Sadly, February marked the passing of Yoshitaka Murayama, the legendary creator of Suikoden and its spiritual successor, Eiyuden Chronicle, with Hundred Heroes releasing on PS5 and PS4 next week. Developer Rabbit & Bear Studios has announced its intention to proceed with the series, but what form that takes will depend on how its impending and eagerly anticipated JRPG is received.
In a recent AMA on Reddit (thanks, IGN), devs from the team answered various questions concerning the game, but the subject of what comes next was of particular note. The response was unequivocal when pressed on whether the studio would greenlight a sequel without Murayama: "We are moving forward with a sequel. It is very sad that Murayama is not with us anymore, but we have discussed many things with him. I hope we will be able to carry on Murayama's legacy, and I always want to treasure his last work. I hope many people will support this game."
Murayama's vision is quite exacting, so exactly how the series will be received without him remains to be seen. For example, when a Reddit user provided feedback that the team should implement more options in Hundred Heroes for players to save their progress, this was seen as conflicting with the director's vision. Eventually, a limited autosave function was added, with Rabbit & Bear allowing that this didn't directly tweak Murayama's "concept of play" (which dictates that dungeons should be gruelling resource management tests).
Are you excited about the long-awaited release of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes? What do you think of the future of the series without the storied creatives' involvement? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 6
He was responsible for some great games, it’s such a shame that he won’t get to see the culmination of years of work.
Good news! I backed eiyuden and it is a blast
It's great to see his legacy will keep going and we'll get more games like Suikoden with Eiyuden.
Although as a fan of Suikoden I wonder if some of those unanswered questions about certain Suikoden characters (Viki, Jeanne, Clive, and Yuber and Pesmerga to name a few) will remain unanswered with his passing. It's these story threads that has kept the Suikoden fandom going.
I hope the game is awesome. Konami denied us the future of the great Suikoden series as they did with their other beloved IP. Silent hill, metal gear and castlevania are in the same boat. Terrible management.
Anyways, hope this is a banger and creates a sucessor series to Suikoden.
Since they treated their Kickstarter backers so poorly, I may not be as willing.
"Murayama's "concept of play" (which dictates that dungeons should be gruelling resource management tests)" - good man.
@MrGawain Fully agree, although sometimes I wonder whether it's better they remain unanswered. We don't always get answers to the big questions in life after all!
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