Key developers responsible for various entries in the Suikoden series have formed a supergroup to develop a spiritual successor called Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which they plan to crowdfund starting next week, according to reporting by The Verge.
Yoshitaka Murayama, who is often credited with creating Suikoden due to his extensive work as a director, producer, and writer on the franchise, will be leading the project at a new developer known as Rabbit & Bear Studios. Eiyuden Chronicle is characterized as an ode to the PlayStation era’s classic roleplaying games, with over 100 heroes to meet (and most likely recruit) as party members. It’s expected to launch on PC in fall 2022 should the crowdfunding campaign find success.
Eiyuden Chronicle will also benefit from the expertise of veterans Junko Kawano, famously the lead artist on Suikoden and Suikoden IV; Osamu Komuta, director of Suikoden Tactics and Suikoden Tierkreis; Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow art director Junichi Murakami; and composers Motoi Sakuraba and Michiko Naruke, whose extensive credits include classics Valkyrie Profile / Dark Souls and the Wild Arms series, respectively.
This project comes at a time when Suikoden fans are starving for its unique take on the role-playing genre. The last mainline entry in the series, Suikoden V, launched on the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2006, with the most recent spin-off, Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki, appearing on PlayStation Portable in 2012. But while property owner Konami largely stopped Suikoden development by 2015, the franchise’s portal site relaunched in late 2018, spurring speculation about its future.
It’s also important to remember that crowdfunding doesn’t always equal success. And should Eiyuden Chronicle even reach its still unannounced goals, there’s no guarantee the game will even be released. History has shown us that for every project that’s successfully funded and launched, there are more that languish in development hell or get canceled altogether. In speaking with The Verge, Murayama sounded hopeful, but also hinted that this campaign might be the developers’ only shot at getting Eiyuden Chronicle out the door.
Eiyuden Chronicle crowdfunding will launch on Kickstarter next Monday, July 27, and end on August 28.