay, I did list a lot of bads didn’t I? I am enjoying the game, mind you! But not in a way that I can’t wait to pick the switch and continue. I’m also waiting a bit to see if they patch the cooking mini game. My favorite game and it’s glitched T^T!!! I feel so sad… So I’ll wait a bit and maybe run around looking for more peoplt to recruit in the mean time. I’m enjoying the combat, I’m enjoying the music. There are some balancing issues and the limited inventory is driving me nuts …but I also know it was Murayama’s choice and he insisted on it. I just hope they don’t keep the system in the sequel ;u;

I listed so many bad things and not nearly enough good ones. After so many years of my favorite franchise being dead and buried by Konami it is refreshing to see Eiyuden bring together the Suikoden experience. If this is the first stepping stone to a new franchise which carries the Suikoden flame, then I will very very gladly continue to support and look forward to learn more of this new world. First games are always like a test ground anyway and the devs haven’t made anything for a while, it makes sense they are a bit rusty! So with that said… time to hit post and return to playing! :’D Maybe I will have something excited to share at the end!

What an immensely fun game that was!
I didn’t honestly expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Safe to sage the demo won me and I preordered it immediately. There is still time until Eiyuden’s release so I figured I should be able to finish Unicorn Overlord before it comes out, and I did!! Which is also a bit rare. Lately I’ve been finding myself striggling to finish games or losing my interest for one reason or another – I’m still yet to finish Octopath Traveler 2 …

Anyway, onto Unicorn Overlord!! Spoilers ahead …obviously!

Favorite zone has to be Drakenhold. I absolutely loved all the characters there, the music, the ruins and I think I spent most time there. Gilbert super grew on me. Short king is trying his best and I was so happy he joined. I thought Virginia had great dynamics with …every character really and the only reason I didn’t slap the maiden ring on her was sheer awkwardness because at the end, she is Alain’s cousin. I know it’s fiction and a game but it was still kinda awkward to me. Still, I very much appreciate her and she stayed in Alain’s unit till the end! “Alain, get my sword.”

Another fave there’s got to be Aramis. I’m super fan of duel sword wielding classes and I made him a whole unit of swordies who slice n dice everything around. I love his “A lack of skill” victory line. Sir, please… do you have to flex so? His rapports with Gilbert were so wholesome and I’m so soft for sibling dynamics…. Speaking of…

I love Travis and Berengaria so much! Argh, my whole heart aches for them in best possible way, I love the siblings so much!! Seeing their issue resolved in Drakenhold was just -chef kiss-
Ren has amazing lines, I love her as a unit and Travis is the most wholesome little dodgy bookworm and even when my rapports were maxed I just kept going to drop books at his station. Easily top choice for the ring. His last rapport with Ren got me teary for completely personal reasons. As someone who had lost dear relatives, I too had the crushing dreams of “they are here with me again!” only to wake up to the cold reality that, no they are not. Seeing these little pixel people get a happy resolve was very cathartic for me.

Okay and a moment to appreciate Cornia folks as well because it is your starting area after all! It is close to Drakenhold in terms of how much I enjoyed it and I do very much loved how the final fight was RIGHT THERE but you are too puny to rush it.

Josef… had one of the best rapports. At first I only saw him as the guide/tutorial guy and honestly thought he’d probably die at some point because that’s what happen with these over leveled characters but not Josef. His whole dynamic with Alain was just so satisfying. Him seeing him like a son and Alain seeing him as a father figure. Gosh, my heart aches! Very much a solid ring bearer choice for some heart warming scenes. I only used Josef until my units got to level 20ish and it felt like his job was done now and he could take a break.

Speaking of … so Clive/Adel/Renault/Monica or my army of Chivalry Chads as I call them. I used them together from the start to the end. I only slapped Short King Gilbert there to make them go extra fast and they were my Death Express unit that I often tried not to use because they were just rushing everything!!

I hope I’m not in the minority who thought Melisandre was hilarious. I appreciate when a lady knows what she wants and goes out to get it. The rapports I saw of her were also fairly wholesome too! Sadly, I didn’t put her in Alain’s unit and she had to flex skills next to Aramis and Leah …but I do intend to make her queen on another file clear!

Okay we need to talk about Auch. No escaping it, he was the character I liked most from the demo and the one who got to carry the maiden ring to the final fight. I honestly didn’t expect momma boy to be an absolute power house who wrecked the colliseum like nobody’s business! His rapports are hilarious, I greatly enjoyed his character being absolute prick and at the same time so clingy. Sir, what kinda trauma did you go through!? I’m absolute softy and pampered Auch most in my army. He had a unit on his own for the sweet, sweet fire magic support.

And of course I need to mention Gammel and Mandarin!
The two who most people execute but I’ve played enough Suikoden to know you ain’t executing no one in these kinda games! I loved their development and their final rapport was hilarious. I enjoyed that both of them do get very much stink eye from the other characters yet they grow and do better. I am a softy and an idealist. The world is cruel and people suck. Seeing this kinda wholesome change of heart and growth in fiction makes me smile. Their epilogue? And the letter Gammel got? -chef’s kiss-
One of my favorite duo for sure.

I feel like I will talk forever just about the characters! And yet there were so many things I enjoyed in this game. I will probably make another post just ramble about all the other things.