One great thing about video games is they are able to transport you to another world and place you in the middle of a new life, story, and adventure. Rabbit & Bear Studios have done just this with their newest game Eiyuden Chronicles: Rising, published by 505 Games. The story focuses on CJ, an honorable scavenger, who has left her village at the tender age of 16 to try to complete her villages rite of passage. She must find a treasure that is larger than any of her ancestors, and once she does, she will be allowed to return to her home. She finds a flyer for New Neveah, a town offering the chance at untold treasures for willing adventurers. CJ embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to help the village and claim a massive treasure that will make her father proud.
The trek to becoming a treasure hunter is not a straight path. Before CJ can go searching the Barrows for treasure, she must 1st get her Adventurers License. The cost is well beyond her means, but the town has a solution – a stamp card. Help townsfolk out with odd jobs and get a stamp. Once you have filled the card, you can get your Adventurers License and be eon your way to riches. CJ jumps at the chance, and you are off.
Residents are looking for all sorts of help. Track down lost items, gather materials, defeat bandits and more. Through out the game there are over 160 quests to complete in exchange for stamps as well as experience and money. You will enter an area, kill enemies, gather resources in you bag and once you leave the area, everything will respawn and the contents of your bag will be transferred to your storehouse. This means that many quests can be completed right after they are received if you have been saving your supplies.
Helping residents and other adventurers will allow you to improve the town, and purchase better upgrades for your weapons, armor, magical runes and more. You will spend a majority of your time fighting monsters in 5 different areas – Forest, Quarry, Rune Barrows, Snow Peaks, and the Lava Ruins. Pick which elemental rune will work best against enemies and start leveling up.
CJ is not alone on here quest to rebuild the town. She is joined by Garoo, a mercenary, and the acting Mayor Isha. Each character has their own style of attack, but you are able to combo them together for extra power and devastating destruction. The game also lets you decide how you want to conduct combat. You can either have the computer decide which character is going to attack based on their strengths and all you have to do is press the attack button or you can go with the more advanced method. This way you pick the hero that will attack. On the Xbox, X will control CJ, Y is for Garoo, and B unleashes Isha. This gives you more control over your attacks and combos.
This game has one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a while. The music fits perfectly with each encounter and builds in intensity throughout your adventure. Even as you return to areas to grind for supplies, the music sounds fresh and exciting. The sounds of combat blend seamlessly into the music to bring it to the next level.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is out now on Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. The game contains around 20 hours of content and sports a very reasonable $15 price tag. If you have Xbox Game Pass, it is included with the subscription. This a great RPG to get someone started in the genre, or for those that love a game with deep story. There is also another game in the series slated for release in 2023.
